Manolis orEmmanouil Paterakis (Greek:Εμμανουήλ (Μανώλης) Πατεράκης)[1]: 158 was a member of theCretan resistance duringWorld War II, who lived in the village ofKoustogerako in the then-province ofSelino. In English language sources, he also appears asManoli Paterakis.[2]
At the outbreak of World War II, Paterakis was a younggendarme on the island ofCrete.[3][4] After theBattle of Crete he evacuated to theMiddle East, where he trained with theBritish Commandos insabotage.[5] He was returned to Crete, along withGeorgios Tyrakis, as the permanent partners ofPatrick Leigh Fermor andW. Stanley Moss on amission to capture German generalHeinrich Kreipe.[6] They arrested the general and drove him to the mountains, continuing south to abay codenamed "X75" nearRodakino, from which Kreipe was embarked on a Britishmotor launch destined forCairo.
As the war continued, the Germans murdered Paterakis's father and his two brothers.[7] After the war, he found himself without work. Considerably later on, the Germans, ignorant of the part which he had played in taking Kreipe prisoner, employed him as a guard at theMaleme German military cemetery.