List of massacres in Greece

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

Ancient Greece NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotesAstypalaia massacre496 or 492 BCAstypalaia27Kleomedes of AstypalaiaMassacre of Argos494 BCArgos6,000SpartaArgive survivors of the defeat at Sepeia burned alive in the sacred grove of ArgosAchaemenid destruction of Athens480—479 BCAthensUnknownAchaemenid EmpireOlynthus Massacre479 BCOlynthusAll inhabitants killedPersian EmpireDrabeskos massacre465 BCDraviskosAthenian colonistsThraciansAthenian colonists slain by Thracians.Massacre of Plataea431 BCPlataea180Plataea180 Theban POWs executedFall of Plataea427 BCPlataea200Sparta200 Plataean and Athenian POWs executedFirst massacre of Corcyran oligarchs427 BCCorcyraUnknownCorcyran popular partyCorcyran oligarchs executed by the popular partyMytilenean revolt427 BCMytilene1,000AthensRingleaders of the rebellion executedHelot Massacre425 BCPeloponnese2,000Sparta2,000 Helot slaves executed by SpartaSecond massacre of Corcyran oligarchs425 BCCorcyraUnknownCorcyran popular partyCorcyran oligarchs executed by the popular partyDestruction of Scione421 BCScioneAll of Scione's men killedAthensMen killed, women and children enslavedMassacre of Hysiae417 BCHysiaeAll male citizens of Hysiae killedSpartaDestruction of Melos416 BCMilosAll Melian men killedAthensWomen and children enslaved.Massacre of Mycalessus413 BCMycalessusAll inhabitants of Mycalessus killedThracian mercenaries of AthensCorcyra Massacre361 BCCorcyraUnknownAthensMany Corcyrans killedBattle of ThebesDecember 335 BCThebes6,000Macedonian ArmyThe city was completely destroyed and 30,000 were enslavedArgos Massacre315 BCArgos500Macedonian Army500 Argive senators burned aliveOrchomenus Massacre313 BCOrchomenusUnknownOligarchs supported by MacedonMessene Massacre213 BCMessene200Demagogues supported by Macedon200 magistrates and their supporters killedMaroneia Massacre184 BCMaroneiaUnknownMacedonian ArmyMany Maronites killedAetolian massacre167 BCAetolia550Roman Army 550 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)80,000–150,000Kingdom of Pontus led by Mithridates VI Romans 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 NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotesMassacre of ThessalonicaApril 390Thessalonica7,000Late Roman armyAfter orders of Emperor Theodosius IN/A 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 CatholicsSack of Thessalonica (1185)9–24 August 1185Thessalonica7,000Normans of the Kingdom of SicilySack of Constantinople (1204) Fourth Crusade1204ConstantinopleUnknownCatholics/CrusadersOrthodox Christians, ConstantinopolitansVenetian–Genoese War1296ConstantinopleUnknownGenoeseVenetian civilian victims

Ottoman Greece NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotesOttoman conquest of Lesbos15 September 1461Lesbos300Ottoman Army300 Italian soldiers massacred by Ottoman Army under Mehmed II.Ottoman reconquest of the MoreaJune–September 1715MoreaUnknownSiege of Nauplia12–20 July 1715Nauplia25,000 were killed or sold into slaveryPeloponnese 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.

Greek War of Independence (1821–1832)

NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotesConstantinople massacreApril–July 1821Occurred in Constantinople, but contemporary pogrom activities spread in parts of present–day Greece (Kos, Rhodes)UnknownOttoman governmentNavarino massacre19 August 1821Pylos3,000Greek irregular forcesMassacre of Samothrace1 September 1821Samothrace1,000Ottoman armyComplete destruction, devastation of the island.Tripolitsa massacre23 September 1821Tripolis6,000–15,000Greek irregular forcesChios massacreMarch 1822Chios20,000–52,000Ottoman governmentNaousa massacre13 April 1822Naousa2,000Ottoman armyKasos massacre7 June 1824Kasos500Ottoman–Egyptian armySome 2000 women and children taken and sold into slaveryDestruction of PsaraJuly 1824Psara7,000Ottoman armyThird Siege of MessolonghiApril 1826Messolonghi8,000Ottoman/Egyptian armyMessolonghi received the honorary title of Hiera Polis (Sacred City) by the Greek state.

First Balkan War NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotesServia massacre 10 October 1912 Servia, Greece117Ottoman Army

Second Balkan War NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotesDoxato Massacre 30 June 1913 Doxato500Turkish irregularsKilkis Massacre4 July 1913Kilkis74

World War II NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotesMissiria executions 23 and 24 June 1941 Crete80+ (German paratroopers)Massacre of Kondomari 2 June 1941 Crete60Alikianos executions 2 June 1941 and 1 August 1941 Western Crete180+Razing of Kandanos 3 June 1941 Western Crete180 (German Army)Doxato massacre28–29 September 1941Doxato200+ (Bulgarian Royal Army)Drama massacre28–29 September 1941DramaUp to 1,600 (Bulgarian records) Thousands (Greek estimates)360–500 were killed in the city of Drama itself, while in the villages of Doxato and Choristi a total of 485 men were executed оn 29 September. According to Bulgarian military reports, up to 1,600 Greeks were killed in the uprising and in the weeks that followed, while Greek sources reported thousands of civilian casualties.Kilkis massacre5 October 1941Kilkis96 (German Army)Kerdyllia massacre17 October 1941Kerdyllia235First Mesovouno massacre23 October 1941Mesovouno, Ptolemaida142Domenikon massacre16–17 February 1943Domenikon150 (Royal Italian Army)Milos executions23 February 1943Milos14 (German Army)Tsaritsani massacre12 March 1943Tsaritsani40–45 (Royal Italian Army)Feneos executionsMarch 1943–June 1944Feneos1,071+Mainly OPLAThe local monastery functioned as a concentration camp.Kournovo massacre6 June 1943Kournovo, Thessalia106 (Royal Italian Army)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, Greece5,000 (German Army)Dramatized in the film Captain Corelli's Mandolin.Kommeno massacre16 August 1943Kommeno317 (German Army)Razing of Vorizia27 August 1943Vorizia5Paramythia executions19–29 September 1943Paramythia201 (Cham Albanian paramilitary, German Army troops)Massacre of Kos4–6 October 1943Kos103 (Wehrmacht)Lyngiades massacre3 October 1943Ligiades83 (German Army troops)Burnings of Kali Sykia6 October 1943Kali Sykia, Rethymno, Crete13 (Jagdkommando Schubert)Kallikratis executions8 October 1943Kallikratis30+ (Jagdkommando Schubert, German Army troops)Milies massacre14 October 1943Milies28–33 (Wehrmacht)Pogrom against the wounded veterans30 November 1943Athens283 (Security Battalions)Massacre of Kalavryta13 December 1943Kalavryta693 (German Army troops)Drakeia massacre18 December 1943Drakeia, Mount Pelion115 (4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division)Elatohori massacre17 January 1944Elatohori, Pieria32 (Wehrmacht)Kleisoura massacre5 April 1944Kleisoura, Kastoria270–280 (Wehrmacht) (Bulgarian Royal Army)5/42 Evzone Regiment dissolution17 April 1944Phocis, Central Greece200+ELAS troopsColonel Dimitrios Psarros also executed.Second Mesovouno massacre22 April 1944Mesovouno, Ptolemaida185 (Wehrmacht)Pyrgoi (formerly Katranitsa) massacre23 to 24 April 1944Pyrgoi327 (German Army)Executions of Kaisariani1 May 1944Kaisariani200Haidari massacre16 May 1944Haidari200Limnes massacre23 to 27 May 1944Limnes, Argolida86–88 (Wehrmacht)Distomo massacre10 June 1944Distomo218 (German SS troops)Massacre of Pikermi21 July 1944Pikermi54 (German Army)54 Greek civilians were executed by the German occupation force in Pikermi, as retaliation for an attack by the resistance group ELAS.Massacres of Mousiotitsa25 July 1943Mousiotitsa153Chéli massacre29 July 1944Chéli88National Liberation FrontRazing of Anogeia13 August 1944Anogeia25 (German Army)Executions of Kokkinia17 August 1944Kokkinia300+ (German Army troops, Security Battalions)Skourvoula executions14 August 1944Skourvoula, Crete36+ (German Army)Gerbesi massacre15 August 1944Gerbesi23Greek People's Liberation ArmyLimnes massacre19 August 1944Limnes, Argolida25National Liberation FrontHolocaust of Kedros22 August 1944Amari Valley164 (German Army)Malathyros executions28 August 1944Malathyros, Crete61The Massacre of Chortiatis2 September 1944Chortiatis 146Perpetrated by Friedrich SchubertGiannitsa massacre14 September 1944Giannitsa10 (German Army, Security Battalions)Executions of Meligalas16 September 1944Meligalasc.1,000ELAS troopsAigaleo massacre29 September 1944Aigaleo65 (official number), estimates up to 150 (Wehrmacht)Executions of ULEN/PeristeriDecember 1944 (Dekemvriana)Athens3,000+ (unknown exactly)OPLA, other minor communist groups

Others +NameDateLocationDeathsPerpetratorsNotesCandia massacre6 September 1898Crete500–800Armed Muslim irregular groupsKalamata dock workers' strike9 May 1934Kalamata5Greek Police, Greek ArmyMassacre of the First Sapper Battalion29 February—1 March 1948Makronisos350Third Sapper Battalion, Prison GuardsPart of the Greek Civil WarAthens Polytechnic uprising14–17 November 1973National Technical University of Athens40Greek Junta

References