Share and Follow
The grim tale of a Nazi-led massacre in Greece, where even hardened soldiers were reportedly overwhelmed by the bloodshed, has resurfaced with the recent unveiling of photographs that capture the chilling event. This tragic episode occurred on May 1, 1944, in Kaisariani, a suburb of Athens, as a brutal reprisal for the assassination of Nazi general Franz Krech, along with three of his aides, by Communist guerrilla fighters just days before.
While the massacre has been extensively documented in historical records, these newly released images provide a haunting glimpse into the final moments of the 200 Greek prisoners who were executed. The photographs depict lines of men, stoically standing against a wall, moments before being led to their deaths by Nazi forces.
The SS had meticulously prepared a list of those condemned to die, and in the early hours of the morning, these prisoners were transported from the Haidari concentration camp. They were then taken to a secluded ravine on Mount Hymettus by Wehrmacht lorries, where the executions took place in swift and brutal fashion.
Images show groups of men lining up against wall as they are shepherded to a shooting range by their Nazi occupiers, who brutally killed them seconds later.
A death row list had been drawn up at SS headquarters and prisoners were taken from Haidari concentration camp early in the morning and shuttled to a ravine on the side of Mount Hymettus by Wehrmacht lorries.
Many of the victims managed to write letters to their loved ones and threw notes out into the streets of Athens.Â
The executions, regarded as one of the worst atrocities carried out by the German’s during their three-year occupation of Greece, took four hours as Nazi guards shot men 20 at a time, leaving the ‘soil with no time to suck up all the blood’ according to one witness.
They forced prisoners to load their dead comrades’ bodies into cars, before being lined up and shot themselves.
Haunting images show groups of men lining up against a wall as they are shepherded by their Nazi occupiers to a shooting range in the Kaisariani suburb of Athens
The 12 pictures appear to show the last seconds before 200 Greek Communists were executed on May 1, 1944
One man (left) appears to defiantly raise his hand moments before his execution, while others are seen lined up against the wall
That was repeated ten times until just after 10am, when not a single prisoner was left. Â
Horrified onlookers, many of whom were family and friends of the victims, gathered and watched helplessly from the hillsides.
One witness, Rita Boumi-Pappa, who lived metres from the shooting range, described Nazi guards fainting as they murdered men in batches.
She wrote: ‘The slaughter lasted four hours. The Austrians of the first firing squad could not stand it anymore and sometimes fainted.
‘This enraged the head German officer who twice replaced them with more composed soliders.’
Others told of how prisoners defiantly sang the Greek national anthem and the Internationale, a communist international anthem, as they were led to their death.
Among the dead was trade unionist Napoleon Soukatzdis, who spoke German and acted as a translator.
Hailed as a hero, the Nazis offered to spare him but he refused and joined his comrades.
Previously unseen pictures showing the massacre were listed for auction on eBay on Saturday by a collector of Third Reich memorabilia.Â
One image shows men being marched to their death. The pictures are thought to have been taken by Guenther Heysing, a journalist attached to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels’s unit
Another image shows men being marched into the shooting range, after discarding their overcoats outside
They are said to have originally come from the personal album of German lieutenant Hermann Heuer, Greek media has reported.
Guenther Heysing, a journalist attached to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels’s unit, is ‘highly likely’ to have taken the pictures.Â
One image shows men being marched into the shooting range, after discarding their overcoats outside.Â
The Greek Ministry of Culture said it is ‘highly likely that these are authentic photographs’.
The ministry said it was sending experts to Ghent, Belgium, to examine the photos and to talk to a collector of Third Reich memorabilia who had put them on sale on eBay on Saturday.
Greece was occupied by Nazi Germany between 1941 and 1944, a period marked by several atrocities against villagers and its Jewish community, who were decimated.
More than 40,000 people are believed to have starved to death in Athens alone.
The Communist-led Greek People’s Liberation Army (ELAS) was among the most active resistance organisations in occupied Europe.
Many Communists had also been persecuted during anti-Communist raids by the police of Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas.
Some of the pictures show groups of the men marching through a field, and standing against a wall at the shooting range.
Although the executions were well known, there has been no known photographic documentation of the event until now
‘This is the first time we have an image from inside the shooting range at the moment of the execution…a major moment of the Greek resistance movement,’ historian Menelaos Haralambidis told state TV ERT.
‘And it confirms the testimony we have, that these men headed (to their deaths) with their heads held high, they had incredible courage,’ Haralambidis said.
Until now, the only testimony of the 200 victims’ final moments were from handwritten notes they had thrown out of the trucks taking them to their execution.
Most of the men had been arrested years earlier by Ioannis Metaxas.
The Greek Communist KKE party, which called the trove ‘priceless’ on Monday said it had tentatively identified at least two of the men in the photographs.
‘These documents belong to the Greek people,’ the party said.
‘I feel grateful that we were given the opportunity for my grandfather’s story to become known to everyone, a man who remained faithful to his beliefs until the very end,’ Thrasyvoulos Marakis, the grandson of one of the men identified in the photographs, said in a letter.
The Greek culture ministry said it was ‘highly likely’ that the photographs were taken by Guenther Heysing, a journalist attached to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels’s unit.
‘If the authenticity and lawful provenance of the collection are documented, the Ministry of Culture will immediately finalise measures for its acquisition,’ it said.