Global InformationAxis occupation of Greece information
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (December 2014) |
| Occupation of Greece by Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria | |
|---|---|
 The three occupation zones. Italian German annexed by Bulgaria. The Italian zone was taken over by the Germans in September 1943. | |
 1941. German soldiers raising the German War Flag over the Acropolis. It would be taken down by Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas in one of the first acts of resistance. | |
 1944. Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou and others on the Acropolis after the liberation from the Nazis |
The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers (Greek: Η Κατοχή, romanized: I Katochi, lit. 'the occupation') began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany invaded the Kingdom of Greece to assist its ally, Italy, in their ongoing war that had started in October 1940. Following the conquest of Crete, the entirety of Greece was occupied starting in June 1941. The occupation of the mainland lasted until Germany and its ally Bulgaria withdrew under Allied pressure in early October 1944, with Crete and some other Aegean islands being surrendered to the Allies by German garrisons in May and June 1945, after the end of World War II in Europe.
Fascist Italy had initially declared war and invaded Greece in October 1940, but had been pushed back by the Hellenic Army into neighboring Albania, which at the time was an Italian protectorate. Nazi Germany intervened on its ally's behalf in southern Europe. While most of the Hellenic Army was located on the Albanian front lines to defend against Italian counter-attacks, a rapid German Blitzkrieg campaign took place from April to June 1941, resulting in Greece being defeated and occupied. The Greek government went into exile, and an Axis collaborationist government was established in its place. Greece's territory was divided into occupation zones run by the Axis powers, with the Germans administering the most important regions of the country themselves, including Athens, Thessaloniki and strategic Aegean Islands. Other regions of the country were run by Germany's partners, Italy and Bulgaria.
The occupation reduced the Greek economy and brought hardships to the Greek civilian population.[1] Much of Greece's economic capacity was destroyed, including 80% of industry, 28% of infrastructure (ports, roads and railways), 90% of its bridges, and 25% of its forests and other natural resources.[2][3][4] Along with the loss of economic capacity, an estimated 7-11% of Greece's civilian population died as a result of the occupation.[5][6] In Athens, 40,000 civilians died from starvation and tens of thousands more died from reprisals by Nazis and their collaborators.[7]
The Jewish population of Greece was nearly eradicated. Of its pre-war population of 75–77,000, around 11–12,000 survived, often by joining the resistance or being hidden.[8] Most of those who died were deported to Auschwitz, while those under Bulgarian occupation in Thrace were sent to Treblinka. The Italians did not deport Jews living in territory they controlled, but when the Germans took it over from them, Jews living there were also deported.
The Greek Resistance was formed during this occupation. These resistance groups launched guerrilla attacks against the occupying powers, fought against collaborationist Security Battalions, and set up espionage networks. By late 1943 the resistance groups began to fight amongst themselves. At the end of occupation of the mainland in October 1944, Greece was in a state of political polarization, which soon led to the outbreak of the Greek Civil War. The subsequent civil war gave an opportunity to many prominent Nazi collaborators to escape punishment because of their anti-communism, and to eventually rule postwar Greece after the communist defeat.[9][10]
The Greek Resistance killed 21,087 Axis soldiers (17,536 Germans, 2,739 Italians, 1,532 Bulgarians) and captured 6,463 (2,102 Germans, 2,109 Italians, 2,252 Bulgarians), compared to the death of 20,650 Greek partisans and an unknown number captured.[11]
- ^ Martin Seckendorf; Günter Keber; u.a.; Bundesarchiv (Hrsg.): Die Okkupationspolitik des deutschen Faschismus in Jugoslawien, Griechenland, Albanien, Italien und Ungarn (1941–1945) Hüthig, Berlin 1992; Decker/ Müller, Heidelberg 2000. Reihe: Europa unterm Hakenkreuz Band 6, ISBN 3822618926
- ^ "The Math of Mass Starvation and Murder: Germany in Greece During World War II". Archived from the original on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
- ^ "Τα ερείπια της γερμανικής κατοχής στην Ελλάδα (μέρος 2ο)". news247.gr. 26 October 2011.
- ^ "Οι μεγάλες καταστροφές και το γερμανικό χρέος στην Ελλάδα μέσα από ντοκουμέντα". Newsbeast.gr. 5 March 2015.
- ^ "Council for Reparations from Germany, Black Book of the Occupation (In Greek and German) Athens 2006 pp. 1018–1019" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
- ^ Gregory, Frumkin. Population Changes in Europe Since 1939, Geneva 1951. pp. 89–91
- ^ Mazower (2001), p. 155
- ^ Munoz, Antonio J. The German Secret Field Police in Greece, 1941–44, Jefferson: MacFarland & Company, Inc., 2018, p. 95. ISBN 9781476631042
- ^ Giannis Katris, The Birth of Neofascism in Greece, 1971 ISBN 9789600200980 pp. 40–42
- ^ Andreas Papandreou, Democracy at Gunpoint (Η Δημοκρατία στο απόσπασμα)
- ^ "Council for Reparations from Germany, Black Book of the Occupation (in Greek and German), Athens 2006, pp. 125–126" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2016.