On Saturday, October 11, 2025, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) held a powerful and deeply symbolic memorial on the island of Gyaros, known as the “island of death,” where thousands of communists and leftists were imprisoned, tortured, and martyred for their political convictions.
The visit served both as a tribute to those who endured unimaginable suffering and as a reaffirmation of the living continuity of their struggle.
A large delegation of the KKE Central Committee, including Politburo members Themis Gionis, Kostas Paraskevas, and Thodoris Chionis, led the commemoration. From the moment the boats approached the desolate island, participants chanted slogans of defiance that once echoed through the prison yards: “Neither in deserted isles nor in prisons, the communists ever bent,” and “Do not expect us to bow even for a moment.”
At the heart of the ceremony, wreaths were laid at the monument erected by the KKE in 2019 in honor of the political prisoners and martyrs of Gyaros. The main address was delivered by Fanis Parris, member of the KKE Central Committee and head of the Party’s Historical Archive. His speech vividly recounted the history of the prison and the unyielding courage of the men and women who endured persecution for the cause of socialism.
During the ceremony, the ashes of Mitsos Papadimitriou, a veteran of the people’s movement and long-time political prisoner on Gyaros, were scattered in the surrounding sea, fulfilling his final wish to rest among his comrades. Papadimitriou had been imprisoned on the island multiple times—after the Civil War, during the dictatorship, and again following the 1973 Polytechnic uprising—yet he remained steadfast to the ideals of the working-class struggle.
Gyaros: The Island Where Two Worlds Clashed
In his speech, Parris described Gyaros as the place “where two worlds clashed—the world of exploitation, repression, and capitalist power against the world of struggle, solidarity, and socialist ideals.”
Gyaros was used as a prison for political opponents from 1947 to 1952, again from 1955 to 1961, and during the 1967–74 military dictatorship. Thousands of militants of the National Liberation Front (EAM), the Greek People’s Liberation Army (ELAS), and the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE), along with ordinary workers, youth, and sympathizers of the KKE, were exiled there. At one point, nearly 10,000 political prisoners were held on the island, while over 18,000 passed through its gates during its operation.
Conditions were brutal: the absence of water, extreme hunger, torture, and constant humiliation were part of daily life. The prisoners themselves built the massive stone prison under forced labor, often working with dynamite and primitive tools under harsh supervision. Officially, 22 comrades were buried on the island, though many more deaths occurred and were concealed by the authorities.
Despite the barbarity, the prisoners of Gyaros never surrendered. They organized collectively, studied Marxism, held secret classes and cultural activities, and even wrote clandestine works such as “Gioura – The Bloody Bible”, later published abroad by the KKE. Their discipline, solidarity, and revolutionary morale turned a place of terror into a fortress of political and moral strength.
Parris stressed that remembering Gyaros is not merely a historical act but a living political duty. “We draw strength from their example,” he declared, “because the same forces that built the prison of Gyaros—those who exploit, oppress, and silence the people—still hold power today.”
He underlined that the struggle continues not only to preserve memory but to fulfill the vision for which the prisoners of Gyaros gave their lives: the struggle for socialism and the abolition of man’s exploitation by man.
As the ceremony concluded, comrades toured the prison building—its damp stone walls and narrow cells still bearing witness to the cruelty of the class enemy and the unbreakable spirit of those who defied it.
At the heart of the ceremony, wreaths were laid at the monument erected by the KKE in 2019 in honor of the political prisoners and martyrs of Gyaros. The main address was delivered by Fanis Parris, member of the KKE Central Committee and head of the Party’s Historical Archive. His speech vividly recounted the history of the prison and the unyielding courage of the men and women who endured persecution for the cause of socialism.
During the ceremony, the ashes of Mitsos Papadimitriou, a veteran of the people’s movement and long-time political prisoner on Gyaros, were scattered in the surrounding sea, fulfilling his final wish to rest among his comrades. Papadimitriou had been imprisoned on the island multiple times—after the Civil War, during the dictatorship, and again following the 1973 Polytechnic uprising—yet he remained steadfast to the ideals of the working-class struggle.
Gyaros: The Island Where Two Worlds Clashed
In his speech, Parris described Gyaros as the place “where two worlds clashed—the world of exploitation, repression, and capitalist power against the world of struggle, solidarity, and socialist ideals.”
Gyaros was used as a prison for political opponents from 1947 to 1952, again from 1955 to 1961, and during the 1967–74 military dictatorship. Thousands of militants of the National Liberation Front (EAM), the Greek People’s Liberation Army (ELAS), and the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE), along with ordinary workers, youth, and sympathizers of the KKE, were exiled there. At one point, nearly 10,000 political prisoners were held on the island, while over 18,000 passed through its gates during its operation.
Conditions were brutal: the absence of water, extreme hunger, torture, and constant humiliation were part of daily life. The prisoners themselves built the massive stone prison under forced labor, often working with dynamite and primitive tools under harsh supervision. Officially, 22 comrades were buried on the island, though many more deaths occurred and were concealed by the authorities.
Despite the barbarity, the prisoners of Gyaros never surrendered. They organized collectively, studied Marxism, held secret classes and cultural activities, and even wrote clandestine works such as “Gioura – The Bloody Bible”, later published abroad by the KKE. Their discipline, solidarity, and revolutionary morale turned a place of terror into a fortress of political and moral strength.
Parris stressed that remembering Gyaros is not merely a historical act but a living political duty. “We draw strength from their example,” he declared, “because the same forces that built the prison of Gyaros—those who exploit, oppress, and silence the people—still hold power today.”
He underlined that the struggle continues not only to preserve memory but to fulfill the vision for which the prisoners of Gyaros gave their lives: the struggle for socialism and the abolition of man’s exploitation by man.
As the ceremony concluded, comrades toured the prison building—its damp stone walls and narrow cells still bearing witness to the cruelty of the class enemy and the unbreakable spirit of those who defied it.
