1 May 1944 Kaisariani executions

Nazi war crime The 200 of Kaisariani (1 May 1944) Kaisariani skopeftirio 1.jpg Memorial at the Kaisariani shooting range 1944 05 01 Executions Reprisal for the killing of Major General Franz Krech by Greek Resistance forces, Anti-communism Nazi occupation authorities 200 3rd Athens Cemetery On 1 May 1944, 200 Greek communists (el Οι 200 της Καισαριανής, The 200 of Kaisariani), known as the 200 of Kaisariani, were executed at the firing range of the Athens suburb of Kaisariani by the Nazi occupation authorities as reprisal for the killing of a German general by ELAS forces in Laconia. The executions were a seminal event of the Greek Resistance against the Axis forces, and the 200 are remembered as heroes in Greece to this day. Background Greece had been under the dictatorial and fiercely anti-communist Metaxas Regime since 4 August 1936. Members of KKE were persecuted and put in prison, chiefly in the Akronauplia and Corfu prisons, or sent to internal exile in small islands. On 28 October 1940, Ioannis Metaxas rejected an ultimatum imposed by fascist Italy to surrender, committing Greece to the Allies and bringing the country into World War II. Metaxas died on 29 January 1941 during the Greco–Italian War. With the German invasion of Greece and the start of the Axis Occupation of Greece in April 1941, the communist prisoners were placed under German control. Following the Italian surrender in September 1943, most of the communist prisoners, formerly held in the Italian-run Larissa concentration camp, were moved to Haidari concentration camp in the northwestern suburbs of Athens.November 2017 Execution of the 200 communists thumb|A pamphlet announcing "the execution of 200 communist prisoners in Kaisariani, on May 1, 1944 in retaliation for the killing of a German general. Greek voluntary corps executed also 100 communists on their own initiative." On 27 April 1944, ELAS partisans ambushed and killed the German general Franz Krech and three other German officers at Molaoi in Laconia. As a retaliation, the German occupation authorities announced via proclamation the execution of 200 communists on 1 May, as well as the execution of all males found by the German troops outside their villages on the Sparti–Molaoi road. In addition, the German proclamation reported that "under the impression of this crime, Greek volunteers on their own initiative killed a further 100 communists". Inside Hitler's Greece: The Experience of Occupation, 1941-44 Mark Mazower 1995 United States Yale University Press 0-300-08923-6 226 registration https://archive.org/details/insidehitlersgre00mark/page/226 http://www1.rizospastis.gr/story.do?id=1247153 https://archive.today/20150130034707/http://www1.rizospastis.gr/story.do?id=1247153 dead 30 January 2015 Οι 200 εκτελεσμένοι κομμουνιστές στην Καισαριανή Rizospastis 30 April 2002 14 February 2015 el On 30 April, the news of the impending executions spread in the Haidari camp. Camp commandant Fischer called the workshop foremen, all former Akronauplia inmates, and asked which of the other prisoners could replace them, ostensibly as they would be moved to a different camp the next day, along with the inmates of the Chalkis prison. Interpreting this "move" as a cover for their execution, all Akronauplia prisoners said their goodbyes to their comrades, and an impromptu farewell party was held in cell block 3 of the camp. http://www.haidari.gr/Default.aspx?tabid=217&language=el-GR https://web.archive.org/web/20150924024623/http://www.haidari.gr/Default.aspx?tabid=217&language=el-GR dead 24 September 2015 Η εκτέλεση των διακοσίων - Πρωτομαγιά του 1944 Haidari Municipality 14 February 2015 el On the next morning, the Chalkis inmates were moved from the camp on trucks. Camp commandant Fischer then held a roll call and selected the 200 prisoners to be executed—almost all the former Akronauplia inmates (ca. 170), the former exiles in Anafi and a few who were imprisoned by the Germans. According to eyewitness accounts, the prisoners reacted with defiance, singing the Greek national anthem, the Dance of Zalongo song, and the song of the Akronauplia prisoners, even as the trucks arrived to take them off. The 200 prisoners were brought to the Kaisariani rifle range, where they were executed in batches of twenty. The corpses were buried in the 3rd Athens Cemetery. Among the executed were Napoleon Soukatzidis and Stelios Sklavainas (known for the Sophoulis-Sklavainas pact agreement before the war). Photographs In mid February 2026, the first known photographs pertaining to the Kaisariani executions were listed on eBay;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/21/greece-recovers-long-lost-photos-nazi-may-day-executions-athens-kaisariani 'We can see that courage': Greece recovers long-lost photos of Nazis' May Day executions Smith Helena The Guardian 21 February 2026 21 February 2026 subsequently, the Greek government stated its belief that the photos were authentic, designated them as a monument, and expressed its intention to acquire them.Becatoros Elena https://apnews.com/article/greece-nazi-germany-execution-photos-a630c4cf5401216e7ea9aa95505aef2a Greece will seek to obtain Nazi execution photos offered for sale online Associated Press Athens Associated Press 2026-02-16 Within hours of the existence of the photos becoming widely known, the commemorative marble plaque with the names of the victims in Kaisariani was vandalised, allegedly by far-right extremists. The auction was suspended and after negotiations, it was later announced that that the Greek State had acquired a collection of 262 photos dating from the German occupation, among which those from the executions.Papadopoulos Giannis https://www.kathimerini.gr/society/564102286/velgos-emporos-molis-syneiditopoiisa-tin-ethniki-anisychia-anesteila-ti-dimoprasia/ Βέλγος έμπορος: «Μόλις συνειδητοποίησα την εθνική ανησυχία ανέστειλα τη δημοπρασία» Kathimerini Athens Kathimerini 2026-02-28 The photos, some marked "Aten 1.5.44", are believed to have been taken by Hermann Heuer, a Wehrmacht lieutenant who was a Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda photographer.May 2026 Commemoration Film adaptation In October 2017, the movie To Teleftaio Simeioma ("The Last Note") by the acclaimed Greek director Pantelis Voulgaris, was released. It focuses on the story of the 200, with the German camp commandant, SS captain Karl Fischer (André Hennicke) and the Greek political prisoner and interpreter Napoleon Soukatzidis (Andreas Konstantinou) as the main characters. http://www.kathimerini.gr/931958/article/politismos/kinhmatografos/apokalyyh-h-nea-tainia-toy-voylgarh Αποκάλυψη η νέα ταινία του Βούλγαρη Aimilios Charbis Kathimerini 28 October 2017 31 October 2017 el Memorial events Already during the occupation period, there were movements to honor the memory of those executed. On May 17, 1944, a unit of 100 ELAS adartes laid a wreath at the site of the execution. When on 1 May 1950 the celebration of the International Workers' Day was permitted for the first time since 1936 (the Metaxas Regime abolished it soon after), it was held at the Kaisariani shooting range. The crowd demanded amnesty for political offenses and the release of the over 20,000 political prisoners still held on the island Makronisos and elsewhere following the Greek Civil War.Hagen Fleischer Authoritarian Rule in Greece (1936–1974) and its Heritage olpKYhgrS48C 237 y Jerzy Borejsza Klaus Ziemer Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes in Europe: Legacies and Lessons from the 20th Century Berghahn Books 2006 1-57181-641-0 246 Every year, the political parties of the Greek Left organize events in their memory, while the Municipality of Kaisariani organizes the SOUKATZIDEIA road races. thumb|Alexis Tsipras laying down red roses at the Kaisariani Memorial. On 26 January 2015, the newly elected leftist Prime Minister of Greece, Alexis Tsipras, visited the shooting range and laid roses on the memorial to the executions, as his first act after being sworn in. The move was widely interpreted as a symbolic gesture of defiance towards Germany and its role in the Greek government-debt crisis. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/26/alexis-tsipras-greece-syriza-kaisariani-nazi-german Alexis Tsipras pays homage to Greek communists at site of Nazi atrocity Helena Smith The Guardian 26 January 2015 14 February 2015 On his June 1987 visit to Greece, German President Richard von Weizsäcker chose the Kaisariani Memorial to commemorate the victims of World War II occupation in a move regarded with skepticism by conservative circles of both the Greek and German administrations. While there, Weizsäcker also mentioned the names of some other places in Greece where the German Wehrmacht had perpetrated massacres: Kalavryta, Distomo, Kleisoura, Kommeno, Lyngiades, and Kandanos.Hagen Fleischer Der lange Schatten des Krieges und die griechischen Kalenden der deutschen Diplomatie Bz_nUZuA8h8C 205 y Chryssoula Kambas Hellas verstehen: deutsch-griechischer Kulturtransfer im 20. Jahrhundert Böhlau Verlag Cologne 2010 205 de On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the execution of the 200 fighters, a major event-concert was organized on April 6, 2024, at Kaisariani by KKE, with the participation of Maria Farantouri and Fotini Velesiotou. The event was also attended by Magda Fyssa, mother of the murdered Pavlos Fyssas, to whom Maria Farantouri dedicated the emblematic song To gelasto paidi. A large concert at the Kaisariani Shooting Range, with the shocking photographic documents as a backdrop, was organized on April 25, 2026 by KKE, under the artistic direction of Giorgos Dalaras, with a selection of songs by great composers, poets and lyricists. The songs were performed by Fotini Velesiotou, Yiannis Dionysiou, Pantelis Thalassinos, Violeta Ikari, Vangelis Korakakis, Natassa Bofiliou, Giota Nega, Giorgos Dalaras, Miltos Paschalidis, Aspasia Stratigou, Kostas Triantafyllidis, " Common Mortals ". References 30em See also EAM (Greece) Battle of Kokkinia Executions of Kokkinia Kalavryta massacre Distomo massacre Category:1944 in Greece Category:1944 conflicts Category:Massacres in 1944 Category:Nazi war crimes in Greece Category:Massacres in Greece during World War II Category:Violence against men in Greece Category:Anti-communism in Greece Category:Greece in World War II Category:May 1944 in Europe Category:People executed by Nazi Germany by firing squad Category:Communists executed by Nazi Germany Category:Greek people executed by Nazi Germany Category:Massacres committed by Nazi Germany Category:Kaisariani Category:Reprisals