Nikitidis, Nikos

Nikitidis was born in 1916 . Grew up in the village of Megali Vrisi (until 1927 Armutchi ^[1] ) the Greek nominee Kilkis of Central Macedonia , in a refugee family of the Asia Minor catastrophe from Pontus . Most Pontic refugees from the village came from the border village of Karaurgan in the Russian Kars region , from the village of Khotar in the region of Sevastia ( Sivas ) and the village of Simikli in the region of Argyroupolis ( Gumyushkhan ). Considering that in the future his name “Kolya” (Nikos) became a partisan name in Russian, Nikitidis was most likely born in the Russian Kars region. At a young age, he became a member of the Communist Youth of Greece (ΟΚΝΕ). We do not have the dates of his studies at the flight school, but in the Greco-Italian War (1940-1941) he fought as a pilot in the Greek Air Force . Subsequently, the nickname “pilot” became one of his partisan pseudonyms.

The Greek army repelled the Italian attack and transferred hostilities to the territory of Albania. This forced Hitler Germany to intervene, which came to the aid of its Italian allies. With the beginning of the triple, German-Italian-Bulgarian occupation, Nikitidis joined one of the first partisan detachments of Greece. Less than a month after the fall of Crete , on the initiative of the Greek Communists and retired officers, one of the first partisan detachments in the country was created in Central Macedonia , named Afanasy Dyak, hero of the Liberation War of Greece . Nikitidis was among its first 52 organizers and fighters. One of the first steps of the detachment was the collection of weapons of the Greek army hidden by the population. Subversive operations and small-scale battles followed, against the Bulgarian and German occupation forces. However, this activity of the detachment and the destruction of the bridge in Muries was enough to provoke retaliatory measures by the invaders, who in October 1941 shot the male population of the villages of Muries, Ambelofit and Risan and wiped these villages from the face of the earth ^[2] .

At the same time, in the same region a detachment named after Odysseus Andrutzos was created and operated. In 1942, the “Athanasius Dyak” and “Odyssey Andrutzos” detachments united and joined the People's Liberation Army of Greece (ELAS). Towards the end of the war, Nikitidis became commander of the 2nd battalion of the 13th ELAS regiment.

Fight for the city of Kilkis

The battle for the city of Kilkis on November 4, 1944, was one of the last and bloodiest battles for that war for ELAS. The ELAS compounds lost 126 soldiers killed and 230 wounded in the battle for Kilkis. Up to 9,000 collaborators from all over Greece gathered at the junction of the borders of Greece, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. Having led their German allies into the territory of Yugoslavia, collaborators dug in the city of Kilkis, awaiting the arrival of British forces there. The main positions of their defense were the height of 371 St. George, the barracks, the city hospital, the tobacco depots of Siropoulos, schools. The collaborators refused to surrender to the local ELAS forces. In order to take the fortified city by the command of the Group of Divisions of Macedonia (Ομάδα Μεραρχιών Μακεδονίας), a special unit was formed from the forces of IX, Χ and XΙ divisions. The 2nd battalion of the 13th regiment, commanded by Nikitidis, was included in this formation ^[3] . The battle lasted from 5.30 to 16.30 (approximately) and ended with the complete defeat of collaborators and the liberation of the city. Surrendered collaborators did not wait just three weeks before an open military clash between ELAS and the British . In subsequent years, monastic governments presented claims to the command and fighters of the ELAS, which, in their opinion, showed “excessive cruelty” towards the collaborators. The battalion of Nikitidis excelled in battle, especially his 6th company. This was an additional reason for the post-war persecution of Nikitidis.

Like other Communists and members of the Resistance, Nikitidis was persecuted by the monarchists in the post-war period, called the period of "White Terror". The persecuted communists and former members of the Resistance took refuge in the mountains, where they began to arm themselves and organize self-defense units. The first armed self-defense unit in the north of Central Macedonia appeared at the end of 1946, a few months after the outbreak of the Civil War (1946-1949). After the creation of the Democratic Army of Greece and its General Staff on October 28, 1946, the Headquarters of Central Macedonia was also created. On August 27, 1948, after a large-scale battle in the Grammos Mountains, the regional partisan headquarters were abolished and divisions were created instead. In Central Macedonia, the VI Division was created, which consisted of the 20th and 132nd brigades. Nikitidis took command of one of the battalions of the 20th Brigade. From September 1948 to March 1949, the 20th Brigade operated from the Halkidiki Peninsula to the northern border of Greece, after which it was forced to maneuver and break through to the west, into the Belles Mountains ^{[4] [5]} .

Head of the Democratic Army Officer College

Most of the officers of the Democratic Army, especially junior officers, did not have a military education and received their military ranks on the battlefield. In order to increase the level of military knowledge of its officers, the Democratic Army created, at its general headquarters, the “Officer School of the General Staff” (Στρατιωτική Σχολή του Γενικού Αρχηγείου - ΣΑΓΑ). In reality, these were courses lasting several months. The first four so-called The “ranks” (graduates) of the school were based in the Grammos mountains. The subsequent “rows” were based (or rather covered) on the isthmus of Lemos, between the lakes Prespa and Mikra Prespa . From the beginning of November 1948 until the breakthrough of the 20th Brigade to the west, Nikitidis was recalled from the brigade and headed the “5th row” of the Officers' School in the village of Lemos. “Row” totaled 620 cadets. It is noteworthy that the historian T. Gerozisis, in his 3-volume book “The Corps of Officers and Its Place in Modern Greek Society (1821-1975),” considered the partisan nickname Nikitidis “Kolya” as his last name, and mentions him with the rank of lieutenant colonel, in Hellenized form, with two “l”, under the name Kollas, and, unlike other officers of the school, without a name ^[6] . Studying at the School did not exempt cadets from battles. Among other things, for the General Staff, the School was its only reserve. Only after 3 weeks after Nikitidis took over the leadership of the School, on November 20, one of the school's battalions made a deep raid into the rear of the army of monarchists, from Prespa to Mount Sinyatsiko. In the third decade of December, the “5th row” of the school launched an attack on the height of Bikovik, north of the western Macedonian city ​​of Kastoria . The cadets suffered serious losses killed and wounded, but could not take the height. Besides the fact that the operation itself was hastily prepared, one of the objective reasons for the failure was the lack of ammunition and military equipment for the cadets to conduct military operations at a temperature of minus twenty-eight and with a snow layer 1-1.5 meters high. “5th row” continued his studies, the release of new junior lieutenants took place in the third decade of January 1949.

School Raid and the death of Nikitidis

In early February 1949, two “6th row” battalions were formed. The training became even more intense, as the General Staff was preparing an operation to occupy the city of Florin . The attempt to occupy Florina was unsuccessful. The Democratic Army suffered the greatest losses in this operation since the start of the Civil War. The cadets of the School suffered significant losses. After the Florinsky operation, the cadets returned to their base and continued their studies at an intensive pace. At the same time, with the arrival of cadets from remote regions, the school was transformed into a combat brigade. Nikitidis (Kolya) became the commander of this brigade. In mid-March, the command of the School and its battalions received orders to make a deep raid to the Smolikas massif and occupy the village of Drosopigi (Kantsiko) in Epirus . On March 19, Alexandros Rocios arrived at the headquarters of the School and took command of the cadet brigade, while Nikitidis became his deputy. The brigade marched at midnight. After 13 night crossings, the brigade reached the Smolikas massif, completing its tactical task, which, to the surprise of the army of monarchists, was the re-engagement of the Democratic Army. The brigade headquarters went to the village of Kantsiko. Nikitidis with small forces remained at the fork of Tamburi. In the ensuing battle near Kantsiko, the head of the School, Nikos Nikitidis (Kolya), died “with a gun in his hand”, and the director of the school curriculum, Georgios Samaridis , also died “with a gun in his hand”. The school commissioner, Zisis Zokas , was wounded by a mine bomb ^{[7] [8]} .