mnimeio-kalavryta — “…Two soldiers dragged 35-year-old Georgios Georgantas by his feet, pulling him out from the pile of dead bodies. “They dragged me four or five meters away,” he recalls. “They gave me the coup de grâce. The bullet pierced my cheek and severed half my tongue. For two years, I couldn’t eat or drink normally. I drank water like a dog.”.

The massacre in Kalavryta

After the Italians surrendered in September 1943, the Germans realized that they would have to finish the job on their own.
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so they became more barbaric and ruthless than ever before
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In Perigiali, a coastal village in Corinthia, the 117th German Parachute Division, under General Karl von Le Suir, was stationed at that time
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the guerrilla war in the Peloponnese instead of diminishing, was becoming more and more intense.
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the Germans couldn't imagine it
that the Ragheads,
as they contemptuously call the ragged ELAS fighters,
Instead of decreasing, and despite the hardships, their numbers continued to grow.
writes Major Vazaios:
«During the winter of 1943–1944, the 50% guerrilla unit was completely without shoes, and most of the men were wearing summer uniforms without cloaks.».
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So 100 Germans leave Perigiali to clear the passes connecting Patras with Tripoli.
only instead of cleaning up the «barefoot vagrants,» they clean themselves up...
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Hitler's invincible army is crushed by barefoot and starving guerrillas,
who brought 60-year-old weapons, such as grenades, which fired old but deadly bullets.
The armament was supplemented by weapons from the heroic era, which they had inherited from their grandfathers, or even sabers or swords from the old Ottoman cavalry!
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And yet, with this equipment and this attire, they defeat the Germans, who suffer heavy losses: 20 dead and 77 taken prisoner…
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negotiations begin for the rebels to release the Germans and, in return,
the Germans should also let some Greeks go free
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The Germans are stalling in the negotiations, while at the same time they have released some prisoners and are searching for the captives alongside the rebels.
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The Hellenic Police officers realize this and are demanding an immediate response.
The Germans launched an operation in Mazeika, but found neither guerrillas nor prisoners.
But since they had gone all the way to Mazeika, they decided to kill some local farmers just to get things started
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the ELASites are outraged and execute the German prisoners
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and then the Germans launch an attack on the entire mountain range of Kalavryta.
is the famous «Operation Kalavryta» (Unternehmen Kalavryta)
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from whichever village the German divisions pass and until they reach their destination they spread fire and death
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burn the villages
Rogers,
Kerpine,
Upper and Lower Zachlorou,
as well as at the Monastery of Megalo Spilaio, and they execute a total of 150 villagers...
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It's just the hors d'oeuvre,
the main harvest of the chariot will come when they reach Kalavryta
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on 13 December 1943, Monday, the beasts enter Kalavryta
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make sly promises that they are only looking for rebels and the inhabitants have no reason to fear
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Some people, who were initially persuaded by the Hellenic Police to flee to the mountains, ultimately put their faith in the Germans’ promises and are RETURNING…
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then by order of the German commander, he gathers the entire population in the central square.
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There, they separate all men aged 13 and above,
and led them to a sloping site called
«Rachi tou Kapis» (Back of Kapis),
while women and children under the age of 13 were locked in the school.
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At the same time, other detachments of German soldiers and Greek battalion soldiers start looting and destroying the houses of the village...
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At noon, at 2:34 p.m.
(the clock of the town church remains stopped to this day),
A flare dropped from the city gave the signal.
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The thirty-five German soldiers wielding the shotguns and machine guns begin to mow down the prisoners.
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The killers finish their work with mercy shots....
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At the same time, they're setting fire to the houses in the village, but that's not enough for them.
the killers also set fire to the school where the women and children had been trapped.
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Scenes of insanity follow.
women break school windows and throw children out.
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Finally, they open the door and start running.
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And yet that death sentence wasn't enough for them
Anyone who had survived the bullets and the fire was bound to die of cold and hunger.
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So they began to methodically burn down every space, house, or barn within a large radius.
steal anything that might be useful
and destroy anything that could prolong life in the world during winter.
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A total of approximately 1,000 houses are burned down.
They steal over 2,000 goats and sheep and 260 million drachmas.
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the death toll will exceed 1,000 in the wider region...
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what inhumanity...!!!!!
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It is one of the greatest crimes of World War II in its entirety.
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PS. 1800 traitors participated in the Kalavryta massacre.
came from the security battalions
from Laconia,
the region of Ilia
and Corinth,
while groups of guards were also transferred from Thebes and Megara.
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PS2. WHEN WERE THE COLLABORATORS, THE TAGMATASFALITES, THE GERMANS' ACCOMPLICES, EVER BROUGHT TO JUSTICE?,
those who participated in the crimes in Kalavryta,
ON THE CONTRARY, many of them went on to hold positions in the government after the war…
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P.S. 3. Read the captions under the pictures