Eighty-two years after the mass execution of 200 Greek communist fighters by the Nazis at the Athens' Kaisariani Shooting Range, photographs said to depict the victims’ final moments have surfaced for the first time. The images were discovered in an album listed in an online eBay auction by a seller based in Belgium.
According to available information, the album appears to have belonged to a German officer who served in a unit stationed in Malakasa, in the outskirts of Athens, during the Occupation.
Their emergence has reignited debate, both over the authenticity of the material and over the ethical implications of commercially trading historical documents linked to wartime atrocities.
The execution, carried out on May 1, 1944, remains one of the darkest episodes of the Nazi Occupation in Greece. The vast majority of those executed were political prisoners, members and cadres of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), held at the Haidari camp. The mass killing was allegedly carried out in retaliation for the assassination of a German general and his accompanying officers, as well as for the wounding of German soldiers during an attack in Molaoi, Laconia.
The photographs of the last moments of the 200 of Kaisariani reveal the moral greatness of the communists — They must be acquired and returned to where they belong
The
Press Office of the CC of the KKE has issued the following statement:
“The photographs that have recently come to light and depict the final
moments of the 200 communists, members and cadres of the KKE, prior to
their execution by the Nazi occupiers at the Kaisariani shooting range
on May Day 1944, constitute historical evidence and documents of
inestimable value. If a everything indicates, these photographs are
authentic, they are the only photographic historical record of this
immense sacrifice, a symbol of the heroic struggle of our people and an
integral part of the history of the KKE.
They capture the moral greatness of the communists who marched
towards their deaths unbowed, with unshakeable faith in the just cause
of the struggle for a world free from oppression and exploitation. They
serve as a source of inspiration for younger generations at a time when
the clouds of a generalized imperialist war are once again gathering
ominously.
Their value, therefore, cannot be measured in monetary terms. They do
not belong in the marketplace, in private collections, or in online
auctions with uncertain outcomes.
A serious historical and moral issue thus arises. It is the
responsibility of the state to acquire these documents and return them
to where they rightfully belong: the EAM National Resistance Museum of
the Municipality of Kaisariani, the Municipality of Chaidari, and the
KKE, so that they may be accessible to the people and the youth as a
source of historical knowledge and inspiration for the present and the
future.
On the basis of the above, the KKE will immediately submit a specific proposal regarding the utilization of these documents.”
Statements were also issued by the communist mayors of Chaidari and
Kaisariani —the places of detention and sacrifice of the 200 communists—
who, among other things, emphasized:
"We believe that these rare historical documents have no place in any
online sale, auction, or private collection as a personal 'trophy'. It
is therefore the responsibility of the state to acquire them and return
them to the Museum of National Resistance of the Municipality of
Kaisariani, the Municipality of Chaidari, and to the historical archive
of the Communist Party of Greece, of which the 200 were members and
cadres."
inter.kke.gr
