Crete tourist guide

Anniversary of events in Kandanos

2020-06-04 20:55:23

Kandanos is now a modern village located less than 20 km north of Paleochora. On June 3, 1941, after the German army took control of Crete, 180 innocent Cretan civilians were massacred here. Today, the destruction of Kandanos is considered one of the most terrible war crimes committed in Crete during World War II.

The destruction of the village and the massacre of the population was carried out at the behest of the Nazi commander Karl Student, who wanted to punish civilians for participating in the Battle of Crete and alleged crimes against German soldiers. During the first days of the struggle for the island of Kandanos, it was bombed, and German forces attempted to break through the village to get to Paleochora. German plans were thwarted by poorly armed residents of Kandanos and other nearby villages. There was even an ambush on enemy soldiers in a nearby gorge and a unit was killed. The corpses of two soldiers were not found. Eventually, Cretan partisans were forced to retreat to the mountains.

Resistance of the local population irritated the Germans, it was unprecedented for them. In addition, their rage was fueled by circulating stories of alleged torture and mutilation that the Cretans were supposed to make on German paratroopers. As it turned out after the investigations, these stories were false. Only a few cases of such mutilations have been proven throughout the island, and they have already occurred after the death of soldiers. What the Germans took for torture wounds was in fact the effect of high temperatures, birds and other animals.

Nevertheless, at that moment General Student decided to retaliate for the defense of Crete by its inhabitants, their resistance and alleged crimes against German soldiers. He ordered the violent repression of the local people.

Kandanos was one of the many places where people were slaughtered. A few days earlier, Kondomari, Kakopetros, Floria and Prases met a similar fate.

In Kandanos, the Nazis killed about 180 inhabitants, all homes were burned and razed. As if this crime was not enough, the Germans forbade the survivors to return and rebuild the village, recognizing it as a "dead zone". As one of the inhabitants of Kandanos, whom we met, told us that all animals, including chickens, were killed so that those who survived this massacre would not have anything to eat.

On each road leading to the village, the Germans put up plaques with German and Greek saying that "Kandanos was destroyed in retaliation for the brutal murder of German paratroopers and mountain gunners by local men and women. This village will never be rebuilt. "

Despite this, Kandanos was rebuilt. Today it is a small and modern town with about a thousand inhabitants. The local war memorial reminds us every day of the tragic events that the Nazis carried out here. It is worth stopping in the center of the town and take a moment to read the names of the fallen and see the commemorative plaques.

Gosia,  2020-06-04 20:55:23

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