The Wehrmacht was a crucial part of Hitler’s Reich. In the course of the war it grew to 19 million members, which meant that in the end every fourth German was part of it. From the beginning on, the Wehrmacht was involved in war crimes and brutal murders. However, after the war ended, many former …
The following texts are the summaries of the conversation between Gustav Schminck Gustavus and the five survivors of the massacre about their experiences on the third of October, 1943. Nikolaos Rouskas Nikolaos Rouskas was 23 when the Germans attacked the village. He saw them getting up to the village with five trucks and two ambulances. …
Name Relationship Age Remarks 1 Αυγέρη Χ. Ελένη wife 42 2 ΓεράκοςΕλευθέρ. father 34 was burnt in the cellar found by l. Xoleva 3 ΓεράκουΑριστούλα wife 28 4 ΓεράκοςΓεώργιος child 6 5 ΓεράκουΜαρία daughter 4 6 ΓεράκοςΧρήστος child 2 8 ΓεράκοςΧρήστος father 78 9 ΓεράκουΒαγγελή wife 74 10 ΓεράκουΕλένη bride 35 as found burnt 11 …
The Germans notoriously lied about the circumstances of their attack afterwards, being completely aware that the massacre was a breach of the international law and rules of war. In the German report written after the massacre it says that the “cleansing operation” against Struni, Ligiades and the surrounding hills were completed. It states that there …
On the main square in Ligiades, where the Nazis gathered all the villagers in 1943, is a memorial that commemorates the atrocities of the third of October 1943. And every year on the first Sunday in October, a commemoration ceremony takes place on this exact square. Usually Panagiotis Babouskas, the only living survivor, and descendants …
None of the officers of the Wehrmacht division responsible for the tragic massacre in Ligiades ever had to take responsibility for their actions in front of the court. Their war crimes stayed hidden for a long time under the cover of the myth of the “noble Wehrmacht”, that presumably acted like any other normal soldier …
The history of the small village Ligiades in the Mitseliki mountains goes far back. It is first mentioned in an official document of 1430. This document includes the agreement between the council of wealthy people of Ioannina and the Ottoman Pasha, to give him the power over the city of Ioannina. He was also given …
Background to the massacre in Lingiades 1. German military in Ioannina The Italian army already tried in 1940 to invade Greece, however they were pushed back by the Greek resistance. They had to step back even behind their front lines in Albania. In 1941, after a successful invasion in Yugoslavia, the German Army invaded Greece …