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

in detail

The memorial is on a hill overlooking the village.

 

On 13 December 1943, German troops surrounded the village of Kalavryta. The entire population was forced to assemble on the village square. All male inhabitants older than twelve were separated from the others, taken to a nearby hill and machine–gunned to death. In the meantime, the soldiers had herded the women and children into the schoolhouse and the church. In all, the German troops killed over 500 people in Kalavryta on that day.

 

Some of the dead were buried directly on the hill — the graves can still be seen today. Most of them, however, were buried in the cemetery. In 1967 the memorial was erected. To this day it is considered one of the two most important remembrance sites in Greece.

 

 

 

The memorial above the village of Kalavryta is one of the most important remembrance sites in Greece. On 13 December 1943, German troops murdered over 500 people in Kalavryta. The men were taken to a hill above the village and machine–gunned to death, while the women and children were locked in the village school and the church.

13 December 1943
All male villagers over the age of twelve shot dead on a hill near the village and women and children burned alive in the church and school. 1,104 victims in all. Complete destruction of the village.

1940s to 1960s
Creation of commemorative graves on the hill and in the cemetery.

1967
Erection of the memorial (called ‘Topos Thysias’).

2000–2006 (planned)
Restoration of the old schoolhouse and establishment of a ‘Museum of the Holocaust of Kalavryta’ within it.