By Sevgul Uludag
Τηλ: 99 966518
One of my Greek Cypriot readers informed me about a possible burial site in the Lapithos area, and I contacted the Cypriot Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) so that it could be further investigated.
My reader wrote, in summary, the following:
“Dear Sevgul, it’s been a while since we last spoke, but I see you on Facebook. I want to share some information I learned today. In Lapithos there is a place called ‘Oktolithari’ or ‘Oftolithari’. It is believed that around 50 Greek Cypriots were executed there in 1974. They were taken there — they were not originally there. They were brought from elsewhere to ‘Oftolithari’ to be killed and buried.
The person who told me this assumes that the authorities may already know, but it would be better to report it in case they do not. According to him, they were buried there. The original information came from a man named (…) from Lapithos (note: his name remains confidential). He passed away a few years ago. I wonder whether he shared what he knew with anyone. This is the first time I have heard of the location Oktolithari.”
He continued:
“The location ‘Oktolithari’ is near a place called Agnin and is not far from Lambousa School, about half a kilometre away. ‘Oktolithari’ lies roughly half a kilometre west of Parpa’s Spring, towards the sea. The possible burial site is at ‘Oktolithari’.
As for the Lapithos Reformatory School, it was a school for children considered to have behavioural problems (according to the standards of the time). It no longer exists. Many people know where it was because there used to be a road sign. It was located between the main road to Kyrenia and the sea. Lambousa School was also known as the ‘Reformatory’. ‘Oktolithari’ means ‘eighth stone’.”
I thank my reader for this valuable information. If you have any information about this possible burial site, you can contact me, with or without giving your name, on 99966518, or you may contact the CMP directly.
Multicultural reformatory
It was very interesting for me to discover that the school mentioned by my reader — the Lapithos Reformatory School for children who had committed offences at a young age — was in fact a multicultural institution. Turkish Cypriot, Greek Cypriot, Armenian and Maronite children attended together, receiving education as well as practical skills to help them later in life.
According to the website Michani tou Chronou (“Time Machine”), the history of the school is as follows:
In the early 1940s, Dr Sleight, director of the Teachers’ Training College in Cyprus and later Director of Education under the colonial administration, was considering ways to modernise the Cypriot education system. A pioneer with a genuine interest in education, he established various schools that were lacking on the island, such as technical and hotel schools. One of these was the Lapithos Reformatory School.
The main difficulty, however, was finding a suitable location. As Michalis Kokkinidis, a teacher and later director of the school, recounts, Dr Sleight was very familiar with the Kyrenia district. On one of his visits, he came across the old Taliadoros hotel, built on the foundations of a carob warehouse. Due to wartime hardship and the economic crisis, the hotel had never operated. For Sleight, however, this proved fortunate — he had found the site for the new school.
Although Sleight’s proposal convinced the Department of Education and the colonial government, it met resistance from the administration of Athalassa prison, where juvenile offenders had previously been sent. Their counterargument was: “If we move the young prisoners, who will take care of the animals at the Athalassa estate?”
Children working on the construction of the Lapithos Reform School
First students in 1943
In autumn 1943, the school admitted its first students. It was not yet fully equipped and lacked the necessary facilities, but this did not deter anyone. Teachers and technical staff were hired, and the children were divided into three groups according to age.
Initially, they lived in makeshift huts with their supervising teachers. Gradually, however, together with builders and carpenters employed by the school, the students began constructing the new facilities themselves.
The school’s philosophy was to provide basic education alongside vocational training, so that the children could support themselves after leaving.
The students effectively built a small community. They constructed dormitories, a large sports hall, workshops, classrooms, a kitchen and dining hall, a central building and a farm known as the “Estate”.
The school became a model institution for the area. Its staff included teachers, craftsmen, cooks and housekeepers, and, as it hosted young people from all communities in Cyprus, it was also multicultural. There was no discrimination, and respect was one of its core principles. The Lapithos Reformatory School functioned as a large family.
What set the school apart was its philosophy. As Kokkinidis explains, the aim was not to punish children for breaking the law, but to give them a second chance and help them reintegrate into society.
Not about punishment
According to Michani tou Chronou, the school had no fences, bars or gates. Kokkinidis recalls:
“The school had no fence, no bars, no doors. When new children arrived, we were very concerned and prepared for escapes. It did happen, though not often. One day, a boy ran away as soon as he arrived. But the communities of Karavas and Lapithos were aware, and whenever someone left, they would return him to us.
When the children realised how well they were treated and that our aim was not punishment but care, protection and education, they not only stayed, but during holidays some even asked to remain as volunteers. The school never closed — it operated all year round, hosted visiting parents, and when students were given leave for Christmas, Easter and summer, some chose to stay behind voluntarily to look after the gardens and animals.”
Good behaviour allowance
“The school did not operate like conventional reformatories,” Kokkinidis says. “Physical punishment was extremely rare and only administered by the director. Teachers were not allowed to raise a hand against the children.
Instead, we used other forms of discipline. Each day, teachers graded students on behaviour and progress in lessons and vocational skills. Based on these scores, students received a monthly good behaviour allowance — a kind of pocket money — in addition to a regular allowance that was saved for them until they left. If a student did not achieve the required marks, they lost this allowance. That is why all the children tried to follow the rules — it mattered to them.”
The school was also socially active. Students formed sports clubs and scouting groups and took part in events across the Kyrenia district.
The war of 1974
The Turkish invasion of 1974 brought the school’s long operation to an end. Kokkinidis recalls:
“We witnessed the invasion. We saw the planes and ships from the hill where we were. We were anxious — I won’t hide that. I sent my family to Karavas, where we had relatives, and made sure to take the children and teachers to a safer location.
Once we were sure there was some level of safety, we sent the children back to their homes. Those of us who had nowhere to go ended up in Prodromos and then Limassol. I never returned to the school. I cannot.”
The school remained closed from 1974 until 1980, when there was a proposal to reopen it. A new site was designated in Polemidia, where the Hotel School was later housed. The new Lambousa school operated on the same philosophy, but, as Kokkinidis notes, “it was not the same”.
“It was more difficult. There was not the same sense of unity. The officials of the new government were not as interested as before the invasion. They did not visit us even once. It was the government authorities who eventually shut us down in 1986.”
Note: All the photos are from the website “Time Machine” (Μηχανή του χρόνου). The article on the Lapithos Reform School: http://www.mixanitouxronou.com.cy/afieromata/to-kamari-tou-kipriakou-ekpedeftikou-sistimatos-to-anamorfotirio-pou-apotelouse-protipo-gia-tin-evropi-ta-anamorfonan-me-agapi-ke-ochi-xilo/