The National Union of Greece ( el, Εθνική Ένωσις Ελλάδος, Ethniki Enosis Ellados or EEE) was an

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

nationalist party established in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1927. Registered as a mutual aid society, the EEE was founded by Asia Minor refugee merchants. According to the organisation's constitution, only Christians could join. Its members were opposed to Thessaloniki's substantial Jewish population. It was led by Georgios Kosmidis (), a banking clerk. The party's leaders were the main defendants in the trial held after the

Campbell Riot Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

of 29 June 1931, in which Greek nationalist mobs attacked the Jewish "Campbell" settlement in the city. (A co-defendant was Nikolaos ''Nikos'' Fardis (), editor-in-chief of the '' Makedonia'' newspaper.) Estimates put the party's strength at 7,000 members in 1932; by 1933, it had 3,000 members march to Athens, in apparent imitation of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

's 1922 March on Rome. However, it polled poorly in the 1934 city elections in Thessaloniki, and in 1935, the party dissolved as a result of political in-fighting. It was revived by the German occupation authorities in 1941, during the Axis Occupation of Greece; many members of EEE became prominent collaborators of the Nazis, and many more joined the Security Battalions and assisted the SS in the identification of Greek Jews. Owing to its paramilitary uniforms and organisation, the party was commonly referred to as "The Three

Epsilon Epsilon (, ; uppercase , lowercase or lunate ; el, έψιλον) is the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet, corresponding phonetically to a mid front unrounded vowel or . In the system of Greek numerals it also has the value five. It was der ...

s" () or "The Steelhelmets" (), in allusion to the German paramilitary .

References

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History of the EEE

, ''Salonica, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews, 1430-1950'', London: HarperCollins, 2004. {{Authority control Defunct nationalist parties in Greece Antisemitism in Greece Fascism in Greece . Greek Macedonia in World War II Politics of Thessaloniki Modern history of Thessaloniki 1920s in Greece 1930s in Greece 1940s in Greek politics Political parties established in 1927 Political parties disestablished in 1944 1927 establishments in Greece 1944 disestablishments in Greece Nazi parties Collaboration with the Axis Powers German occupation of Thessaloniki Eastern Orthodox political parties

References

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Further reading