The battle of Crete is over.
Crete is conquered by Germans.
The city of Khania is ruined by the bomb attack.
The number of dead people is unknown.
Life is changing.
1941:
• Beginning of labour recruitment,
retaliations, arrests and executions
against Cretan habitants who had
fought bravely during the battle of
Crete.
• Traffic is restricted.
Peoples meetings are prohibited.
Radio and any means of
communication are banned.
Any transactions of food and other
necessary goods are not allowed.
• The above revenge- measures are
decided by the Germans and those
disobeying them are immediately
excecuted.
•
On the contrary the local authorities
of Khania cooperate with the
occupants and declare their
obedience calling people to accept
the new situation and surrender.
Resistance organizations
 Establishing of the first resistance
organizations at Crete:
• ΕΑΜ(National Liberation
Forehead) Νationwide
organization of socialist left wing
beliefs.
• ΕΛΑΣ(Greek Peoples Liberation
Army)
• ΕΟΚ(National Organization of
Crete) local resistance
organization involving Cretan and
English(allies) people
•
1942: The resistance
against conquerors is
brave. The hard winter
and the hanger are
unbearable problems.
• Also the resistance
organize food
distribution for
supporting and helping
people to survive.
War-wounded people and kids are queuing to take their
own helping.
• Compulsory labour for the
German army and punishment
for everyone who denies to
obey: prison and death
penalty.
•
Cretan people fight against the
Germans. Not latter than the end
of 1941 the first resistant groups
appear in the neighbourhoods of
Khania and in many villages
around.
• ΠΟΕΝ(Panhellenic Organization
of Free Youth) is founded in
Khania, they start action, young
peoples voices are heard
protesting at nights, calling
people to resist against the
occupants.
• ΠΟΕΝ is attached to ΕΠΟΝ.
Picture from resistance
 February 23rd ,1943:
• ΕΠΟΝ (Panhellenic Youth
Organisation of ΕΑΜ) is founded.
• Demonstrations against peoples
recruitment. They protest against
Germans decision to get
transferred in Germany for work
at industry.
Greece is the only country where
the recruitment is revoked
because of ΕΑΜ resistance.
• In this proclamation of ΕΠΟΝ the
young men and women of Crete
urge Cretans to resist against the
occupants.
Young children resist
• These are
"aetopoula“(“little
eagles”), kids from 812 years old. Their
part in resistance is
transferring messages
and writing political
slogans on the walls.
These are "saltadoroi"
who jump on the
German's tipper
trunks and steal food
supplies.
Their contribution is
very important.
The resistance of the residents had some retaliations. Agia's prison is full of
prisoners.
AGIA’S PRISON
•
•
•
•
•
Crete’s HELL
Every Cretan who is arrested is driven to Agias prison by SS. Over twenty
thousand Cretans are inhumanly tortured and more than one thousand are
executed there during the German occupation. Life in Agia prison is beyond
human mind, it is hell. The Nazi not only do they use burning irons , pincers,
needles etc. to torture and humiliate the imprisoned Cretan fighters but they
also make virtual executions to make them surrender. Very often they
supposedly let them free to shoot them in the back in a few minutes .Before
any execution they forced them to dig their own graves.
The daily food in prison is just fourty five gramms of flour and a few beans . Not
for all of them, those in isolation suffer lack of food and water for months.
The exact number of the imprisoned Cretans cannot be verified . According to
that time prison’s principal the imprisoned Cretans were more than two
thousand.
Although the occupants threats , violence and tortures , the Cretans keep
fighting for their freedom.
ALIKABOS 1941
(a village near Khania)
•
•
As soon as the Germans arrived to the village, either from sky or from land, all the
villagers ran to the mountain, holding weapons from their houses which they
needed for the upcoming battle. Families were hosted in folds from sheepers and
were mostly fed with local plants. Those who had farming animals could also eat
meat and milk. Lack of bread , was major such as lack of sugar. Both of them were
replaced by St. John’s bread. Every villager worked his farm to earn his living.
People, endangering their lives, were informed secretly about the German’s plans
from the radio transmitter.
Germans used to spend the night to schools , so they were closed and education
was prohibited. Despite those, some children attended classes at the church. The
families who didn’t flee , were found by the Germans so that men were forced to
work for the Germans which usually meant execution. Many of those men
pretended to be sick in order to deceive the Germans and escape the labor.
Pregnant women were brutally killed. Any mass resistance was bombarded in cold
blood. Alikabos was the location of executions for even women and children and
all the corpses were covered by branches.
Witnessed by Kalaitzaki Evagelia.



1943: Is being fights in the
country side between
conquerors and resistance
teams.
Holocaust from conquerors of
villages Koustogerako, Livadas,
Moni (province of Selino).
Holocaust from Greek partnerscooperators of conquerors
(Souberites) of village
Kallikratis and execution of 29
residents (province of Sfakia).
• November 7th, 1943: In the village
Therissos of Khania, ΕΑΜ and ΕΟΚ
sign a cooperation agreement
against German conquerors.