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In 1941, Andriani Chalkiadaki, who lived in Rethymno, watched in horror as the all-armed German paratroopers fell in Crete. When the occupation of the island was completed, her paternal home was ordered and soon her fiancé was taken along with other Cretan children to forced labor. However, despite the invasion and the hardships, the 27-year-old girl did not stop for a moment, dreaming of the day when her good man will be crowned.
German parachute and the dead paratrooper can be seen on the ground.
A German parachute fell into her hands. But she did not see a piece of cloth but the fabric for her wedding. She decided to sew her wedding dress from this cloth. She knew the art well from her mother Irene who knitted extremely well. She patiently began to carefully untie all the white, green, and brown silk thread of the parachute, always being afraid of being discovered. If the Germans found military equipment in its possession, it would be in serious danger.
After six months she completed the handmade wedding dress. On October 18, 1941, a family, relatives, and fellow villagers gathered at the house of Adriani's older sister to attend her wedding to Dimitris Antonakakis. When the bride appeared to the guests, everyone admired the magnificent wedding dress she had made from an invader parachute. She kept the wedding dress until the end of her life. Before he died in May 2004 at the age of 97, he wanted to donate it as a souvenir to the Maritime Museum of Crete. Recently, her story was a source of inspiration for the American, Greek journalist Mimi Seyferth. He presented it through a 4-page tribute to the widely circulated American magazine "PieceWork" entitled: "A knitted wedding dress made of WWII parachute".
Source: HANIOTIKA NEWS...