by Katerina Nikolas

Created on: June 27, 2010   Last Updated: October 04, 2011

In the early mornings the valley below the mountain village of Aetos is shrouded in mist. As the mist rises the villages below are revealed.  Aetos is high and remote, looking down on the valley, seemingly safe from attacks. The village stands quietly now, largely unoccupied, only knowing the bustle of people when the local families return from Athens for the summer to their family homes. The village houses have stood for hundreds of years, but not as they appear now. The village of Aetos has its own place in history as one of the very few Greek Peloponnese villages to be bombed during World War II.

Often the events of the war in rural Greece are overshadowed by the events of the Civil War, but in 1943 Aetos brought the wrath of the Germans to its very doors. German soldiers stationed in the lower village of Doria sometimes ascended to Aetos for food and supplies. In September 1943 nine German soldiers entered Aetos and the andartes turned on them, killing eight. Unfortunately one managed to flee and alert the German battalions to the deaths.

In anger the Germans raised their battalions and tanks, and planned to ascend to Aetos at dusk, to revenge their comrades. They met with failure as the weight of their tank convoy broke one of the bridges it was necessary to traverse to reach the village. Foiled in their attempt, the bridge was hastily rebuilt during the night, allowing time for villagers from the lower villages to alert the citizens of Aetos to the German plans for revenge.

The villagers of Aetos fled from the village, hiding in the caves above. At dawn on September 11th1943, German airplanes bombed the village whilst German troops arrived by tank. Every living person they found in the village, those too old or feeble to have run, were ordered out of their houses and shot. The Germans were furious that most had got away, and burnt every single home in the village to the ground, burning any who were hidden indoors.

Seven Greeks were shot that day and a monument to their death stands in the centre of Aetos today, next to the waterfall. Some argue that the village brought it upon itself by standing up to the Germans, but Greeks have always fought against the mantle of oppression, whether Turks, pirates or Germans. The young men believed they were doing the right thing to stand up to the enemy in their war torn land, and if the one German soldier had not fled perhaps their action could have been concealed and reprisals never brought.

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