Greece has obtained a cache of World War II-era photos showing the final moments of 200 men executed by German soldiers after the assassination of a Nazi general, the Culture Minister said on Saturday.
The collection includes 262 photographs, 16 documents and four contemporary banknotes. The photos are believed to have been taken by a German soldier who served in Belgium and France.
“The transfer of ownership of the photography collection… has been completed,” Lina Mendoni said in a statement.
The ministry has previously said it showed the “final moments” of 200 communists executed at an Athens shooting range on May 1, 1944.
Twelve of the photos appeared on the eBay site Crain’s Militaria earlier this month and were later removed.
They stirred strong emotions in Greece, especially among relatives of the victims.
Greece has obtained a collection of World War II photos showing the final moments of 200 men executed by German soldiers. / Image source: Greek Ministry of Culture
Ministry officials then traveled to Belgium to meet with the collectors selling the artifacts and verify their authenticity.
Bidding on some of the images exceeded $2,000 before being taken off the market by Belgian collector Tim de Craen, France 24 reported.
“I fully understand that these photos are of a particularly sensitive historical nature,” he told Greek newspaper I Kathimerini.
The execution came days after communist guerrillas killed a German general and his staff.
From 1941 to 1944, Greece was under Nazi occupation.
Most of those executed were arrested years ago during anti-communist police raids by Greek dictator Giannis Metaxas.
So far, the only testimony of the 200 victims’ final moments are handwritten notes they threw from trucks on their way to the execution sites.
One of the photos shows the men marching through a field. Other photos show them standing against the wall of a shooting range.
Greece has obtained a collection of World War II photos showing the final moments of 200 men executed by German soldiers. / Image source: Greek Ministry of Culture
(Greek Ministry of Culture)
The most striking photo shows several of them looking defiantly at the camera. Two of them appeared to be singing.
Polymeris Voglis, a professor at the Greek University of Social History, told France 24 television: “These photos shock me. Although the execution of 200 resistance fighters is a well-known historical event, there is so far no photographic evidence to prove it.”
“Some of the photos show the faces of these men, reflecting their determination as they proudly walked towards the firing squad,” Vogelis told the media.
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