A great response

I recently came across Dimitrios Papandreou, who was the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, making him the head of the Greek Orthodox Church. He served from 1941 to 1949.

He was almost the only major religious figure in occupied Europe who called out the Nazis for their persecution of Jews. He wrote a public letter which stated:

In our national consciousness, all the children of Mother Greece are an inseparable unity: they are equal members of the national body irrespective of religion… Our holy religion does not recognize superior or inferior qualities based on race or religion, as it is stated: ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek’ and thus condemns any attempt to discriminate or create racial or religious differences. Our common fate both in days of glory and in periods of national misfortune forged inseparable bonds between all Greek citizens, without exemption, irrespective of race

This obviously angered the Nazis, so the local SS Commander threatened to execute him by firing squad. The reply was:

According to the traditions of the Greek Orthodox Church, our prelates are hanged, not shot. Please respect our traditions!

A great man.