| Viannos massacres | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Viannos, Heraklion, Crete, Kingdom of Greece (under German-occupation) |
| Coordinates | 35°2′49″N 25°29′22″E / 35.04694°N 25.48944°E |
| Date | 14–16 September 1943 |
| Weapons | machine guns and rifles |
| Deaths | 500+ Cretan men (Mass murder) |
| Perpetrators | Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller 22nd Air Landing Division |
The Viannos massacres (Greek: Σφαγές της Βιάννου / Ολοκαύτωμα της Βιάννου) were a mass extermination campaign launched by German forces against the civilian residents of around 20 villages located in the areas of east Viannos and west Ierapetra provinces on the Greek island of Crete during World War II. The killings, with a death toll in excess of 500,[1][2][3][4] were carried out on 14–16 September 1943 by Wehrmacht units. They were accompanied by the burning of most villages, looting, and the destruction of harvests.[5][6]
The loss of life amounted to one of the deadliest massacres during the Axis occupation of Greece, second only to the massacre of Kalavryta. It was ordered by Generalleutnant Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller, in retaliation for the support and involvement of the local population in the Cretan resistance. Müller, who earned the nickname "the Butcher of Crete", was executed after the war for his part in this and other massacres.
- ^ Γ. Δ. Χρηστάκης, Κ. Γ. Στεφανάκης. Επαρχία Βιάννου, 1940–1945: το ολοκαύτωμα του 1943, Σύλλογος Βιαννιτών Ηρακλείου "Ο Πατούχας", 2000
- ^ Fermor, Patrick Leigh; Cooper, Artemis. Words of Mercury, John Murray, London, 2004, ISBN 071956106X.
- ^ Lewis, Damien. Churchill's Secret Warriors: The Explosive True Story of the Special Forces Desperadoes of WWII, Quercus Editions Ltd, 2014; ISBN 1848669178.
- ^ Schwarz, Peter. Die Plünderung Griechenlands und die Rückkehr der "deutschen Frage", gleichheit 4/2015, 2015.
- ^ Beevor, Antony. Crete: The Battle and the Resistance, John Murray Ltd, 1991. Penguin Books, 1992.
- ^ Ξεφυλλίζοντας την Ιστορία: Τα τραγικά Γεγονότα που Οδήγησαν στην Καταστροφή της Βιάννου, Πατρίς onLine, 9 Σεπτεμβρίου 2003; archived here