1943 Greek protests against labour mobilization

none 1943 Greek protests against labour mobilization the Greek Resistance against the Axis occupation 22 February – 5 March 1943 Athens, Greece German plans for forcible labour mobilization of Greek workers in Germany Cancellation of labour mobilization Cancellation of labour mobilization, downfall of Konstantinos Logothetopoulos and appointment of Ioannis Rallis Civil disobedience, civil resistance, demonstrations, burning of records, labour stoppages Greek collaborationist government, German and Italian occupation authorities Greek students, civil servants, war veterans, spontaneous or organized by the National Liberation Front Konstantinos Logothetopoulos Nikos Ploumbidis In February–March 1943, a series of large-scale protests took place in Athens against the intended forcible mobilization of occupied Greece's labour force for work in Nazi Germany. The protests, organized spontaneously or by the National Liberation Front (EAM), led to repeated clashes with the occupation troops and the collaborationist Greek police that left several dead. As a result of the protests, especially those of on 24 February and 5 March, the forced labour mobilization was never implemented in Greece. The protests, stoppages and other acts of civil disobedience alarmed the Germans about EAM's increasing influence; the collaborationist prime minister, Konstantinos Logothetopoulos, who was perceived as too weak by the Germans, was replaced by Ioannis Rallis in April, paving the way for a concerted anti-communist drive on behalf of the collaborationist government. Background Forced labour under German rule during World War II thumb|right|Map of the Axis occupation zones in Greece in early 1943 Faced with increasing manpower shortages in its war industry, and the regime's reluctance to draft German women for ideological reasons, Nazi Germany early on resorted to the use of foreign labour.Mazower 1993 74 This search for manpower intensified in 1942, in the aftermath of the Germans' first major defeat in the Battle of Moscow, a fact highlighted by the appointment of Fritz Sauckel as General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment in May 1942.Kochanski 2023 250Mazower 1993 74 In the event, over 8.4 million labourers were forcibly recruited in occupied and allied countries, while over 4.5 million prisoners of war were likewise employed.Haralambidis 2023 68–69 Although Greece had been occupied by Germany and its Axis allies since April–May 1941, by late 1941, only 550 Greek workers were registered in German factories, compared to over 14,600 from Germany's ally Bulgaria, and 109,000 from conquered Yugoslavia.Mazower 1993 74 Efforts to boost voluntary enlistment began in Greece in early 1942, in the German-occupied zone around Thessaloniki. Based on the high unemployment, the Germans hoped to enlist some 25,000 workers there, and a similar number in the Greek capital, Athens.Hatziiosif 2007 206 Initial turnout was very low, forcing German authorities to resort to a combination of civil mobilization, threats that those who did not come forward voluntarily would be sent as auxiliaries to the Eastern Front, as well as an extensive press campaign highlighted the equal pay and insurance with the German workers, the much better food supply in Germany compared to Greece (which had just experienced a catastrophic famine), and the right of free transportation of families to Germany. Those who accepted were sent off with pomp in ceremonies highlighting their contribution to defending Europe from "Asiatic barbarism".Mazower 1993 74–75Hatziiosif 2007 206 Overall, these efforts were judged a failure: by the end of 1942, only 11,977 Greeks had moved to Germany, 20% of them women, intended to work as chambermaids or domestic assistants rather than in factories.Hatziiosif 2007 207 The failure was due to a combination of factors: on the one hand, the Greek bureaucracy was not eager to help the scheme, so that Sauckel had to send one of his own men to supervise the drive; while those who were summoned to be recruited usually refused to be sent to Germany.Mazower 1993 75 At the same time, the drive was hampered by the generally poor physical condition of prospective candidates due to the malnutrition and diseases ravaging the country as a result of the occupation, the fear of spreading infectious diseases to Germany, and the lack of adequate labour for German industrial interests in Greece itself. Even those Greeks who reached Germany quickly acquired a reputation as unmotivated, quarrelsome, and more trouble than they were worth.Mazower 1993 75–78Hatziiosif 2007 206 Protests Since early January 1943, rumours were circulating about the imposition of forced labour conscription in Greece. To calm such fears, the recently appointed prime minister of the collaborationist government, Konstantinos Logothetopoulos, issued an "unequivocal denial" on 12 January that such plans were being made.Grigoriadis 2011 312 However, on 30 January 1943, the German commander-in-chief in the Balkans, Alexander Löhr, issued a decree ordering the obligatory registration of all Greek males aged 16 to 45 for labour "away from their permanent place of domicile...in communal groups in camps, if necessary".Fleischer 2020 61Haralambidis 2023 70 While the decree was not published until 23 February, rumours of it continued to gain intensity.Grigoriadis 2011 312 The decree did not explicitly stipulate work outside Greece, this was widely assumed—at this stage likely incorrectly—by the Greek population to be the case,Fleischer 2020 62Haralambidis 2023 70 leading to the outbreak of unrest, especially in the capital, Athens.Mazower 1993 115 On 7 February, the funeral of a student killed in a demonstration in December became the occasion for a gathering of 500 students. Further protests followed, with an alarming participation of civil servants: on 9 February, civil servants gathered to protest outside the building where the collaborationist government was meeting, and strikes were declared in the Bank of Greece, the Municipality of Athens, the Ministry of Finance, private banks, the post, and public transport.Mazower 1993 115 The demonstration movement gained momentum, reaching a peak in late February. After municipal employees went on strike on 22 February,Mazower 1993 116 and with an even larger demonstration planned for the 24th, on 23 February Logothetopoulos tried to intimidate public employees by threatening that anyone who would participate in demonstrations would be tried not by a Greek court, but a German military tribunal.Haralambidis 2023 70 This had little effect: on 24 February, a massive crowd of students, civil servants and workers protested in central Athens, while staff at several hospitals went on strike to protest the food supply situation.Mazower 1993 116 The protesters converged on the Old Royal Palace, where Logothetopoulos had his office. The size of the demonstration caught authorities clearly off guard, as protesters managed to enter the building and even reach Logothetopoulos' office, leading to the police opening fire on them, killing a disabled veteran of the Greco-Italian War.Haralambidis 2023 70–71 The bulk of the demonstrators moved on the Ministry of Labour, which was guarded by Italian Carabinieri. The Italians opened fire on the crowd, but could not prevent demonstrators from entering the building and setting its first two floors on fire, along with the records that would have been useful to the civil mobilization.Mazower 1993 116Grigoriadis 2011 313 The clashes left three dead and 40 wounded protesters;Grigoriadis 2011 313 the death of a university student of his wounds prompted demands that lessons be suspended.Mazower 1993 116 thumb|Mounted Italian Carabinieri charge against demonstrators in central Athens The events of 24 February prompted the collaborationist Interior Minister, Anastasios Tavoularis, to demand the forcible dissolution of any protest by arms, and threatened any member of the police or gendarmerie who hesitated to do so with severe penalties.Haralambidis 2023 71–72 On 25 February, the staff of the Telephone Company, which was under direct German supervision, went on strike. German troops arrived at the main telecommunications building and arrested over 200 employees and shut them in the basement, but they managed to escape while the Germans awaited the arrival of paddy wagons.Grigoriadis 2011 313–314 Even school students went on strike, over several days, resulting in the death of one of them at the hands of the Carabinieri.Grigoriadis 2011 314 On 27 February, Kostis Palamas, revered as Greece's national poet, died. His funeral, held on the next day, drew an enormous crowd, and turned into a public demonstration of defiance of the occupying powers, whose representatives were greeted by the crowd with the Greek national anthem and shouts of 'Long Live Freedom'.Mazower 1993 117–118Grigoriadis 2011 309–312 On the same day, following a call by the leftist National Liberation Front (EAM) for a general strike, about 3,500 demonstrators gathered in the central Omonoia Square, with placards attacking the Axis.Mazower 1993 116 Anti-Axis sentiment came more and more to the open: Italian reports claimed that a church mass was concluded with shouts of 'Long Live Greece' and 'Long Live the Red Army', while at the neighbourhood of Kypseli disabled war veterans interrupted the service to harangue the congregation against civil mobilization.Mazower 1993 116 On 3 March, a German armoured column paraded through Athens in an attempt of intimidation, but without success: a general strike of all civil servants was declared for the next day.Grigoriadis 2011 314 Finally, on 5 March, EAM called for another general strike. Despite the snow and bitter cold, some 100,000 demonstrators gathered in central Athens at 11:00, with banners denouncing civil mobilization and the collaborationist government.Mazower 1993 118–119Fleischer 2020 62 The demonstration again headed for the Ministry of Labour, where they were confronted by police, which opened fire, killing five and wounding about fifty demonstrators,Mazower 1993 119 but the crowd, armed with pieces of wood and stones, again managed to penetrate the building's two lower floors, which were set on fire, completing the destruction wrought on 24 February.Grigoriadis 2011 314Haralambidis 2023 73–74 Other demonstrators stormed the Athens City Hall to burn the electoral rolls.Mazower 1993 119 According to German records, 65% of all civil servants as well as most students had obeyed EAM's call for a general strike; the government had to pre-emptively close all ministries for five days.Mazower 1993 119 Similar demonstrations in Piraeus on the same day cost the lives of three demonstrators,Grigoriadis 2011 314 while protest marches also took place in Thessaloniki, Volos, Kalamata, Sparti, and Corinth. https://www.902.gr/eidisi/istoria/288749/9-3-1983-prin-40-hronia-kato-i-politiki-epistrateysi 9/3/1983 - Πριν 40 χρόνια: Κάτω η πολιτική επιστράτευση! 902.gr 9 March 2022 Greek 8 September 2024 Aftermath In order to calm matters, on the next day, 6 March, Logothetopoulos issued a proclamation attributing the riots to communist subversion, but conceded that no civil mobilization was planned, and that no workers would be deported to Germany for labour. This was confirmed by the widely esteemed Archbishop of Athens, Damaskinos.Grigoriadis 2011 314–315Mazower 1993 118 This was a significant victory over the occupation authorities,Mazower 1993 120 making Greece the only occupied country to avoid forcible labour mobilization for work in Germany.Haralambidis 2023 76 Over 1943, only 2,653 Greek workers moved to Germany.Kochanski 2023 256 In addition, the Germans agreed to substantial pay rise of 35% in the sectors of the economy working for the German Wehrmacht, but this failed to improve the economic situation or increase labour employment in the German interests.Hatziiosif 2007 205 The atmosphere continued to be tense, and acts of defiance, protests and labour strikes continued over the next months, including a massive demonstration on 25 March, Greek Independence Day, and another EAM-sponsored general strike on 25 June.Mazower 1993 120–121 To the Axis, the alarming rise of the "communist threat" confirmed the inability of Logothetopoulos to deal with the situation: on 6 April, he was replaced by the veteran royalist, bourgeois politician Ioannis Rallis, which with German sanction began a concerted program of political and military measures to deal with EAM and the threat it posed to the established Greek social order.Mazower 1993 120Haralambidis 2023 77–80 References 30em Sources Fleischer Hagen Krieg und Nachkrieg: Das schwierige deutsch-griechische Jahrhundert War and Post-War: The Difficult German–Greek Century Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2020 Cologne de 978-341251790-8 Grigoriadis Solon Solon Grigoriadis Ιστορία της Σύγχρονης Ελλάδας 1941-1974. Τόμος 1 – Κατοχή: Η μεγάλη νύχτα History of Modern Greece 1941-1974. Volume 1 – The Occupation: The Great Night Greek POLARIS Athens 2011 1973 978-960-9487-63-4 Haralambidis Menelaos Οι Δωσίλογοι: Ένοπλη, πολιτική και οικονομική συνεργασία στα χρόνια της Κατοχής The Collaborators: Armed, Political and Economic Collaboration During the Occupation Greek Alexandreia Athens 2023 978-618-223-034-3 Η ελληνική οικονομία, πεδίο μάχης και αντίστασης The Greek economy, battlefield and target of resistance Hatziiosif Christos 181–217 el:Ιστορία της Ελλάδας του 20ού αιώνα, Γ' Τόμος: Β' Παγκόσμιος Πόλεμος. Κατοχή – Αντίσταση 1940–1945, Μέρος 2ο. History of Greece in the 20th Century, Volume III: World War II. Occupation and Resistance 1940–1945, Part 2 Hatziiosif Christos Papastratis Prokopis 2007 Bibliorama Athens 978-960-8087-06-4 el Kochanski Halik Halik Kochanski Resistance: The Underground War in Europe, 1939-1945 London Penguin Books Ltd. 2023 978-0-14-197901-4 Mazower Mark Mark Mazower Inside Hitler's Greece: The Experience of Occupation, 1941–44 1993 Yale University Press 0-300-06552-3 New Haven and London External links Antonis Vogiazos (Director & Scenario), Angelos Kovotsos (Production Director), Vaso Kanellopoulou (Producer), Petros Antaios (Scenario), Nikos Svoronos (Historical Advisor) 1987 ΧΡΟΝΙΚΟ ΤΗΣ ΕΘΝΙΚΗΣ ΑΝΤΙΣΤΑΣΗΣ, Επεισόδιο 7: ΦΟΥΝΤΩΝΟΥΝ ΟΙ ΑΓΩΝΕΣ ΣΤΙΣ ΠΟΛΕΙΣ 1943 Chronicle of the National Resistance, Episode 7: The struggle in the cities flares up, 1943 el https://archive.ert.gr/8122/ 8 September 2024 Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation 03:55–04:52, 05:55–20:05 Labour mobilization Labour mobilization Category:Greek Resistance Category:German occupation of Greece during World War II Category:Protest marches Labour mobilization Labour mobilization Category:Athens in World War II Category:National Liberation Front (Greece) Category:Nazi forced labour Category:Civil disobedience Category:1943 labor disputes and strikes Category:Labour disputes in Greece