Distomo Monument

Four days after the Allied invasion of Normandy, a most despicable atrocity took place in the village of Distomo in the province of Viotia (Boeotia) in Central Greece. A unit of the SS Police Panzergrenadier Regiment No 7, on an antipartisan sweep, massacred 218 Greek civilians in the village (there are 230 names, including the babies, carved on the marble monument). Packed into seven trucks, the unit drove through the village without incident but a short distance beyond the village the convoy was ambushed by a guerrilla band that resulted in the killing of seven SS soldiers. The SS unit doubled back into the village and in a last ditch effort to crush partisan activities, the reprisals, including looting, burning and rape, began. When a Red Cross delegation visited the village some days later they found bodies hanging from trees along the main street. .

The unit commander, SS Hauptstrumführer Lautenbach, was later charged with falsifying a military report on the massacre but the charges were dropped as the massacre was judged a 'military necessity'. Today, the skulls and bones of the victims are displayed in the Mausoleum of Distomo. In 1960, Germany paid the Greek government 115 million marks as compensation for the suffering of its citizens during the German occupation but as yet no payment is forthcoming for the victims of Distomo. It was not until 1990 that members of the German embassy first took part in the wreath laying ceremony on the annual anniversary of the massacre.
(Τext: George Duncan - Photos: Michael Tziotis)

• Distomo Town
• The Mausoleum in Distomo

The Mausoleum in Distomo

The Marble Mausoleum in Distomo At the top of the nearby hill, the people of Distomo honor the memory of their victimised fellow citizens.	The Mausoleum in Distomo
The Mausoleum in Distomo	The Mausoleum in Distomo The long list of the victims
The Mausoleum in Distomo Not yet baptised, the Barlou baby lived long enough to be added to the list of the victims, together with her 4-year-old sister Tassoula, yet not long enough to have a name by which to die.	Distomo Mausoleum

• Distomo Town
• The Mausoleum in Distomo