MARTYRED VILLAGES AND TOWNS OF GREECE

During World War II and the triple (German, Italian, Bulgarian) occupation of the country, Greece paid a heavy toll, losing about 10% of its population to armed conflict, famine and reprisals. The Greek people’s indomitable spirit and stubborn reaction to the fascist occupation triggered fierce reprisals by the occupying troops, which destroyed some 1,700 settlements in retaliation to the National Resistance activities, committing mass executions of civilians, arson and looting. The massacres of Distomo (Central Greece), Kalavryta (Peloponnese), Kommeno (Epirus), Doxato (Macedonia) and Viannos (Crete) figure among the worst atrocities during World War II. In the Bulgarian occupation zone, persecutions took the form of ethnic cleansing aimed at the forced Bulgarisation of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. Martyred villages and towns of Greece are recognised by Presidential Decree and are part of a network currently numbering 131 members.