Previously unknown photographs documenting what is considered the worst Nazi massacre in Greece during World War II have been discovered by chance on an auction website. The images depict the execution of 200 Greek communists in Kaisariani, a suburb of Athens, on May 1, 1944. The massacre was carried out by German soldiers during Germany's three-year occupation of Greece.
The photographs are believed to have been taken by a German officer. Their discovery has stirred emotions in Greece, as no known images from this massacre previously existed. At the request of Greek authorities, the auction has been halted, and the seller, a Belgian collector, has agreed to sell the photographs to the Greek state.
They give us the opportunity to depict the occupation of Greece from the occupiers' perspective.
Greek Culture Minister Lisa Mendoni stated in an announcement according to AFP: "They give us the opportunity to depict the occupation of Greece from the occupiers' perspective." The images are expected to provide new historical insight into one of the darkest chapters of Greece's wartime experience under Nazi occupation.