Chortiatis massacre
The Chortiatis Massacre was a violent reprisal by the Greek collaborationist Security Battalions and German army troops during the Axis Occupation of Greece. On 2 September 1944, a platoon of Greek People's Liberation Army fighters ambushed a government water supply column outside Chortiatis village. Several hours later an Axis punitive expedition into the area led to the destruction of the village and the parallel execution of 146 of its citizens, most of whom were women and children.
Background
On 28 October 1940, Italy began the Italo-Greek War, expecting a swift victory but the invasion failed and the Italians were pushed back into Albania. As the war dragged on into its sixth month, Germany was forced to intervene to support its struggling ally. The small Greek force defending the Greco–Bulgarian border was defeated by the better-equipped and numerically-superior Germans. The German penetration deep into Greece made further resistance at the Albanian front pointless, ending the Battle of Greece in the favor of the Axis Powers. The British conducted an evacuation and Greece was subjected to a Triple Occupation by Germany, Italy and Bulgaria. Soon, Resistance groups began being formed, and by 1942, the communist-led Greek People's Liberation Army, became the dominant resistance organization in the country. Right-wing resistance organizations such as the National Republican Greek League, National and Social Liberation and Defenders of Northern Greece played a much smaller role.Operation Steinadler was the last counter-insurgency operation carried out by German forces in Macedonia. Although wide in its scope it ultimately failed to achieve its objectives as ELAS fighters successfully evaded the German patrols, returning to their hideouts once the operation was over. The civilian population thus became the main target for Axis reprisals. Shortly afterwards the German 1st Mountain Division and the 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division departed from the country, while in August Army Group E declared Greece a war zone. German shops and cultural institutions were closed, while civilians and older member of the army, secret police and SS were evacuated. Under Adolf Hitler's orders the Wehrmacht adopted the policy of total war, in response to the rise of ELAS subversive activity which had hampered the summer harvest in areas still controlled by the collaborationist government. Army Group E's staff deemed the preceding Distomo massacre and 1 May 1944 Kaisariani executions as excessive and even damaging to the image of the occupational authorities. The staff stressed the need to arrest insurgents rather than resorting to the collective punishment of civilians. Nevertheless, those orders were disregarded and atrocities continued unhindered. Between June and August, ELAS attacks led to the death of 30 German soldiers, 14 were wounded and 9 more were missing in action. German reprisals in their turn included the execution of 254 people.
German occupational authorities further attempted to instill terror in the population of western Macedonia by deploying the collaborationist Poulos Verband and Jagdkommando Schubert, headed by Georgios Poulos and Friedrich Schubert respectively. These units were stationed in Krya Vrysi and Asvestochori, creating a protective axis around Thessaloniki, while Thessaloniki itself was garrisoned by the collaborationist government's Security Battalions. Schubert's previous imprisonment by the Germans, who condemned his ruthlessness and employment of former convicts during his deployment in Crete, was now disregarded, as all available forces were required for the Axis counter insurgency campaign. The pressure from the ELAS attacks around Thessaloniki threatened the ongoing German evacuation of southern Greece; Army Group E came to the conclusion that a show of force was necessary.