The Massacre of Kondomari ( el, Σφαγή στο Κοντομαρί) was the execution of male civilians from the village of Kondomari in

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

by an

ad hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with ''a priori''.) Com ...

firing squad consisting of German

paratroopers A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during Worl ...

on 2 June 1941 during

World War II 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 opposin ...

.Heaton, C.D. ''German Anti-partisan Warfare in Europe, 1939-1945'', Schiffer Pub., 2001, .Mazower, Mark. ''Inside Hitler's Greece: The Experience of Occupation, 1941-44'', Yale University Press, 2001, . The shooting was the first of a series of

reprisal A reprisal is a limited and deliberate violation of international law to punish another sovereign state that has already broken them. Since the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (AP 1), reprisals in the laws of war are extremel ...

s in

. It was orchestrated by ''

Generaloberst A ("colonel general") was the second-highest general officer rank in the German ''Reichswehr'' and ''Wehrmacht'', the Austro-Hungarian Common Army, the East Germany, East German National People's Army and in their respective police services. ...

Kurt Student Kurt Arthur Benno Student (12 May 1890 – 1 July 1978) was a German general in the Luftwaffe during World War II. An early pioneer of airborne forces, Student was in overall command of developing a paratrooper force to be known as the ''Fallschi ...

, in retaliation for the participation of Cretans in the

Battle of Crete The Battle of Crete (german: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta, el, Μάχη της Κρήτης), codenamed Operation Mercury (german: Unternehmen Merkur), was a major Axis airborne and amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island ...

which had ended with the surrender of the island two days earlier. The massacre was photographed by Franz-Peter Weixler, a German army war propaganda correspondent, whose negatives were discovered 39 years later in the Federal German archives by a Greek journalist.

Background

Geography

The village of Kondomari is part of the

Platanias Platanias (Greek: Πλατανιάς) is a village and municipality on the Greek island of Crete. It is located about west from the city of Chania and east of Kissamos, on Chania Bay. The seat of the municipality is the village Gerani. Platania ...

municipality and is located near the north coast of Crete, west of the city of

Chania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The muni ...

and southeast of the

Maleme Maleme ( el, Μάλεμε) is a small village and military airport to the west of Chania, in north western Crete, Greece. It is located in Platanias municipality, in Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. History Bronze Age A Late Minoan ...

airstrip.

During the Battle of Crete

The

began on 20 May 1941 with a large-scale airborne invasion aimed to capture the island's strategic locations. As was proven in practice, one of the most important locations was the Maleme airstrip and its surrounding region. Its capture allowed the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

to fly in large-scale reinforcements of troops and supplies that eventually determined the outcome of the Battle. In the morning of 20 May 1941, German

of the III Battalion of the 1st Air Landing Assault Regiment were dropped southeast of Maleme. Their landing site extended to Platanias and included Kondomari. The invaders were confronted by New Zealand troops from the 21st and 22nd Battalions, joined by ill-armed local civilians carrying primitive weapons. The paratroopers experienced strong resistance and suffered severe losses that totaled nearly 400 men out of 600, including their commander Major Otto Scherber.

Eugen Meindl __NOTOC__ Eugen Meindl (16 July 1892 – 24 January 1951) was a German paratroop general in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Life and career Born in 18 ...

, the regiment's commander, was shot through the chest during his parachute jump near the Platanias bridge but survived. He was replaced by Oberst

Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke (24 January 1889 – 4 July 1968) was a German general of paratroop forces during World War II. He led units in Crete, North Africa, Italy, the Soviet Union and France, and was captured by American forces at the concl ...

Student's order on reprisals

Throughout the Battle of Crete, the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

forces and Cretan irregulars had inflicted heavy loss of life on the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

. The unprecedented resistance from the local population exasperated the

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

sense of military order according to which only professional warriors were allowed to fight. Reports from General

Julius Ringel Julius 'Papa' Ringel (16 November 1889 – 11 February 1967) was an Austrian general in the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. He fought in the Western and Eastern fronts, as well as the Balkan Campaign.Williamson 2012. Ringel com ...

, commander of the 5th Mountain Division, stated that Cretan civilians were picking off paratroopers or attacking them with knives, axes and scythes. Even before the end of the battle, exaggerated stories had started to circulate, attributing the excessively high casualties to torture and mutilation of paratroopers by the Cretans.Beevor, Antony. ''Crete: The Battle and the Resistance'', John Murray Ltd, 1991. Penguin Books, 1992. When these stories reached the Luftwaffe's High Command in Berlin, Göring ordered temporary commander General

to undertake enquiries and reprisals. Thus, seeking to counter insurgency and before enquiries were complete, Student issued an order to launch a wave of reprisals against the local population immediately after the surrender of Crete on 31 May. The reprisals were to be carried out rapidly, omitting formalities or trials and by the same units who had been confronted by the locals.

The massacre

Following Student's order, the occupants of Kondomari were blamed for the death of a few German soldiers whose bodies had been found near the village. On 2 June 1941, four lorries full of German paratroopers from the III Battalion of Luftlande-Sturm-Regiment 1 under the command of ''

Oberleutnant () is the highest lieutenant officer rank in the German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. Austria Germany In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Trans ...

Horst Trebes __NOTOC__ Horst Trebes (22 October 1916 – 29 July 1944) was a ''Hauptmann'' in the ''Fallschirmjäger'' of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Trebes participated in the Massacre of Kondom ...

surrounded Kondomari. Trebes, a former member of the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...

, was the highest-ranking officer of the Battalion to have survived the Battle unwounded. Men, women and children were forced to gather in the village square. Then, a number of hostages was selected among the men while women and children were released. The hostages were led to the surrounding olive groves and later fired upon. The exact number of the victims is unclear. According to German records, a total of 23 men were killed but other sources put the total at about 60. The whole operation was captured on film by Franz-Peter Weixler, then serving as a war propaganda correspondent (''Kriegsberichterstatter'') for the Wehrmacht.

Photos

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-166-0526-05, Kreta, Auszeichnung von Fallschirmjägern.jpg,

Walter Gericke __NOTOC__ Walter Gericke (23 December 1907 – 19 October 1991) was a German paratroop officer in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany during World War II and a general in the Bundeswehr of West Germany. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Ir ...

(left); Horst Trebes (right) File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-166-0525-27, Kreta, Kondomari, Erschießung von Zivilisten.jpg, The civilian hostages at Kondomari File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-166-0525-29, Kreta, Kondomari, Erschießung von Zivilisten.jpg, Paratroopers preparing to open fire; Horst Trebes in front File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-166-0525-39, Kreta, Kondomari, Erschießung von Zivilisten.jpg, Firing squad soldier closeup File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-166-0525-30, Kreta, Kondomari, Erschießung von Zivilisten.jpg, Civilians being shot File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-166-0527-06A, Kreta, Kondomari, Erschießung von Zivilisten.jpg, Dead bodies

Aftermath

The day following the massacre of Kondomari, forces of the 1st Air Landing Assault Regiment went on to raze Kandanos and murder most of its people. After the summer of 1941, Franz-Peter Weixler was dismissed from the Wehrmacht for political reasons. He was later accused of

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

against

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

for having leaked uncensored material related to the paratroopers' activities on Crete that included photographs taken in Kondomari, and for having helped some Cretans to flee. Weixler was arrested by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

, court martialled and imprisoned from early 1944. Post-war in November 1945, during Göring's trial in Nuremberg, Weixler gave a written eyewitness report on the Kondomari massacre. According to a documentary of the Greek TV network

NET Net or net may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Net (mathematics), a filter-like topological generalization of a sequence * Net, a linear system of divisors of dimension 2 * Net (polyhedron), an arrangement of polygons that can be folded up ...

, he returned to Kondomari in 1955 where he was received by the villagers according to their traditional custom of hospitality. Realizing that there was no apparent hostility towards him, Weixler told them that he had been following orders on the day of the massacre. However, despite their apparent calmness, the villagers were tense and at some point, one of the survivors stood up and told his fellow villagers that the formal requirements of hospitality had been observed and they should leave. Thus, the assembled villagers immediately left the spot, leaving the photographer on his own. Weixler's negatives from Kondomari were discovered in 1980 in the federal German archives by the Greek journalist Vassos Mathiopoulos,Μαθιόπουλος, Βάσος. ''Εικόνες Κατοχής'', εκδ. Μετόπη, 1980. who was unaware of the actual location of the shootings they depicted. Their connection to the events at Kondomari was later established via extensive research by journalist Kostas Papapetrou, after which Weixler's photographs became widely known. In July 1941, Horst Trebes was awarded the

Knight's Cross Knight's Cross (German language ''Ritterkreuz'') refers to a distinguishing grade or level of various orders that often denotes bravery and leadership on the battlefield. Most frequently the term Knight's Cross is used to refer to the Knight's Cr ...

for his leadership during the assault against Crete. Three years later (1944), he was killed in action in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. After the surrender of Germany, Kurt Student was captured by the British. In May 1947, he came before a military tribunal to answer charges of mistreatment and murder of prisoners of war and civilians by his forces in Crete. Greece's demand to have Student extradited was declined. Student was found guilty of three out of eight charges and sentenced to five years in prison. However, he was given a medical discharge and was released in 1948. Student was acquitted for crimes against civilians owing to the testimony of Brigadier Lindsay Inglis, commander of the 4th New Zealand Brigade.Antill 2013, pp. 20-21 Student lived until 1978. Kondomari has been declared a ''martyred village'' with Presidential Decree 29, ΦΕΚ Α 54/2.4.2019. A memorial in the village lists the names of the victims and has a wall of tiles portraying the incident.

References

External links

Franz-Peter Weixler's testimony on the events in Kondomari

The invasion of Crete: The Reputation of the Wehrmacht is at Stake
Richard Hargreaves, 2011

from fallschirmjager.net with photos
German occupation of Crete: Kondomari
(in German -
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kondomari Massacre Conflicts in 1941 Massacres in 1941 Nazi war crimes in Greece 1941 in Greece Mass murder in 1941 Massacres in Greece during World War II Battle of Crete Massacres of men Violence against men in Europe June 1941 events Crete in World War II War crimes of the Wehrmacht