Nikos Ploumpidis (also Ploumbidis) () (31 December 1902 – 14 August 1954) was in the leading cadre of the
Greek Communist Party
The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece.
Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...
during
the Second World War
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 opposing ...
and a famous member of the wartime anti-
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
resistance.
The son of a poor farming family, he was born in
Arcadian Langadia. As a young man he involved himself in politics and in 1926, as a teacher in the village of
Milea, near
Elassona
Elassona ( el, Ελασσόνα; Katharevousa: gr, Ἐλασσών, Elasson) is a town and a municipality in the Larissa regional unit in Greece. During antiquity Elassona was called Oloosson (Ὀλοοσσών) and was a town of the Perrhaebi ...
, he joined the
Communist Party of Greece (KKE). At the time he was a teacher and in 1930 became a member of the Executive Committee of the Central Union of Civil Servants. However, in 1931 he had to leave the position after he was sacked from his teaching position due to his political activism. He began to work full-time for the KKE. In 1937 he was responsible for the party in the
Thessaly
Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, The ...
region, and in 1938, he was elected to the Politburo of the KKE.
In 1939 he was arrested by the secret police of the regime of General
Ioannis Metaxas
Ioannis Metaxas (; el, Ιωάννης Μεταξάς; 12th April 187129th January 1941) was a Greek military officer and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941. He governed constitutionally for t ...
, and was imprisoned in Sotiria hospital until his escape in 1942. He then involved himself in the newly formed
National Liberation Front (EAM) and in the
communist youth organisation (OKNE). After the return of
Nikos Zachariadis, the pre-war general secretary of the KKE, from his incarceration in
Dachau Concentration Camp, tensions developed between him and Ploumpidis. Owing to poor health (he suffered from
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
), in 1945 Ploumpidis resigned from the Politburo and took over the administration of the party's finances. Unlike many other KKE leaders, Ploumpidis remained in Greece after the
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος}, ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom and ...
(1946–49) and was reportedly instrumental in establishing the
United Democratic Left
The United Democratic Left (, ''Eniéa Dimokratikí Aristerá'' (EDA)) was a left-wing political party in Greece, active mostly before the Greek military junta of 1967–74.
Foundation
The party was founded in July 1951 by prominent center-left ...
(EDA) party, essentially a proxy party of the now illegal KKE.
In 1952, he was arrested by the secret police. After a three-week trial, he was found guilty on 3 August 1953 and sentenced to death. At the same time, the exiled KKE Central Committee under Zachariadis expelled Ploumpidis from the party on the grounds that he was, supposedly, a secret police spy and British agent. These allegations were repeatedly broadcast on the party's Moscow-based radio station, Free Greece. On 14 August 1954, Ploumpidis was executed by firing squad in Agia Marina, near
Dafni. The Greek government released a photo of his execution in the Greek press. ''
Rizospastis
''Rizospastis'' ( el, Ριζοσπάστης, "The Radical") is the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Greece. It has been published daily since its first issue in 1916. Liana Kanelli is currently one of the senior editors of the news ...
'' and ''
I Avgi'', the two leading
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
newspapers, refused to publish the photos following KKE's allegations that the execution was faked and Ploumpidis was actually now free and spending the money he took for his treason.
In 1958, after the
de-Stalinisation
De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...
of the KKE, the party acknowledged the expulsion of Ploumpidis as a grave mistake and rehabilitated him with the following declaration: "Resolved that the General Meeting of the Central Committee restores the memory of comrades
Giorgos Siantos, Nikos Ploumbidis (Barbas) and Kostas Gyftodimos (Karajorgis). There exists no documents to support the claim that the accused were provocateurs or spies, as the former leadership under N. Zachariadis claimed in relation to the above-mentioned comrades."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ploumpidis, Nikos
1902 births
1953 deaths
20th-century executions by Greece
Communist Party of Greece politicians
Greek Resistance members
Greek escapees
Escapees from Greek detention
Executed Greek people
People executed for treason against Greece
People executed by Greece by firing squad
People from Langadia, Arcadia