Η εκκαθάριση του Πανεπιστημίου μετά την Απελευθέρωση

Abstract

Το κείμενο πραγματεύεται την εκκαθάριση των πανεπιστημίων στην Ελλάδα μετά την Απελευθέρωση από τη γερμανική κατοχή, αναδεικνύοντας τις πολιτικές διαστάσεις και τις εσωτερικές αντιφάσεις αυτής της διαδικασίας. Εξετάζει πώς η αρχική πρόθεση για τιμωρία των συνεργατών των κατοχικών δυνάμεων, μετατράπηκε σε πολιτικό εργαλείο για την αντιμετώπιση του κομμουνιστικού κινδύνου, ιδιαίτερα μετά τα Δεκεμβριανά. Αναλύει τις αντιδράσεις της πανεπιστημιακής κοινότητας, τις παρεμβάσεις της κυβέρνησης και τις διαμάχες μεταξύ των ακαδημαϊκών ιδρυμάτων, ενώ παράλληλα αποκαλύπτει την απροθυμία και τις καθυστερήσεις στην εφαρμογή των σχετικών νόμων. Τέλος, υπογραμμίζει τη διάβρωση της αξιοπιστίας του πανεπιστημίου και την ιδεολογική σύγκρουση που επικράτησε, όπου η εκκαθάριση χρησιμοποιήθηκε και ως μέσο συγκάλυψης παλαιότερων συμπεριφορών."The purge of the University after Liberation" examines the complex issue of punishing traitors and collaborators in Greece following its liberation from Axis occupation. Initially a concern for Allied governments since January 1942, as decided by the Inter-Allied Conference on crimes against civilians in London, the issue gained prominence with the unanimous approval of the National Pact by the Lebanon Conference in May 1944, which called for "harsh sanctions against traitors to the Homeland". After liberation, this concept evolved into a political matter, becoming a critical test for the integrity and intentions of the political elite and the post-war governments. The term "punishment of traitors" was gradually replaced by "purge" after Liberation. The issue offered an opportunity to emphasize national unity, despite underlying confrontations at the Lebanon Conference. The exiled Greek government, upon returning as a Government of National Unity, sought to shed its image as an absent power and gain popular acceptance by addressing the issue of collaborators, alongside promoting national unity and ensuring stability for the country's reconstruction. However, political expediencies seriously undermined these efforts, and the government's approach to the purge, particularly within higher education, proved to be disappointing. Despite the enactment of three Constitutional Acts concerning the purge of universities within approximately six months, these attempts faced strong resistance and vacillations from the universities themselves. A significant point of contention was the government's effort to remove control of the purge process from the universities, shifting it to disciplinary committees with powers to question university rectors. The purge legislation, which covered the period from 1932 (when law 5343 on the organization of the University of Athens was published) until the end of the Occupation, targeted arbitrarily established chairs and professors whose positions were abolished, and defined "unsuitable conduct" for a professor. While initial strictness was short-lived, with milder measures introduced shortly after, the Ministry of Education later reasserted its intent for a faster and stricter framework. The university authorities, particularly the majority of professors, showed strong willingness to implement government directives concerning those involved in the December events (related to EAM), actively seeking incriminating evidence against EAM-affiliated professors and condemning "resistance professors". Conversely, they showed reluctance to help the Ministry of Education purge academic staff appointed during the Occupation. This demonstrated a selective application of the purge, influenced by an expanding anti-communist sentiment. The issue became an ideological battleground, with the university being a suitable ground for such a confrontation, reflecting the belief that the "University is a national institution rather than an educational one". The intense reaction against EAM-affiliated academics was not due to their numbers, but the perceived influence of alternative ideologies that had spread during the Occupation. Ultimately, a fourth and more decisive attempt at purging the universities through new legislation in January 1946 was blocked in March 1946 by Regent Archbishop Damaskinos. He followed the unanimous advice of the university rector and deans who argued that publishing such a law just days before parliamentary elections would be inappropriate. This intervention ended the attempt to purge the universities. The overall obstacles posed by the professors and the inability of successive governments to overcome them eroded the university's credibility.