One of the most “politically minded” Jews in the Resistance was born on 17 January 1916 in Trikala. She was the second daughter of David Felous and Marika Koen, whose first born was called Louiza (1914) and the last Ilias (1920). The turbulent era in which she grew up and the family’s involvement with the KKE shaped her political consciousness from a very young age. An uncle, Raphael Felous, served as KKE secretary in Trikala in the 1920s and was one of the instigators of the massive demonstration of Trikala farmers in February 1925. The family fled to Volos, where Allegra joined the Young Communist League of Greece (OKNE) and married businessman Raphael Kapetas. During Metaxas’ Dictatorship (1936-1940), she was exiled to Kimolos and Folegandros islands, along with prominent KKE members. Her first cousin, Minas Kambelis, died in exile on Agios Efstratios island in 1941.
With the collapse of the front in 1941, the exiles on Folegandros fled to Athens and involved themselves in the reconstruction of the KKE. Allegra participated in illegal proceedings of the KKE Central Committee’s sixth session which declared armed resistance against the occupiers. After the establishment of EAM on 27 September 1941, she was sent to her hometown, where she was active in the creation of EAM organisations in western Thessaly. From 1942 to 1944 she travelled throughout Central Greece, establishing organisations and serving as secretary of the National Solidarity in Thessaly. In 1945 she was elected a member of the KKE Central Committee.
During the civil war, Allegra shared the fate of the Greek communists. In 1945 she married Dr Takis Skyftis from Volos, former surgeon in the I ELAS Division, and together they fled to the mountains. She was responsible for women and political commissar in the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE) in Thessaly, together with Charilaos Florakis. In 1949 she took the path of political exile to East Germany. She returned in the 1970s. Until her death in February 2011, she was involved in political activities and historical debates about the 1940s.
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