During the period of theAxis Occupation of Greece in theSecond World War, a multitude ofResistance organizations sprang up. A May 1943 report of the Intelligence Bureau of theGreek government in exile mentioned 33 active groups,[1] a number that increased to 79 in a joint British report of 17 October 1943.[2] According to some sources, the number was as high as 140. These numbers include groups of vastly different natures, which can be roughly divided in three categories: the major organizations, which displayed significant regional or nationwide action, includingguerrilla operations against the Occupation authorities; the small political groupings, mainly active inAthens, with a limited following and engaged mainly in political propaganda and small-scale sabotage; and a small number of groups focused on intelligence and sabotage operations, in direct cooperation with the British secret services in the Middle East.
These were organizations with a political agenda, usually progressive,republican and with more or less socialist tendencies. They all developed guerrilla forces, but with the exception of the National Liberation Front, none succeeded in becoming a true nationwide mass movement and were confined to the regions where they were first established.
TheNational Liberation Front (Ethniko Apeleftherotiko Metopo, ΕΑΜ) was the largest organization, with a membership estimated between half and two million and maybe up to 150,000 fighters.[3][4][5] It was formed on 27 September 1941 out of several leftist parties and organizations, such as theSocialist Party of Greece (ΣΚΕ), theUnion of People's Democracy (ΕΛΔ), and theAgricultural Party of Greece (ΑΚΕ), but the central role was played by theCommunist Party of Greece (ΚΚΕ). From 1943 onwards, EAM came into increasing conflict with the other Resistance groups. The parties and organizations that functioned within EAM included:
TheNational Republican Greek League (Ethnikos Dimokratikos Ellinikos Syndesmos, EDES) was the second-largest organization, founded on 9 September 1941. Its military wing, the National Groups of Greek Guerrillas (EOEA), were active mainly in theEpirus area, but part of its political wing in Athens engaged in collaboration with the Nazis. Included:
TheNational and Social Liberation (Ethniki kai Koinoniki Apeleftherosis, EKKA), founded byDimitrios Psarros, was the smallest and last of the three main Resistance groups to be formed, in the autumn of 1942. Its military wing, the5/42 Evzone Regiment was active mainly in easternCentral Greece before its bloody dissolution by ELAS troops in April 1944 and the murder of Psarros.
TheDefenders of Northern Greece (Υπερασπισταί Βορείου Ελλάδος, YVE) was founded by a group of Greek army officers in July 1941. Its membership was drawn mostly from the pre-war military and the still functioning state administration, and politically belonged to the right, professing loyalty to theGreek government in exile and KingGeorge II. YBE initially focused on smuggling fighters into the Middle East, where they were to join theFree Greek Forces of theGreek government-in-exile, while its main goal was halting Bulgarian encroachment inMacedonia. In early 1943, YVE was transformed intoPanhellenic Liberation Organization (PAO) and embraced armed struggle after being encouraged by agents of the BritishSpecial Operations Executive (SOE) to assist them in the execution ofOperation Animals, an Allied diversionary operation.[6] PAO participated in theBattle of Fardykambos, but shortly came into conflict withELAS. ELAS emerged victorious and the remnants of PAO began operating under the umbrella of theSecurity Battalions organized by thecollaborationist government in Athens, committing numerous atrocities.[7]
The first armed resistance group inCrete, theSupreme Committee of Cretan Struggle (AEAK) was founded in June 1941 inChania shortly after the end of theBattle of Crete. It was headed by Andreas Papadakis, Ioannis Paizis, Andreas Polentas, Titos Georgiadis and Ioannis Ioannidis. It closely collaborated with theSOE, supplying it with fake documents through the German appointed mayor of Chania and double agentNikolaos Skoulas. AEAK was dissolved in February 1943 and transformed into theNational Organization of Crete (Ethniki Organosi Kritis, EOK) in June of the same year. It was headed by Skoulas, Charidimos Polychronidis, Iosif Voloudakis, Emmanouil Basias and Markos Spanoudakis.[8] Despite their ideological differences, EAM and EOK agreed to signnon-aggression pacts during the meetings ofTheriso (7/11/1943) and Tromarissa (15 September 1944).[9]
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These groups were confined to Athens and its suburbs, and engaged primarily in political propaganda, through the publication of various proclamations and newspapers. In terms of membership, they were small, centered around a leader, with members largely drawn from his family and friends, and often overlapping with other groups. Generally, their members were young, and the political programs they espoused were mostly republican and socialist. There were, however, exceptions, such as the groups formed by royalist army officers.
ThePanhellenic Union of Fighting Youths (PEAN) was perhaps the most active of the small urban resistance groups. It was founded in October 1941 by the Air Force LieutenantKostas Perrikos. Aside from its political activities, PEAN is most notable for carrying out two of the largest urban sabotage acts of the entire Occupation: the bombings of the pro-Nazi Organisation of the National Forces of Greece (OEDE) andNational-Socialist Patriotic Organisation (ESPO) organizations in August and September 1942. Although the main core of the group was soon after betrayed to the Germans and executed, the organization continued to function, albeit largely limited to a purely political role, until Liberation.[10]
The Army of Enslaved Victors (Stratia Sklavomenon Nikiton, SSN) was founded byKostas Perrikos, Andreas Gyftakis and Nikolaos Mylonas in June 1941 and published its first proclamation in October of that year. At that point, Perrikos left the group to found PEAN. From December 1942, SSN published its own paper, "Greater Greece" (Megali Ellas).[10]
The Sacred Brigade (Iera Taxiarchia, IT) was founded also by Kostas Perrikos in June 1942, but appeared openly on its own only in August 1942. Closely cooperating with PEAN and the "Omiros" group, it printed its own newspaper, the monthly "Hellenic Youth" (Ellinika Neiata), with over 3,000 copies. In June 1943, it fused with PEAN.[10]
TheHellenic Army resistance organization (Ellinikos Stratos, ES) was formed by ex-Army officer Colonel Giannakopoulos. Its area of operation was limited to thePeloponnese. ES came close to merging with EAM-ELAS in April 1943, however its leadership was spurred to turn against ELAS by British intelligence agents; leading to an official declaration of war in August 1943. The two resistance organizations fought a series of battles until October 1943, whereupon ES was dissolved and many of its officers enlisted into ELAS.[11]
Alexandros Papagos during 1943 established with other Army officers, a resistance organization, theMilitary Hierarchy. In July of the same year, however, he was arrested by the German occupation authorities and transported to Germany's concentration camps as a prisoner.
RAN (Rumelia-Avlona-Nisoi) was another small armed urban resistance group, based in Athens. It was under the command of theVenizelist generalKonstantinos Ventiris. During theDekemvriana it fought with the government forces against EAM-ELAS. Itsacronym derived from its post-war territorial claims, i.e.(Eastern) Rumelia,Avlona (andNorthern Epirus) and the Italian-occupiedDodecanese Islands.
Battalion 122 (Tagma 122) was a resistance group created byGreek American volunteers in 1944. The number 122 in the name of the Battalion was a symbolic number, symbolized the years from the beginning of theGreek revolution of 1821.[12]
These were small organizations, which functioned mainly in the big cities. They were not politically active, but focused solely on obtaining intelligence on the Axis forces in Greece, as well as carrying out several sabotage missions and helping Allied military personnel to escape to Middle East or to the neutral Turkey. Most of these were led by former military officers, and functioned under the supervision of either the BritishSpecial Operations Executive (SOE) or the Inter-Services Liaison Department (ISLD) of theSecret Intelligence Service (MI6).
The "Bouboulina" group was founded on 10 May 1941 byLela Karagianni and her family and named afterLaskarina Bouboulina, a heroine of theGreek War of Independence. Initially, the group focused on helping Allied soldiers to flee to the Middle East. Gradually, the group established an effective intelligence network, engaged in sabotage acts and was collaborating withEDES ofNapoleon Zervas. It also smuggled 80 Jews to Turkey. However, on 11 July 1944 Karagianni was betrayed and arrested, being executed two months later.[10][13]
The "Omiros" ("Homer") group was founded in September 1941, and established contact with the ISLD in April 1942. Active in the wider Athens area, including the harbour ofPiraeus,Corinth andThessaloniki, it eventually spread over much of the Greek mainland. It was led by ColonelStylianos Kitrilakis and Lt ColonelKonstantinos Dovas, both of whom would rise to significant positions in the post-war royalist establishment. Another notable member wasStylianos Pattakos, later member of the Greekjunta of the Colonels.
The "Maleas" group (named afterCape Malea) was founded in late 1941 by Navy Captain Alexandros Levidis, and was initially focused on aiding the escape of British servicemen to the Middle East. Eventually, in October 1942, the group was split in two: "Maleas 1", under the control of ISLD, with Commander Evgenios Valasakis as its head, carried on with the intelligence-gathering operations, while "Maleas 2" under Levidis continued to aid the escape of Allied personnel, in cooperation withMI9. "Maleas 1" was later renamed to "Syrios" ("the Syrian") and finally to "Aliki" ("Alice"). From August 1943, it was under the direction of Commander Konstantinos Hasiotis.
The "Midas 614" group was founded byFree Greek Forces MajorIoannis Tsigantes in June 1942. Tsigantes was tasked by the MO4 with sabotaging theCorinth Canal and establishing an intelligence gathering network in Greece. Midas 614 established its headquarters in Athens while also absorbing the "Delphoi" intelligence network.[14] Tsigantes unsuccessfully attempted to unite the various resistance organizations operating in the city, the Corinth Canal operation was likewise not carried out.[15] Midas 614 created an extensive intelligence gathering network operating across Greece, a secret submarine landing station atKymi and a secret mail service between Athens andSmyrna. Tsigantes was betrayed and killed in a shoot out with Italian soldiers on 14 January 1943. On 31 March,Geheime Feldpolizei raided the remaining Midas 614 hideouts inNea Smyrni, seizing their wireless sets and arresting the operators; leading to the collapse of the organization.[16]
The "Kodros" group (named after KingCodrus) was founded in October 1942 by the retired Lt Commander Panagiotis Lykourezos. It was the third group under ISLD control, and was active mainly in the Athens area.
The two agents "Odysseus" and "Prometheus II" had been enlisted by the Special Operations Executive already before the outbreak of the war, and were the service's main Greek operatives in occupied Greece. "Odysseus" was the codename ofGerasimos Alexatos, a professional smuggler, while "Prometheus II" was Navy officerCharalambos Koutsogiannopoulos. Alexatos made frequent trips to Turkey, acting as a courier and bringing back money, instructions and equipment. Later, his team would act as the liaison between SOE and EAM, while the "Prometheus II" team took on the liaison with EDES. "Prometheus II" continued to function until its radio team, together with Koutsogiannopoulos, was seized by the Germans on 3 February 1943.
The "Apollo" (Apollon) group was founded byIoannis Peltekis, a member of "Prometheus II" who had fled to Turkey upon that organization's destruction by the Germans in 1943. He soon returned to Athens, authorized by SOE to create a new group. Under his direction,Apollon became one of the largest intelligence organizations in wartime Europe, with over 500 agents. Peltekis quickly succeeded in freeing Prometheus leader Koutsogiannopoulos from jail, and his organization provided the British with accurate information on Axis shipping, air defenses, and aircraft deployments, smuggling downed Allied pilots (and after theItalian surrender, high-ranking Italian officers) out of the country, as well as engaging in extensive sabotage activity.[17]
The "Vyrones" group was founded immediately after the German invasion of Greece by journalist Giannis Iordanidis and Loukas Linaras. In June 1941, Iordanidis came into contact with British intelligence agent Walter Charley, helping him evacuate over 200 stranded British soldiers to the Middle East. "Vyrones" also developed an intelligence gathering network and participated in numerous acts of sabotage including the destruction of two Axis planes at theTatoi Airport in November 1941 and an unsuccessful attempt to block theCorinth Canal.[18]
Organization X (Greek:Οργάνωσις Χ), commonly referred to simply asX ("Chi" in Greek).X was founded in 1941 by General Georgios Lavdas with ColonelGeorgios Grivas acting as his chief of staff. Lavdas soon came into conflict with other members of the group because of his radical monarchist ideology. Tis led him to departX with a small group of officers and create another resistance organization known by the acronym E.E. The remaining members ofX recognized Grivas as their new commander.[19]X's efforts revolved around gathering intelligence for the Allied cause, minor anti-German actions, and transport of volunteers to the Middle East. However, with theEAM's meteoric rise to prominence within the Greek resistance movement, X shifted its attention towards combating EAM and other affiliated Communist groups. Following theItalian surrender to the Allies in September 1943,X began purchasing weapons from the Axis authorities,[20] later welcoming hundreds of members of collaborationist organizations such as theEEE andSecurity Battalions who sought to avoid persecution as liberation seemed imminent.[21]
