Late on February 28, 2023, in central Greece, a passenger train collided with a cargo train, killing 57 people. The railway company TRAINOSE had been privatized and sold to the Italian company Trenitalia — a consequence of austerity measures imposed after the financial crisis that struck the country in 2010 — while the railways of OSE stayed in public hands. The privatization, deteriorating public institutions, and entrenched corruption that went along with the killing sparked a mass movement.

One widely noted example of the mass movement that is also featured in this video is the hunger strike by Panos Ruci, the father of the victim Dennis Ruci, who was seeking authorization to exhume the remains of his 22-year-old son so that an independent determination of the cause of death could be made.

For 23 days, he maintained a presence outside parliament near the Monument of the Unknown Soldier, where supporters gathered at a spot where the victims’ names had been written on the ground in red paint and held vigils.

The young people who supported him under the name “Until the end” presented themselves as unaffiliated with political parties, unions, or other formal organizations. The hunger strike was ultimately successful, as the prosecutor granted Ruci’s request.

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