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Memories of the Occupation in Greece

Contemporary Witnesses of Massacres

Giota Konstantopoulou, survivor of the massacre of Kalavryta, with her interviewer (l.) and her son (r.)

Giota Konstantopoulou, survivor of the massacre of Kalavryta, with her interviewer (l.) and her son (r.)

The villages of Distomo and Kalavryta are inextricably connected to memories of the terror of the occupation. An estimated 30,000 people were victims of so-called retaliations, while nearly another 100,000 were killed by the famine caused by the occupation. There are now 90 places designated by the Greek state as “martyr villages” and numerous memorials, which are intended to remind the inhabitants as well as visitors of the atrocities of the war.

Contemporary witnesses such as Giota Konstantopoulou, who survived the massacre in Kalavryta but lost her entire family, and Argyris Sfountouris, who survived the massacre in Distomo, speak about the most traumatic experiences of their lives.