Living with bombs

We are justified in often feeling that we are Fortune’s playthings. We must admit, though, that perhaps we are luckier than we deserve – that with our lack of foresight, with the carelessness with which we so often operate at the collective and individual level (whether running a railway or just driving our car) we could count many more victims than those that we frequently have to register. Thursday’s revelation that 314 bombs from World War II have been found on the grounds of the old airport at Elliniko, in an area that was frequented by many people over the years, confirms just how dangerously we live and how lucky we are.

The Hellenic Army’s Land Mine Clearance Squad (TENX), which is conducting controlled explosions during the extensive construction work at the site, briefed the mayor of Elliniko-Argyroupolis, Yiannis Konstantatos, that these are “air force bombs” which were stored there by the Germans. “The tragic aspect of this is that the 314 bombs… were exactly 2 meters below the premises of the Pontian Sourmenon Association, kindergartens and sports installations, which were in the old airport, and next to Olympic facilities! In places where thousands of people entered daily,” the mayor declared in a news release. 

It is not unusual for bombs to be found in cities and regions that saw hostilities during World War II. Usually, though, these are bombs that were dropped but did not explode, remaining buried in unidentified spots until they are discovered accidentally. They were not in storage.

We don’t know if the area that the Germans used as an air base during the occupation was inspected before being used by Greek and allied forces. At that time Greece had many needs and other priorities, so perhaps those in charge did not examine the German archives on an issue as important as an air base and its hidden stores. Later, as the years passed and nothing bad happened to draw attention to the area, it was used without further checks. 

Whether those responsible for inspecting the area did as much as they could, or whether they were indifferent to this responsibility, none of those bombs exploded over the past 80 years. We were lucky. This, however, does not justify our tempting fate through carelessness and indifference.