September 16, 1943 – Germans perpetrate the Viannos Massacres in Crete

The Viannos massacres, September 1943

During the Nazi occupation of Greece in the Second World War, German forces carried out numerous war crimes on Greek soil. One of the deadliest was on Crete in mid-September 1943, in villages between Viannos and Ierapetra.

From 14 to 16 September 1943, Wehrmacht units launched a campaign of collective punishment now known as the Viannos massacres — in Greek, Σφαγές της Βιάννου or Ολοκαύτωμα της Βιάννου.

They burned about 20 villages, dynamited houses, looted property and destroyed harvests that communities needed for the winter. Survivors were forbidden for a time to return to the ruins or bury their dead. Around 1,000 buildings, mostly homes, were destroyed. About 200 civilians were also held hostage.

The killing of civilians did not stop at the burnings. Most sources put the death toll at more than 500; documented lists often give about 400–461 named dead, with others unrecorded. It is widely described as one of the worst massacres in occupied Greece, second only to Kalavryta.

The operation was ordered by Generalleutnant Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller after local support for the Cretan resistance, including fighting around Kato Simi. His order was to destroy Viannos, shoot all males over 16, and kill anyone caught in the countryside regardless of age or sex. Müller later became known as the “Butcher of Crete.” He was tried after the war and executed in 1947 for this and other crimes. No one else was convicted for Viannos, and the families received no reparations.

Villages attacked included, in east Viannos: Kefalovryssi, Kato Simi, Amiras, Pefkos, Vachos, Agios Vassilios, Ano Viannos, Sykologos, Krevatas, Kalami and Loutraki; and in west Ierapetra: Myrtos, Gdochia, Riza, Mournies, Mythoi, Malles, Christos and Parsas (now Metaxochori).

The main memorial stands at Amiras. It was designed by sculptor Yiannis Parmakelis. A small museum has operated there since 2016. Each village has its own monument; a memorial service is held every year.

READ MORE: World War II reparations: Greece DEMANDS €377 billion from Germany in ‘compensation.’

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