Greece has formally acquired a collection of photographs showing the final moments of 200 communists executed by a Nazi firing squad during World War II, the Culture Ministry announced Saturday. The 200 communists, executed by machine gun fire in the Kaisariani shooting range on May Day 1944, were killed in retaliation for the fatal attack on a German general ambushed by communist guerrillas a few days earlier.
The 262 previously unseen photos had been listed for auction on eBay by Tim de Craene, a Belgian collector specializing in Third Reich memorabilia, along with 16 documents and four banknotes, two weeks ago. The prints, believed to have been taken by Wehrmacht lieutenant Hermann Heuer, were withdrawn from sale following intervention by Greek authorities.
In a statement, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said the Ministry of Culture, with help from the Greek Embassy in Belgium, had secured the collection. The process involved verifying its authenticity, designating it a cultural monument, documenting its provenance, negotiating to prevent the collection from being split, and ensuring its full transfer to the Greek state.
“The photographs – testaments to the courage and patriotism of the Greeks executed in Kaisariani on May 1, 1944 – are now the property of the Greek state,” Mendoni said.