Mitrovic / Schuster Kalavryta 1943

War crimes committed by the German Wehrmacht
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-3-6951-5160-8
Verlag: BoD - Books on Demand
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 120 Seiten

During the Second World War, soldiers of the German Wehrmacht destroyed over a hundred places in Greece. In the process, they shot tens of thousands of Greeks, often as a so-called punitive measure. One of the most horrific crimes was committed in Kalavrita on the Peloponnese in December 1943. The events are vividly described from various perspectives. The crimes committed by the German Wehrmacht in Kalavryta are just one of many crimes committed during this war. The number of victims of the fascist regime of the NSDAP and its allies is endless, and the atrocities committed are almost unparalleled in their cruelty. And yet many still want to disavow these factually proven acts. Autocratic governments, right-wing populist and extreme right-wing movements and parties are experiencing a worldwide renaissance. In Germany, too, history is being falsified at will. Disinformation and lies, anti-Semitism and xenophobia are part of everyday life, and fascism is on the rise again. Especially in times like these, which are largely reminiscent of the Weimar Republic, maintaining a culture of remembrance is one of the most important issues alongside all the global challenges, because the past has impressively demonstrated where history can lead. Using the example of the war crimes committed in Kalavryta in 1943, this book presents a semi-documentary, but also subjectively narrated, fact-based account of the events.

Michael Mitrovic is of Serbian descent and has spent his entire professional life working in the field of language, voice and speech. He studied Slavic philology, German language and literature, Balkan studies and phonetics, and has worked as a speech therapist, early intervention teacher and translator. His publications on Greece include, among other topics, 'Das Meteora Wanderbuch' and 'Meteora - zwischen Himmel und Erde'. Both books have also been published in English under the titles 'Hiking Meteora Monasteries' and 'Meteora - Between Heaven and Earth'.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Mitrovic, Michael

Schuster, Michael

Leseproben

2 In Greek captivity (german point of view)

The whole gossip started at the beginning of September with the capitulation of the Italians. It was actually a good thing, because the locals hated the Italians, because of 1940 of course, and there had been a lot of problems. They appreciated us, on the other hand, because of our technology and our culture. At least the simple, normal Greeks did. We also hold ancient Greek culture in high esteem, we learned all about it at school. But now the communist Andarts were getting bolder and bolder. They picked on their own people, incited them against us. They were against all occupying armies, whether German or Italian. You can kind of understand that. But they got their orders from Moscow and that‘s where the fun ended! Their activities increased rapidly and, above all, they disrupted our important supply routes. In any case, the day after the Italians surrendered, we marched into the mountain village of Kalavryta and disarmed the Italian unit stationed there. Then we went back to the coast, where we spent a few quieter days. In principle, we no longer controlled the inner area of the Peloponnese and we could observe an increase in Andart activity from week to week. We had long suspected that Kalavryta in particular was a center of this activity, especially the monastery of Agia Lavra. However, the Italians had not been effective either.

In mid-October, a large-scale operation was promptly ordered to reconnoitre the area between the north coast and Kalavryta and, if possible, to confront and defeat the enemy. Our unit was assigned to reconnaissance along the rack railway from Diakofto to Kalavryta.

At 6 a.m. on October 16, we advanced south inland from the coast. Most of the villages we passed through were deserted, even the cattle had been taken away. For us, of course, this was a sign that the locals sympathized with the communists, otherwise why would they have fled from us! We only saw a few old people and children. Maybe that made us careless, maybe we felt too safe. In any case, Captain Schober ordered neither external security nor reconnaissance. We slowly descended into the Kalavryta cauldron. We could see the town lying below in the distance when we suddenly came under fire from two sides. It must have been around 4.45 pm. There was great chaos, we sought cover, tried to find out how strong the enemy was. Judging by the strength of the fire, we estimated them at around 200 men. They probably outnumbered us, but we didn‘t have any heavy weapons with us, not even radios. But the Andarts also only seemed to have rifles. After all, they were so strong that we couldn‘t leave our cover. The enemy obviously had a good view of our positions. What was to be done?

A general sense of helplessness spread. On the other hand, it was already beginning to get dark, so this could be a good opportunity to break away. When it was completely dark, we moved slowly towards the southeast, where we did not suspect any enemy forces. Continuing on our way was very risky. We were unfamiliar with the area, did not know where the dangerous narrow passages were and could be severely decimated in the event of another attack. We spent the night on a hill, it was cold, but under no circumstances were we allowed to light a fire. We could hardly sleep a wink. It was discussed that we should reconnoitre to the north-east at dawn to avoid the enemy. I was in the first platoon, just behind the reconnaissance, when it started. We only got a few hundred meters when we received fire from the north and northeast. We might be able to move further west and get out of the area of enemy fire. The terrain was difficult to access, however, and we made difficult progress. The best way was along small streams, sometimes there were well-trodden paths. The fire from behind did not diminish, it seemed as if we were being pursued.

At one point we lay in a hollow for two hours, the situation was completely unclear. We had already suffered four casualties. Now we were receiving rifle fire from two directions, from the southeast and from the west. Had the enemy received reinforcements or had they encircled us with their original forces? Our commander, Captain Schober, initially decided to try to break out in a north-westerly direction. We hoped for the element of surprise, but had not reckoned with such a strong superiority of the Andarts. In the end it was hopeless, we would all have been killed! So Captain Schober decided to surrender. At this confusing moment, ten men seem to have managed to escape. It began to dawn and they probably ran up a stream. In any case, they disappeared later and nobody knew where they were. So we hoisted a white flag and resigned ourselves to our fate. Of course we hoped that we would be exchanged quickly, Greek hostages should be held captive enough. And nobody suspected that the Andarts could seriously clash with the Wehrmacht.

Only now did we notice the overwhelming superiority of the Greeks, there must have been about 400 men, dressed adventurously, many in Italian uniforms. They had some light machine guns with them, they would certainly have shot us all. Three of us had been badly wounded in the battle, we laid them on tent tracks and got ready to march off. We had to leave the four dead men unburied. The commander of the ELAS unit that took us prisoner assured us that we would be treated well. However, the population would be very poor and even more emaciated by the occupation. We would have to make do with their standard. I mean, his name was Kapetan Michos. He seemed like a very reasonable man and we calmed down a bit. Disarmed, we marched downhill to the little town of Kalavryta. The three seriously injured comrades were taken to the hospital there. We were locked up in the elementary school. We camped on the floor and on tables and covered ourselves with our tent tracks. There was plenty of water and we still had bread and tinned food.

The next morning, Captain Schober informed us that we were forbidden to attempt an escape. He assumed that they were already looking for us and would start negotiations for an exchange. An escape attempt could end badly for everyone. If we had known that we would have to stay in captivity for seven whole weeks and still not be rescued, we would certainly have thought differently. But in the beginning there is always hope! We were now 77 men, 10 had escaped during the surrender in the mountains, 3 were in hospital. We only stayed at the school in Kalavryta for one day, then we had to march further inland, to a place called Mazeika (today‘s name: Klitoria). We were given enough to eat, but very simple food. Over the next few weeks we were put to work building roads and doing small bricklaying jobs. We were not treated badly. It was made clear to us that they had nothing against us personally, that we were good guys. But it was war, and the enemy was the enemy!

Week after week went by. We were told that exchange negotiations were underway and that it wouldn‘t be long before we were free. Towards the middle of November, when we had been in captivity for almost four weeks, we noticed a certain restlessness among the Andarts. We heard that the Wehrmacht had probably taken many thousands of hostages, but had also shot quite a few. Suddenly we were told that all negotiations for an exchange of prisoners had been broken off. On November 29, we heard an air raid in the distance, apparently on Kalavryta. Our situation had noticeably worsened.

“Your people are no good!” the Andart on guard duty had said to us, referring to the negotiators and superior departments. It was clear that something had been set in motion. They had probably been desperately looking for us, negotiating, taking hostages and after all the failed attempts, it had to go off now. Everyone was getting more nervous, you could clearly feel it. We heard that German units were approaching Kalavryta from all directions. On December 5, we heard the sound of fighting further south. The situation had changed. We had to leave immediately, via the mountain village of Kallithea to Planiterou, a larger village in the valley with a strong spring. An Englishman suddenly appeared there, a liaison officer for ELAS, as it was called. It was December 6, our fateful day. There must have been some discussions between this Brit and Kapetan Michos. The atmosphere was spooky, sometimes we were told we would be released, then again all the hatred was directed at us. I think we all felt that our fate, our very lives, were being negotiated here.

In the late afternoon, the Brit came to us, handed out a few cigarettes and made a grumpy face. He said he was sorry, but he hadn‘t been able to achieve anything for us. He was really sorry... He left the place. We were now prepared for the worst. And indeed: in the evening we were rounded up, tied together in pairs and all 77 of us were driven uphill. We often stumbled along in the dark, with four guides walking in front with a torch and four armed Andarts with torches at the back. The ascent was extremely arduous. We crossed a deserted village and came to a complete wasteland, we had no orientation whatsoever. I was walking pretty much in the middle of the bunch, tied together at the wrist with my comrade Müller.

Suddenly there was pushing and shoving from the front and behind, at the same time machine-gun barbs, shouting, rattling, sliding off rubble. I broke out in a sweat, panicked, my bowels emptied as if of their own accord. Müller stumbled and pulled me down the steep slope with him. We got caught on some branches. The noise above us continued, men were falling past us, machine...