Shooting in Sfagia ( Greek Η εκτέλεση στα Σφαγεα Θεσσαλονκη ) - the execution of 50 people of the Greek civilian population, committed on July 2, 1943 in Sfagia , during the triple, German-Italo-Bulgarian, occupation of Greece, during the Second World War . One of the most famous mass executions committed during the years of occupation in the (today's) line of the Macedonian capital, the city of Thessaloniki .
Content
Background
Greece was one of the European countries where the partisan movement gained wide scope during the Second World War . With the beginning of the triple occupation of Greece, the Communist Party of Greece took the initiative to develop the widespread resistance movement , creating in September 1941 the National Liberation Front of Greece (EAM), which then set about creating the People’s Liberation Army of Greece (ELAS). The railway and highway network of this mountainous country was constantly subjected to attacks by ELAS partisans.
In response to the actions of the Greek partisans, the usual practice of the occupying authorities was shooting at the sites of attacks and sabotage, or residents of nearby settlements [1] , or hostages from among political prisoners and concentration camps [1] .
Prisons and camps acted here as “sources of blood” [2] / providers of death row hostages. The most famous camp of this kind in Central Macedonia was, in the words of the writer Anna-Maria Drumbuki, of “disgusting glory” [3] the Pavlos Melas camp in Thessaloniki .
Pavlos Melas Concentration Camp
The Pavlos Melas camp was created by the Turks in 1881, as the barracks of the Ottoman army located in Thessaloniki. After the liberation of the Macedonian capital by the Greek army in 1912, the camp came under the control of the Greek army and was named after one of the most famous Macedonians, i.e. fighters for the reunification of Macedonia with Greece, Pavlos Melas. The largest building of the camp was a long A2 building. Perpendicular to it was another building, which formed a right angle with A2, thus creating the central area of the camp. Former prisoners also used the former stables of the military camp. Most of the prisoners were men accused or suspected of participating in the Resistance and members of the Communist Party, which did not exclude the presence of women with children among prisoners, as well as Jews.
And after the executions, the number of prisoners in this “reservoir of suicide bombers” did not decrease and was replenished by those arrested during punitive operations. The prisoners were treated as hostages, their death was used as a warning, but their lives could simultaneously be a deterrent factor for the guerrilla attacks [4] The camp constantly acted as a “source of blood” for the repressive measures of the invaders. The first batch of suicide bombers was sent back in October 1941 for a demonstrative execution by hanging in the village of Kalokastro, Serres , Central Macedonia , where guerrilla units were already operating [5] .
Shooting in Sfagia
Unlike the Greek capital, where most of the shootings were carried out at the shooting range of the northeastern suburb of Caesariani , in Thessaloniki, the Wehrmacht’s command alternated executions in a dozen places within the city and suburbs. One of the places of execution was elected and the industrial coastal region of Sphagia located in the west of the city. Actually, the district itself received the name from a meat-processing plant located there before the war (Σφαγεία / Sfagia in Greek means slaughterhouse). There is no unequivocal answer if and which of the operations of the Greek partisans caused this execution. The closest and most noticeable operation in the region of Macedonia - Thessaly , which could “justify” the shooting, was the defeat of the German column of the so-called “Eberline Group”, perpetrated by the partisans of the People’s Liberation Army in the Sarantapporo gorge on 21 June. Two days later, on June 23, another German column passing through Sarantaporo informed the German command of the complete defeat of the column of the Eberline Group [4] .
According to other sources, the murder of the commandant of Nausa in Central Macedonia on July 1 was the reason for this execution. In response to the actions of the Greek partisans and in order to intimidate the population, the occupation authorities decided to shoot 50 "communists and convicted criminals" - 32 from the Pavlos Melas camp and 18 from the prison in Epicepigio's Thelonikos fortress. [6] .
The shooting took place on July 2 at the Papageorgiu brick factory. According to the post-war publication of the Macedonia newspaper of April 9, 1945, two suicide bombers tried to escape before being shot, one of whom succeeded. On the contrary, the publication of the Communist Party, in addition to the date of the shooting on July 1, cites a list of 52 people shot. The publication of the Communist Party also indicates the names of a group of 3 more people shot in Thessaloniki on this day, but not related to the shooting in Sfagia [7] .
Of these “50 Communists,” the Communist Party’s publication confirms that two (K. Tsamutalidis and G. Nalpantidis) have been members of the party since the pre-war period, and Nalpantidis has also been in the leadership of the party organizations of Macedonia [7] .
Among the suicide bombers were two priests - Archimandrite Joachim (Lyulyas) and the priest Apostolis Telkas of Florina. The latter was guilty because his son was a partisan [1] .
Metropolitan Dionysius of Trikki (Charalambus) , also a former prisoner of the Pavlos Melas concentration camp, later wrote that Archimandrite Joachim "was given special care by the occupants" - he was not ryas and was unrecognizable of the beatings. However, he walked with pride, holding his head high, topped with curly black hair. Psalms sang unceasingly and beautifully and prayed [8] . And addressing suicide bombers, he cried out: “Brothers, we are dying for a holy purpose.”
On July 4, the occupation newspaper New Europe wrote: “50 communists and convicted criminals were shot for the atrocities committed by the communist gangs against the occupying forces” [9] .
The age of the executed “communists and criminals” ranged from fifteen (schoolboy A. Yalamidis) to sixty-two years old (K. Fahantidis).
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Έπεσαν για τη Ζωή, Τόμος τέταρτος Ά , Έκδοση της Κεντρικής Επιτροπής του Κομμουνιστικού Κόμματος Ελλάδας, Αθηνά 1998
- ↑ https://parallaximag.gr/parallax-view/stratopedo-pavlou-mela-mistika-ke-pse
- ↑ https://media.public.gr/Books-PDF/9789605450465.pdf
- ↑ 1 2 [1]
- ↑ https://www.efsyn.gr/nisides/178984_pogkrom-ekteleseon-apo-toys-nazi-sti-thessaloniki
- ↑ https://www.mixanitouxronou.gr/adelfia-pethainoume-gia-iero-skopo-o-arximandritis-kozanis-ioakeim-lioulias-pou-epese-mazi-me-allous-49-patriotes-sto-ektelestiko-apospasma -ton-germanon-stin-katoxiki-thessaloniki /
- ↑ 1 2 Έπεσαν για τη ωή, Τόμος τρίτοςς Ά, Έκδοση της Κεντρικής Επιτροπής του Κομμουνιστιτ μματςςςάάάΑΑΑΑΑΑΑύύύύύύΚόΚόΕΕΕΕΕΕΕΕ πιτταρ
- ↑ Μάρτυρες, έκδ. Εράς Μονής Κοιμήσεως Θεοτόκου Βυτουμά Καλαμπάκα, σελ.51
- ↑ Ο ΦΟΡΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΑΙΜΑΤΟΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΚΑΤΟΧΙΚΗ ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΗ, σελίδα 169-170, ISBN 960-374-144-2