List of massacres in Greece explained

The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in Greece.

Ancient Greece

NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotes
Massacre of Argos494 BCArgos6,000SpartaArgive survivors of the defeat at Sepeia burned alive in the sacred grove of Argos
Olynthus Massacre479 BCOlynthusAll inhabitants killedPersian Empire
Drabeskos massacre465 BCDraviskosAthenian colonistsThraciansAthenian colonists slain by Thracians.[1]
Massacre of Plataea431 BCPlataea150Plataea150 Theban POWs executed
Fall of Plataea427 BCPlataea200Sparta200 Plataean and Athenian POWs executed
First massacre of Corcyran oligarchs427 BCCorcyraUnknownCorcyran popular partyCorcyran oligarchs executed by the popular party
Mytilenean revolt427 BCMytilene1,000AthensRingleaders of the rebellion executed
Helot Massacre425 BCPeloponnese2,000Sparta2,000 Helot slaves executed by Sparta
Second massacre of Corcyran oligarchs425 BCCorcyraUnknownCorcyran popular partyCorcyran oligarchs executed by the popular party
Destruction of Scione421 BCScioneAll of Scione's men killedAthensMen killed, women and children enslaved
Massacre of Hysiae417 BCHysiaeAll male citizens of Hysiae killedSparta
Destruction of Melos416 BCMilosAll Melian men killedAthensWomen and children enslaved.
Massacre of Mycalessus413 BCMycalessusAll inhabitants of Mycalessus killedThracian mercenaries of Athens
Corcyra Massacre361 BCCorcyraUnknownAthensMany Corcyrans killed
Battle of ThebesDecember 335 BCThebes6,000Macedonian ArmyThe city was completely destroyed and 30,000 were enslaved
Argos Massacre315 BCArgos500Macedonian Army500 Argive senators burned alive
Orchomenus Massacre313 BCOrchomenusUnknownOligarchs supported by Macedon
Messene Massacre213 BCMessene200Demagogues supported by Macedon200 magistrates and their supporters killed
Maroneia Massacre184 BCMaroneiaUnknownMacedonian ArmyMany Maronites killed
Aetolian massacre167 BCAetolia550550 Aetolian leaders killed by Roman soldiers.
Destruction of Corinth146 BCCorinthAll Corinthian men killedRoman ArmyComplete destruction of the city. Population partly massacred, partly enslaved.
Asiatic Vespers88 BCAsia (Roman province)80,000–150,000Romans and Italians killed. Served as a casus belli for the First Mithridatic War.
Sack of Athens86 BCAthensUnknownRoman ArmyPopulation partly massacred and large parts of the city burned down.

Roman or Byzantine Empire

NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotes
Massacre of ThessalonicaApril 390Thessalonica7,000Late Roman armyAfter orders of Emperor Theodosius I
1171Constantinople, Genoese quarterUnknownVenetiansGenoese victims. This was not the first time Venetian merchants had gotten out of hand. Given much freedom and power in their trade with the Empire, they had misused this freedom. In response, Emperor Manuel I cracked down on the Venetian merchants and this led to the Byzantine-Venetian war.
Massacre of the LatinsApril 1182ConstantinopleUnknownUsurper Andronikos Komnenos and a mob of his Greek, Eastern Christian supportersMassacre of Latins/Roman Catholics
Sack of Thessalonica (1185)9–24 August 1185Thessalonica7,000Normans of the Kingdom of Sicily
Sack of Constantinople (1204) Fourth Crusade1204ConstantinopleUnknownCatholics/CrusadersOrthodox Christians, Constantinopolitans
1296ConstantinopleUnknownGenoeseVenetian civilian victims

Ottoman Greece

NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotes
Ottoman conquest of Lesbos15 September 1461Lesbos300Ottoman Army300 Italian soldiers massacred by Ottoman Army under Mehmed II.
Peloponnese massacresMarch 1770Peloponnese, mainly Tripolitsa3,000-10,000 (plus 20,000 refugees)Albanian irregularsAfter the failure of Orlov Revolt.
Preveza massacreOctober 1798PrevezaUnknownAlbanian MuslimsComplete destruction, devastation of the city. The biographer of Ali Pasha, Spyros Aravantinos, states that before the massacre, the population of Preveza was 16,000, while according to the traveler Henry Holland who visited the town in 1812 – fourteen years after the event – there were only 4,000 souls.[2]

Greek War of Independence (1821–1832)

NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotes
Constantinople massacreApril–July 1821Occurred in Constantinople, but contemporary pogrom activities spread in parts of present-day Greece (Kos, Rhodes)[3] unknownOttoman government
Navarino massacre19 August 1821Pylos3,000Greek irregular forces
Massacre of Samothrace1 September 1821Samothrace1,000[4] Ottoman armyComplete destruction, devastation of the island.
Tripolitsa massacre23 September 1821Tripolis6,000-15,000Greek irregular forces
Chios massacreMarch 1822Chios20,000–52,000Ottoman government
Naousa massacre13 April 1822Naousa2,000Ottoman army
Kasos massacre7 June 1824Kasos500Ottoman-Egyptian armySome 2000 women and children taken and sold into slavery
Destruction of PsaraJuly 1824Psara7,000Ottoman army
Third Siege of MessolonghiApril 1826Messolonghi8,000Ottoman/Egyptian armyMessolonghi received the honorary title of Hiera Polis (Sacred City) by the Greek state.

Second Balkan War

NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotes
Doxato Massacre30 June 1913 Doxato500[5] Turkish irregulars[6] [7]
Kilkis Massacre4 July 1913Kilkis74[8] [9]

World War II

NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotes
Massacre of Kondomari2 June 1941 Crete60German paratroopers
Alikianos executions2 June 1941 and 1 August 1941Western Crete180+German paratroopers
Razing of Kandanos3 June 1941 Western Crete180German Army troops
Doxato massacre28–29 September 1941Doxato200+Bulgarian Royal Army
Domenikon massacre16–17 February 1943Domenikon150Italian Royal Army
Feneos executionsMarch 1943-June 1944Feneosno less than 1,071mainly OPLAThe local monastery functioned as a concentration camp.
Viannos massacres14–16 September 1943Viannos and Ierapetra regions500+Generalleutnant Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller leading the 65th Regiment of the 22nd Luftlande Infanterie-Division
Massacre of the Acqui Division21 September 1943Kefalonia, Greece5,000German Army troopsDramatized in the film Captain Corelli's Mandolin.
Kommeno massacre16 August 1943Kommeno317German Army troops
Paramythia executions19–29 September 1943Paramythia201Cham Albanian paramilitary/German Army troops
Lyngiades massacre3 October 1943Ligiades83German Army troops
Kallikratis executions8 October 1943Kallikratis30+Jagdkommando Schubert/German Army troops
Massacre of Kalavryta13 December 1943Kalavryta693German Army troops
Drakeia massacre18 December 1943Drakeia, Mount Pelion1154th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division
5/42 Evzone Regiment dissolution17 April 1944Phocis, Central Greece200+ELAS troopsColonel Dimitrios Psarros also executed.
Pyrgoi (formerly Katranitsa) massacre20 April 1944Pyrgoi346German Army troops
Executions of Kaisariani1 May 1944Kaisariani200German Army troops
Distomo massacre10 June 1944Distomo218German SS troops
Massacre of Pikermi21 July 1944Pikermi54German Army troops
Massacre of Mousiotitsa25 July 1943Mousiotitsa153German SS troops
Executions of Kokkinia17 August 1944Kokkinia300+German Army troops/Security Battalions
Skourvoula executions14 August 1944Skourvoula, Crete36+German Army troops
Holocaust of Kedros22 August 1944Amari Valley164German Army troops
Malathyros executions28 August 1944Malathyros, Crete61German Army troops
The Massacre of Chortiatis2 September 1944Chortiatis146German Army troopsPerpetrated by Friedrich Schubert
Executions of Meligalas16 September 1944Meligalasc.1,000ELAS troops
Aigaleo massacre29 September 1944Aigaleo65 official number,[10] estimates up to 150[11] German Army troops
Executions of ULEN/PeristeriDecember 1944 (Dekemvriana)Athens3,000+ (unknown exactly)OPLA, other minor communist groups

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, DRABESKOS (Sdravik) Macedonia, Greece. . Perseus Digital Library . la . 2024-01-12.
  2. Book: Παπασταύρος, Αναστάσιος Ι.. Αλή Πασάς – από λήσταρχος ηγεμόνας. Apeirotan. 2013. 106. el. Ο ΧΑΛΑΣΜΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΠΡΕΒΕΖΑΣ. https://zsgiannina.gr/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/274-%CE%9F-%CF%87%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%B1%CF%83%CE%BC%CF%8C%CF%82-%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82-%CE%A0%CF%81%CE%AD%CE%B2%CE%B5%CE%B6%CE%B1%CF%82.pdf.
  3. Book: Clair, William St.. That Greece might still be free. 2008. Open Book Publ.. Cambridge. 9781906924003. massacred+1821+constantinople+greeks.. New ed., rev., corr., and with additional ill. and updated bibliography.. 4–5.
  4. Charles Vellay, L'irrédentisme hellénique, 1913, 329 pages. page 131: https://books.google.com/books?id=vMhDAAAAYAAJ&q=samothrace+massacre+1821
  5. Book: Kramer. Alan. Dynamic of Destruction: Culture and Mass Killing in the First World War. 2008. OUP Oxford. 9780191580116. en.
  6. http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/en/carnegie/chapter2_2.html Report of the International Commission to Inquire into the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan Wars, published by the Endowment Washington, D.C. 1914, p. 83
  7. Book: The Nation and Athenæum. 1914. Nation Publishing Company Limited. en.
  8. April 1915. Report of the International Commission to inquire into the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan Wars. [Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Division of Intercourse and Education, Publication No. 4.] (Washington, D. C.: Published by the Endowment. 1914. Pp. 413.). The American Historical Review. 10.1086/ahr/20.3.638. 1937-5239.
  9. Book: Hooton, E. R.. Prelude to the First World War: The Balkan Wars 1912-1913. Fonthill Media. 2014.
  10. Web site: Δεδούση . Μαρία . 2022-09-29 . Σαν σήμερα: 29 Σεπτεμβρίου - Το Ολοκαύτωμα του Αιγάλεω, ακόμη μια ατιμώρητη σφαγή αθώων . 2022-10-03 . CNN.gr . el.
  11. Web site: Τα θύματα εκ της βαρβάρου επιδρομής εις το Πυριτιδοποιείον – Οι νεκροί ανέρχονται εις εκατόν πενήντα . 2022-10-03 . efimeris.nlg.gr . el.

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