Hellenic National Monuments 4

Germany occupied Greece during WWII. Troops were based in key locations, such as at Patras. From there, they made occasional forays into the rugged mountains.

The Italians were also in Greece, but after they surrendered to the Allies in September 1943, the Germans extended their occupation.

There were Italian soldiers in the Kalavryta area. After the Italians left the German soldiers warned the villagers not to permit the Greek resistance to operate out of the village.

However, as soon as the Germans left, the Resistance moved in. The people of the village were frightened and pleaded with the partisans not to make Kalavryta a target of the Germans by basing a their headquarters in the village. They promised the resistance that they would offer support to the fighters, just don't locate in the village. The Resistance refused the request.

On October 16, 1943, a column of German troops moved up from the coast into the interior. They were ambushed by partisans, pinned down and took casualties. Some were captured. The resistance put the captives in various villages around Kalavryta.

There were also three wounded Germans. The resistance decided they were a burden and killed the wounded prisoners. True the prisoners were soldiers, and this was a guerilla campaign where the resistance did not have many resources to spend on wounded. Yet, this was a serious violation both of the rules of war and of common sense.

"Victory is not always gained with weapons. Sometimes we can crush the opposition with kindness or with a deed of generosity, acting contrary to the severe dictates of war. In this case, the Resistance lost the opportunity for such a beautiful victory."

The Germans wanted their men back and they threatened reprisals on the villages if the captives were not released. They enlisted the local Orthodox metropolitan to carry their message. A representative of the metropolitan approached the Resistance leaders. He entreated with the Resistance leaders to let the prisoners go. He pointed out that when reprisals were exacted, the Resistance would be gone and innocent villagers would bear the suffering. The request was refused for all the usual reasons: concern for loosing face, the brutality induced by the horrors of war, the undeniable cruelties of the Nazis.

After several exchanges, the negotiations fell apart without resolution. Thus, was set the context for a tragedy

http://www.theplaka.com/kalavryta/ ( D.Kaldiris)

KALAVRYTA

(December13,1943)
Due to partisan activity around the town of Kalavryta in southern Greece, a unit of the German army 'Kampfgruppe Ebersberger ', surrounded the town on the morning of Monday, 13th Dec. All the inhabitants were herded into the local school. Females and young boys were separated from the men and youths, the latter being marched to a hollow in a nearby hillside. There the soldiers took up positions behind machine-guns. Below, they witnessed the town being set on fire. Just after 2pm, a red flare was fired from the town. This was the signal for the soldiers to start firing on the men and youths who were huddled in the hollow. At 2.34pm, the firing stopped and the soldiers marched away. Behind them lay the bodies of 696 persons, the entire male population of Kalavryta. There were 13 survivors of the massacre, the town itself totally destroyed, only eight houses out of nearly five hundred, left standing. It was not until late afternoon that the women and young boys were released to face the enormity of the tragedy. Today a memorial stands on the site of the massacre on which are carved the names of 1,300 men and boys from Kalavryta and nearby villages who were murdered that day. (Around 460 villages were completely destroyed and approximately 60,000 men, women and children were massacred during the occupation).

http://www.thisisfolkestone.co.uk/ms/info/massacresingreece.htm

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