The Milos executions ( el, εκτελέσεις στη Μήλο) refer to the mass execution by firing squad of 14 male civilians from the island of

Milos Milos or Melos (; el, label=Modern Greek, Μήλος, Mílos, ; grc, Μῆλος, Mêlos) is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. Milos is the southwesternmost island in the Cyclades group. The ''Venus d ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

by German forces on 23 February 1943 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The victims were accused of looting material owned by the German military that was washed up after the sinking of the German cargo ship SS ''Artemis Pitta'' by

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

aircraft.''Το ναζιστικό έγκλημα στη Μήλο - Οι εκτελέσεις της 23ης Φεβρουαρίου 1943'', Ν. Μπράτσος, ΕΡΤ news, 23 Φεβρουαρίου 2019
archive
here
/ref>

Background

Geography

Milos is the fifth largest island of

Cyclades The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The nam ...

and lies midway between

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

and

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

. Due to its large, natural harbor it has historically been important for maritime shipping. During the tripartite Axis occupation of Greece, Milos was part of the German zone. The Germans had installed a permanent garrison and built several

air raid shelter Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of non-combatants as well as combatants against enemy attacks from the air. They are similar to bunkers in many regards, although they are not designed to defend against ground attack (but many ...

The vessel

SS ''Artemis Pitta'' ( el, Άρτεμις Πίττα, ex names ''Herold'', ''Maid of Athens'') was a 240 ft, cargo steamer built in 1906 by Stettiner Oderwerke at

Stettin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

. At the outbreak of the war, she was owned by G.N. Pittas Bros. During the

Battle of Greece The German invasion of Greece, also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita ( de , Unternehmen Marita, links = no), was the attack of Greece by Italy and Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usu ...

, on 6 April 1941, ''Artemis Pitta'' was sunk by 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 ...

in Piraeus. After being raised and repaired, she was requisitioned by the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

and manned by a civilian Greek crew.''SS Artemis Pitta'', Wrecksite, 9 May 2014
/ref>

The air raid

On 21 February 1943, the SS ''Artemis Pitta'' was moored at the port of

Adamantas Adamantas ( el, Αδάμαντας, older form Αδάμας, from the Greek αδάμας ''adamas'' 'diamond') is the harbour town of Milos Milos or Melos (; el, label=Modern Greek, Μήλος, Mílos, ; grc, Μῆλος, Mêlos) is a volcan ...

. She was bound for Crete, laden with fuel, ammunition and other military supplies. The vessel was sighted by three

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Beaufighters which torpedoed and blew her up, killing 15 of her crew. Pushed by the north wind, debris and cargo from the wreck washed up on Achivadolimni (Αχιβαδολίμνη) beach across Adamantas.

The executions

Noticing that items from the wreck, (esp. barrels) were being washed up, many locals headed to the beach to search for anything that might be useful. Objects from vessels sunk in the Aegean were often washed up ashore and it was a common practice among the locals to collect them without any German opposition. This time, however, the oil barrels from the cargo were very valuable to the Germans who did not tolerate their appropriation. A German patrol arrested everyone on the spot; further interrogations identified more locals who had been involved. Of the total 25 arrested, 14 were selected and accused of looting German army property. On 23 February they were taken to Alyki (Αλυκή) beach and shot by a firing squad. The execution order was signed by Hans Kawelmacher, the naval commander of Milos who in 1941 had been involved in the

mass execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

of Jews, Gypsies and other prisoners in the Latvian city of

Liep%C4%81ja Liepāja (; liv, Līepõ; see #Names and toponymy, other names) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest-city in the Kurzeme Planning Region, Kurzeme Region and the third-largest city in the country after R ...

Aftermath

A memorial service in the memory of victims is held annually. A commemorative plaque with the names of those who perished was installed in 1992.

External links

Α/Π ΑΡΤΕΜΙΣ ΠΙΤΤΑ - Το πλοίο και η ιστορία του
archive
here

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milos executions Mass murder in 1943 Nazi war crimes in Greece 1943 in Greece Massacres in Greece during World War II Massacres of men Violence against men in Europe February 1943 events War crimes of the Wehrmacht