A Film (and book) about Greece’s Role in World War II

By on January 7, 2010 in News

A former Disney Executive VP has joined writer N.J. Slabbert’s multimedia project about Greek heroism at war, THE SWORD OF ZEUS: THE HIDDEN STORY OF HOW GREECE SHAPED WORLD WAR II. Hellenes worldwide are being invited to send Mr. Slabbert, the project’s creator, their family’s WWII stories for possible use in a ZEUS film, book, educational web site and / or interactive DVD.

Since ZEUS was announced several months ago “a steady stream of international history” has poured into Mr. Slabbert’s office from enthusiastic supporters eager for their WWII stories or memorabilia to be included in the project. “I have been moved and honored by the material people have shared with me,” he says. “But it’s clear this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

The first book version of ZEUS is scheduled to be published next summer, Mr. Slabbert notes, “so people who would like to contribute memories, photos, family stories or other items are encouraged to do so soon. E-mail is quickest, although we have also been receiving much posted material in hard copy form.” Details can be found at www.theswordofzeus.info/.

The project’s advisers include former Walt Disney Imagineering Executive Vice President Gilbert F. Decker, who has also served as Chairman of the U.S. Army Science Board; former NATO liaison expert and Greek Army Brigadier General Stergios Smirlis; and industrialist Dr. Peter Yiannos, a prominent leader in Hellenic cultural affairs. Chairing the advisors is industrialist Aris Melissaratos, senior advisor to the president of Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Melissaratos has described the project as “a major Hellenic event.” He previously collaborated with Mr. Slabbert on the acclaimed book INNOVATION. The key funder of ZEUS’s core development work is entrepreneur Jimmy Stavrakis, CEO of Adcor Industries, an aerospace and manufacturing concern.

THE SWORD OF ZEUS Project will include at least two books and a film, Mr. Slabbert has explained. The first book will be a prose narrative of WWII that will shed fresh light Greece’s part in the war. The second will be a graphic novel “using illustrations to tell the tale of Greece’s role in a way that will appeal to a wide band of age groups.” The film will be shot in Greece and other European locations.

“We want to use as much independently submitted historical material as we can in the print and screen versions of ZEUS,” Mr. Slabbert says, “but our plan is that what we can’t get into book or film form will eventually be placed online as an international educational resource about Greece’s remarkable part in WWII, and/or used in an interactive DVD for schools. I believe the Greek role in WWII has yet to be fully appreciated by both Greeks and non-Greeks. My hope is that online, on the screen and in print, ZEUS will contribute to that greater appreciation.”



  • bill

    All I can say is, about time!! Finaly Greece getting some credit in a war that was brought to its shores. They faught against all that was wrong,knowing that they didnt have a chance at victory but fought out of love and respect of freedom. A war that has cost this small country so much even well after the last shot was fired. Myself A first generation Greek American living in Chicago and listening to the redicule of Greece and its economy over the last few weeks makes me sad. A country that was ravaged by WW2,wich in turn trigered a civil war then depresion and finaly dictatorship, had to pull itself up by its own bootstraps so many times and not give up, a country like that and its people should be looked at admirably not rediculed because of the corrupt few. I Hope these books and movie make people realize how much Greece and its people have sacrificed for freedom.