The Holocaust of Kalavrita is considered one of the worst atrocities of World War II on European soil.

In October 1943, Greek partisans forces beat back the Nazi troops at the battle that raged around the villages of Kerpini and Rogi and captured 80 German troops as prisoners. The Nazi forces demanded the freeing of the prisoners and warned that they would execute 10 Greeks for every German soldier killed by the resistance. Despite the intermediation of the church, the resistance leadership refused to capitulate.

On 8 December, reinforced German forces, in a massive counter attack, retake Kerpini and Rogi villages and drive their defenders away, driving Greek partisans to execute all but one German prisoners.
On 9 December Nazi troops enter Kalavrita and on the morning of the 13 they order all male residents, aged 14 years and up, to gather in a field just outside the village. There, they machine-gun down almost all 700 of them. Only about 13 survived.

The women and children were locked up in the school building, which was set on fire, but they managed to break some windows and escape. A version of this story says that one of the guards, an Austrian anti-Nazi, opened one of the doors and let the women and children out.

shit... what an atrocitie indeed!

the terrors of ww2... makes me shudder when i picture it...

I have studied this about 6 years ago...

sad....tragic..

even worse that not many people know about it or have heard of it.

My mum's side is from Kalavrita and I ask my yiayia about it today and it still is very a emotional topic...

Yet Greek defiance always pulls through

ELEFTHERIA H THANATOS !!!

Unfortunately, not many of us know about these instances. Thanks for the info. I know stuff like this probably happened in many villages across Greece but if there are any of this scope that some of you may know about, I would like to see them posted here. This is not a part of history that should be dismissed.

Unfortunately there are so many sad stories like this all over Greece. WW2 did a lot of damage - bloody Germans.
A few years ago I visited Greece and I took a trip to Kalavrita. They have built a small museum there in memory of this atrocity. Its a collection of peoples memories and some artifacts of that time. All I could think of when I walked through it was all the loss of innocent lives. I walked out in tears. We are so lucky not to have memories like that and not to have lived through such destruction and killing. Lets hope our world stays that way.

All around the world the Jews have Holocaust museums. Are the Greeks in Greece doing anything in a similar vein? I've seen many of the Jewish ones in my role as a teacher; what would it take for a couple of historians and museums in Greece to put together a tribute that could educate not only Greeks but others? No one nation suffered more than Greece during WW II yet no one really remembers anymore. Where's our Steven Spielberg? Who will remember the suffering of our parents and grandparents? I lament this passing us by.