Long-lost photographs of the mass execution of 200 Greek communists by Nazi forces on May Day 1944 have been recovered, offering a rare visual record of one of the worst atrocities of the occupation. The images, which were posted on eBay by a Belgian collector, show the men walking into a firing range in Athens with their heads held high, seemingly unafraid, as they went to their deaths chanting partisan songs.
The Greek culture ministry announced on Friday that it had signed a preliminary agreement to purchase the photographs from Tim de Craene, a collector of Third Reich memorabilia, who had withdrawn them from sale. The ministry described the prints as 'a monument of exceptional historical importance'. The images are believed to have been taken by Hermann Heuer, a Wehrmacht lieutenant who was likely part of a unit documenting daily life in occupied territories.
The executions were carried out in retaliation for the fatal ambush of a German general by communist guerrillas days earlier. The 200 victims, all political prisoners, were taken from the notorious Chaidari camp to the Kaisariani shooting range, where they were killed by machine gun fire. Until now, only handwritten notes thrown from the trucks as the men were driven to their deaths had testified to their final moments.
Vangelis Sakkatos, a 96-year-old leftist who has lived near the execution site for decades, said the photographs allow people to 'put a face' to the victims. 'Their heroism was the stuff of myth,' he said. 'And now we can see that courage before our eyes.' The May Day executions have long been a symbol of the communist-led anti-Nazi resistance and have inspired poets, songwriters, painters and film-makers.
The collection is thought to include 262 photographs, some bearing the handwritten note 'Aten 1.5.44' – the date of the massacre. Greek historians have described the discovery as exceptional, saying it will help research into Nazi-era atrocities and open up discussion about the bloody civil war that followed Greece's liberation. For decades, the communist party was deemed illegal and commemoration of such events was prohibited until the collapse of the military dictatorship in 1974.
