The Battle of Kokkinia was a battle given by
Greek People's Liberation Army
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
(ELAS) assisted by the people of
Kokkinia against the
Nazi occupation forces and the collaborationist
Security Battalions
The Security Battalions ( el, Τάγματα Ασφαλείας, Tagmata Asfaleias, derisively known as ''Germanotsoliades'' (Γερμανοτσολιάδες) or ''Tagmatasfalites'' (Ταγματασφαλίτες)) were Greek Collaboration with ...
. The battle resulted in the Nazi forces withdrawing from the area and staying away from it until August 1944, when the
Executions of Kokkinia
The Executions of KokkiniaAlso translated as "Raid of Kokkinia" or "Roundup of Kokkinia" ( el, Μπλόκο της Κοκκινιάς) took place on the August 17, 1944, and was the largest Nazi Germany, Nazi Roundup (history), roundup and one of ...
took place as a retaliation for the Battle of Kokkinia and more generally for the resistance of the working class suburbs of west Attica.
The battle
In March 1944, during the German occupation of Greece, Kokkinia was attacked by Nazi and collaborationist forces. ELAS and its youth wing, EPON, resisted and after four days of battle they managed to force the German and collaborationist army to retreat. The aid of the local population was crucial. The large majority of the town's people (including men, women and children) contributed to the resistance by taking care of the wounded, searching for bullets that the resistance forces could use or arming themselves and asking to join ELAS's forces. The fighting started on 4 March and lasted until 8 March, when the German army was forced to retreat, taking 300 prisoners with them.
Aftermath
The next day, on 9 March, 50 prisoners were executed in
Chaidari
HaidariFor the spelling, see thmunicipal website ( el, Χαϊδάρι, ''Khaidari'') is a suburb in the western part of the Athens agglomeration, west of central Athens.
Geography
The municipality has an area of 22.655 km2. The geography of ...
military camp. 37 of the victims of the massacre were among the 300 Kokkinia residents arrested the previous day by the retreating German forces. The rest of the prisoners were tortured in the camp's dungeons by
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
agents. Kokkinia was left alone by the occupation forces for about five months until August when mass executions were carried out by members of the
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
and their collaborators, as a retaliation for the resistance.
References
{{coord missing, Greece
Battles and operations involving the Greek People's Liberation Army
1944 in Greece
Conflicts in 1944
March 1944 events