The foundations of the German policy of occupation

The Wehrmacht (German armed forces) controlled Greece with a large number of their own soldiers. The geographical location was important for the war effort in the Mediterranean region. The occupying forces ransacked Greece without regard for the local population. Wehrmacht soldiers enriched themselves and carried off Greek property to Germany. The German policy of occupation and the sometimes brutal actions of Wehrmacht personnel in occupied Greece and indeed throughout Eastern and South-Eastern Europe was rooted in a racist sense of superiority.

Resistance in Greece grew as a result of the economic collapse and famine. The occupiers fought the resistance ruthlessly, murdering tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children – often by gruesome methods.