Figure 1.--This was an armed boy of the 'Aetopoula" group'. He is 15-year-old Louis Petropoulagos, who was born in Cleveland Ohio and spent his boyhood there. His family returned to Greece in 1936, not a very wise choice. We are not sure just why. |
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The Greeks did not submit meekly to Axis (German, Italian, and Bulgarian) occupation and Ressistance groups soon fornmed. From the earliest period of the occupation, ressistance groups began to organize. The Greeks were, however, divided into feuding political factions, including monarchists, Communists, democrats, and others. Greece's contentious political parties were unable to work together against the Germans. The Communists played an especially importanf role in the Greek resistance. One group of political leaders, trade unionists, communists and others approved the National Liberation Front (EAM) and a military branch (ELAS). Other parties set up theie own resistance organizations. The two most important were the EKKA and EDES (National and Social Liberation and National
Greek Democratic League). Leaders of ELAS, EKKA and EDES were former officers in the Greek army. They thus organized armed resistance to the Germans. Attacks on the Germans and Italians were conduced in the countryside and cities. Guerrillas in the country side were a rugged lot made up of farmers, herdsmen and others including from often remote, mountainous regions. Most were poorly armed, but carried out constant if low-level attacks that tied down a substantial German force. Most guerrilla units operated in samll groups that the Germns found fifficult to hunt down. The Resiatance was especially active in the countryside. The Germans and Italians found that it difficult to track down the guerillas. The German reaction was brutal beyond description. Normally large numbers of Greek civilians were executed for every German killed. The ratio varried. To expedite these reprisals, the Germans often arrested civilians in advance who could then be convemiently executed. There were also reprisals on villages in the country, but these envolved major operations. The Germans carried out brutal reprisals in both the country side and cities, usually executing men and women unconnected to the attacks. Strikes and sabotage of all nature were organized. There was some coopertion between the diffrent Resistance groups. The most prominant joint action was the ELAS and EDES attack on the Gorgopotamos bridge in November 1942. This seriously complicated military supply lines and destroyed substantial quantities of military supplies. The Wehrmacht was forced to divert 50 battalions to Greece despite the desperate need on the Eastern front in the Soviet Union. The Hellenic Patriotic Society in Rigopoulos transmit radio reports leading to the sinking 55 Axis vessels. The war and the experience of the occupation threw traditional family roles into question as women became breadwinners and children took up arms. NAZI reprisals were severe.
The Germans after defeating the Greeks and British, divided Greece into three occupation zones. The Germans zone included western Macedonia, Thessaloniki, a strip of land in eastern Thrace, the major Aegean Islands and Crete. The Bulgarians zone included eastern Macedonia and Thrace. The Italian zone included the Dodecanese Islands, the Ionian Islands, and a large section of mainland Greece including Athens. The Greeks did not submit meekly to the Axis (German, Italian, and Bulgarian) occupation that followed the German invasion (april 1941). The German invasion secured Germany's southern flank. protecting the Romanian oil fields and the invasion of the upcoming Soviet Union. The occupation also provided a source of food, raw materials, and forced labor to support the German War effort. The appropriation of food to supply Germany severly reduced the domestic supply in Greece, creating a famine in which thousands died, mostly children that were orpahaned as a result of the occupation.
There was little initial organized ressistance to the German and Italian occupation forces. This was in part because of the Greek Communists. The Communists were to prove the stronest force in the Resistance. This was uin part because they were organized around cells and had considerable experiece in covert operations. At the time of the invasion, however, Stalin and the Soviet Union as a result of the 1939 Non-Agression Pact was a virtual ally to the NAZIs. At the time Stalin who erercized considerable control over Communist Parties throuighout Europe, was going to great length not to take any action that would provoke Hitler and the NAZIs. The Soviets were delivering large quantities of oil, food, and other resources needed for Germany's war economy. There were isolated acts of defiance from the beginning of the occuoation. The Greeks after centuries of occupation by the Ottomons have developed a spirit of defiance to foreign invaders. This was the tradition of the Tourkokratia: antartes = kleftes. One of the first such act was on May 31, 1941, the German flag was torn down on the Akropolis in the center of Athens.
The world gasped with NAZI armies poured into the Soviet Union, totally transforming the course of the War. The invasion had a major impact on the Resistance in Greece and the other occupied countries. Stalin issued orders for the Communists to begin active resistance against the Axis occupation forces.
Greek resistance groups began to form soon after the onset of the occupation. From the earliest period of the occupation, ressistance groups began to organize. Effective resiatance, however, did not begin until 1942. The Greeks were, however, divided into feuding political factions, including monarchists, Communists, democrats, and others. Greece's contentious political parties were unable to work together against the Germans. The Communists played an especially importanf role in the Greek resistance. One group of political leaders, trade unionists, communists and others approved the National Liberation Front (EAM) and a military branch (ELAS). Other parties set up theie own resistance organizations. The two most important were the EKKA and EDES (National and Social Liberation and National Greek Democratic League). [Manzower] Leaders of ELAS, EKKA and EDES were former officers in the Greek army. They thus organized armed resistance to the Germans.
Primeminister Churchill, partly because of his South African experience in the Bohr War was a strnong proponent of aiding the Resistance forces in occupied Europe. The British Special Operations Executive became directly involved in the resistance movement from a very early period. British Colonel C.M. Woodhouse worked with the Resistance grous to coordinate attacks with the Allied War effort. He worked to obtain cooperation between the different Resistance groups and leaders like Zervas and Ares. Ares in particular was generally reluctant to cooperate.
The Saltadoroi were Greek boys, rarely the girls, who resiusted the Germans in theor own way. They engaged in various activiities such as stealing their food, fuel, eqyioment, etc. Their motivation was not just resistung the Germans. Greece was a poor country toi befin with. The sail is not for the most part highly fertile, but rather rocky. And the ciuntry was not self succuent in food. The Germans made the situation worse by their standard practice of seizing d=food and shipping it back to the Reich. The result was a terrible famine. So the boys were strongly motivated to pilfer from the Germans for thenselves and their families. As dangerous as it was, hunger and misery are strong motivaring factors. These boys were also known as the barefoot batallion. There is no verifiable data on this, neither the vboys or the vGerman were taking notes.
Attacks on the Germans and Italians were conduced in the countryside and cities. One of the major assignments of the Resistance was to cut the Athens-Thessaloniki rail link and disrupt Axis supply lines. The Resistance workng together on November 25, 1942, blew up the Gorgopotamos bridge, achieving that objective. It was to be the only major combined attack of the different Resistance groups. Guerrillas in the country side were a rugged lot made up of farmers, herdsmen, and others including from often remote, mountainous regions. Most were poorly armed, but carried out constant if low-level attacks that tied down a substantial German force. Most guerrilla units operated in samll groups that the Germans found difficult to hunt down. The Resistatance was especially active in the countryside. The Germans and Italians found that it difficult to track down the guerillas. The Resistance employed extreme violence in the defense of their country, including actions of questionable moral nature. [Manzower] Only the viciouness of the NAZIs provides a rationale. Some Resistance attacks were spectacular. The resistance movement on Creete, for example, abducted the German commander, General Kreipe, in 1944.
The Germans and Italians never took security measures needed to protect their military operations, supply convoys, and anti-gureilla operations. This was in part because they were intent to use Greek labor and the Greek economic output to support the German War economomy. Both the Germans and Itlalians hired large numbers of civilians hired to work in
troop areas and on military installations. For the most part only minimal cursory security investigation were run. And for many laborers there were often no security investigatins at all. Thus large numbers of Greek workers had access to areas where they could observe troop movements and supply opperations. They could easily observe the extensive preparations preceding an important operation. Also storage facilities for fuel, ammunition, and other military stores were easily acquired by Resistance operatives. These civilians were paid by the Greek colaborationist Government as part of the economic levy imposed on the Greeks. As a result, the Germans and Italians occupation forces with their resources linited by the demands of the Eastern Front relied heavily on the local labor force. Another securu\ity breach was that military commanders were reluctant to take steeos to separate their troops from the local civilian population. This was both to maintain morale reasons and in part of the NAZI policy of exploiting the conquered countries. Occupation personnel were allowed to buy consumer goods for their own use as well as to ship them home. This provide still more opportunities for security breaches.
The German reaction was brutal beyond description. I am unsure to what extent the German and Italian reprisals, if any, differed. One historian argues that the German occupation forces prepared or trained in occupation and counter-insurgency tacticsAs a result, they were ill-prepared to conduct an effective counter-insurgeny campaign against the partisans. The German tactics consisted largely of hostage-taking, reprisals, and collective punishments. The Germans attempted to cow villagers by mass
executions. These shootings were based on a policy of collective civilian responsibility for Resistance operations. While these policies could and were used to compile a large body count, they did not achieve the objective of defeating or stopping the Resistance. Normally the German reprisals fell on civilians that had little or no connection to the Resistance. The reprisals did, however, create new recruits for the Resistance. [Mazower] There wer many actions against Greek villages near Resistance actions. One especially vicious action was the masacre of the villagers at Komeno (August 1943). Normally large numbers of Greek civilians were executed for every German killed. The ratio varried. To expedite these reprisals, the Germans often arrested civilians in advance who could then be convemiently executed. There were also reprisals on villages in the country, but these envolved major operations. The Germans carried out brutal reprisals in both the country side and cities,
usually executing men and women unconnected to the attacks.
The Resistance became especially significant in the Balkans after the Italian Governmenr sued for peace in 1943. The bulk of the Italian forced in the Balkans were Itlalian. Not only did the Wehrmacht have to commit more units from the hard pressed Eastern Front, but important quantities of arms and supplies fell into the bhands of the Resistance. Some Italian soldiers even joined the Resistance. The Wehrmacht was forced to divert 50 battalions to Greece despite the desperate need on the Eastern front in the Soviet Union. This not only were units that could not be deployed in the Easterern Front against the Red Army, but were units which could not be used on the Atalntic Wall agianst the Western Allies. The Hellenic Patriotic Society in Rigopoulos transmit radio reports leading to the sinking 55 Axis vessels.
The war and the experience of the occupation threw traditional family roles into question as women became bread winners and children took up arms. NAZI reprisals were severe.
Mazower, Mark. i>Inside Hitler's Greece: The Experience of Occupation, 1941-1944 (Yale University Press, 1993), 437p.
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