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TheOrganization for the Protection of the People's Struggle (Greek:Οργάνωση Περιφρούρησης Λαϊκού Αγώνα, abbreviated ΟΠΛΑ –OPLA, an acronym meaning "weapons" in Greek) was a special division of theCommunist Party of Greece (KKE) during theAxis Occupation of Greece inWorld War II.
Although security groups had operated earlier, OPLA officially first appeared in November 1943 through an anti-Occupation announcement.
Officially, it was a semi-autonomous part of the broaderNational Liberation Front (EAM). In fact, it was not controlled by EAM, but directly by the Politburo of the KKE. It can be described as aparamilitary security force. It operated in the cities, and its purpose was the self-defense of the members of theNational Liberation Front and its affiliated organizations from the German occupation authorities and the collaborationist government and its organs, the Police, theGendarmerie (especially its notorious branch named as Special Security, expertised at the anti-communistic struggle) and theSecurity Battalions. It proved to be very successful inassassinating commanders of the Security Battalions and other armed governmental forces. However, it also became involved in political assassinations of political opponents of the KKE on both ends of the political spectrum, such asTrotskyites andArcheio-Marxists. As a result, the activities of the OPLA are a subject of heated debate even today.
In April 1944, it was renamed asNational Civil Guard, though members of OPLA continued operations.
The organization was also active during theDecember 1944 events inAthens. Hundreds of executions of anti-communists or collaborators took place in the vicinity of the ULEN refineries.
Among its victims was also the well-known actressEleni Papadaki.
In 1947, during the subsequentGreek Civil War, it was renamed as "People's Civil Guard". It acted especially inThessaloniki and Northern Greece in 1946–1947 (in these regions the name of the organization was "Close Self-Defense", Στενή Αυτοάμυνα in Greek). One of its more notable later actions was the assassination of Justice Minister Christos Ladas (who had signed the execution of hundreds of communists) in Athens on 1 May 1948, by OPLA and KKE member Efstratios (Stratos) Moutsogiannis. In Macedonia and Epirus during the Civil War, the OPLA assassinated many high-ranking officers of the Greek Gendarmerie.
During theGreek Civil War, OPLA turned the monastery of St. George inFeneos into aconcentration camp and killing ground for those they deemed "reactionaries". The concentration camp was well-organized for mass killings, with 6-7 resident killers that worked around the clock in busy times. It is believed that hundreds were killed.[1]
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