Holocaust Memorials - Monuments, Museums and Institutions in Commemoration of Nazi Victims

in detail

The memorial is in the village cemetery in front of the church.

Two executions took place on this spot. On 24 May 1941, while the assault on the island was still in progress, seven villagers were executed. They were accused of taking part in combat operations although they were not in uniform. A few days later, on 2 June 1941, German soldiers shot dead 43 more villagers on the same grounds. At that point the conquest of Crete was already complete.

The memorial with a column on which those shot are listed by name, and with a small chapel on its lower floor, was built around 1975. The opportunity was taken to list the names of the villagers who were killed during the entire occupation. The precise date when the memorial was erected cannot be found in the municipal archives, nor can the residents remember it exactly. Only the deputy mayor, Mr Frangiadakis, knows enough to say anything more about its history.

While the assault on the island Crete was still in progress, in May 1941, German soldiers shot dead seven residents of the village of Alikianos, not far from Chania, accusing them of having taken part in combat operations although not in uniform. After the end of hostilities, 43 more villagers were executed on the same grounds, on 2 June 1941.

Since the mid–1970s, the small memorial with a chapel on its lower floor has honoured the memory of those who were killed.

 

24 May 1941
Seven villagers shot dead

2 June 1941
43 villagers shot dead

Around 1975
Memorial erected in the churchyard