May Day this year marks the 71st anniversary of the execution of 200 communists, political prisoners and resistance fighters in Kesariani by the German Nazi occupation forces, in what was one of the bloodiest and darkest pages in the Greek Resistance during the Second World War.
The executions were carried out as reprisals for the death of a German general and his three escorts in Molai, Laconia on the 27th of April in 1944. About 170 of those executed were political prisoners and exiles during the Metaxas dictatorship and were handed over by the collaborationist authorities after the fall of Greece in 1943.
“It is better for one to die in the struggle for freedom than live as a slave” wrote Nikos Mariakakis, an agriculturist from Chania, as he was being transferred to be executed. Mitsos Rempoutsikas who was also among those executed wrote “when a man given his life for higher values, he never dies”.
The municipalities of Kesariani and Haidari have arranged three days of celebrations and events to commemorate the memory of those who sacrificed themselves, starting on Friday, 1st of May. The planned events include relay races, speeches and concerts in the Kesariani.
