its influence in the Dodecanese Islands.  The Kalymnians welcomed the Italians as liberators and as brothers but their hopes were quickly shattered as the great powers couldn't or wouldn't enforce a fair solution.  The Italian occupation became particularly cruel during the fascist years. In the decade of the 1930's many leading Kalymnian citizens were imprisoned and banished from the island. The teaching of Greek as a language was banned from all schools and Kalymnians like the rest of the Dodecanese people under Italian occupation were considered second class citizens with no real substantial human rights.  The men of the island were always ready to pick a fight with the well armed fascists.  Confrontations were frequent and often broke out into violence.  During the second world war, after the fall of Italy in 1943, the island was conquered by the Germans.  A new reign of terror began as Kalymnos was forced to abandon the allies. On the 7th of March 1948 the unification of the island with the rest of Greece was made official.  Finally, the yearning to be reunited with Greece, after many centuries of struggle and sacrifice, had become reality for the Kalymnian people.