The Greek government has acquired the first verified photographs documenting the May 1, 1944 Nazi mass execution of 200 prisoners at the Kaisariani firing range in Athens, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni announced Thursday, after purchasing the archive from a Belgian private collector for 100,000 euros ($115,700). The 262-image collection, taken by German Wehrmacht lieutenant Hermann Heuer during his 1943–44 posting in occupied Greece, includes scenes of prisoners transported from the Haidari prison camp outside Athens to the firing range east of the city center, where they were shot in groups of 20 in reprisal for a resistance ambush that killed a German military commander in southern Greece.
The photographs are the first verified visual record ever made public of the Kaisariani killings, which historians describe as one of the most widely remembered episodes of Nazi reprisal violence during the occupation of Greece, and they restore individual identities to victims known previously only through written accounts and worn family portraits.
A grandson recognizes his grandfather
Among those who viewed the images was Thrasivoulos Marakis, a resident of Crete who grew up hearing stories about the grandfather he never met but was named after. Last month he found one of the newly surfaced photographs at an online auction. It showed a tall, broad-shouldered man — sleeves rolled up, striding forward with his head held high — at the front of a group walking under guard.
Marakis said he confirmed the identification by showing the image to elderly relatives and a 97-year-old woman who had known the family locally. The man in the photograph was Thrasivoulos Kalafatakis, a 40-year-old dairy farmer executed alongside the other prisoners at Kaisariani.
“It was very moving for the family — deeply, deeply moving,” Marakis told the Associated Press. “They went to their deaths with their heads held high so that we could be free today.”
Marakis said the images showed his grandfather “stood by his beliefs and his ideology. He never renounced them.” He added: “If he had renounced them, he would have lived longer.”
What the photographs document
One series of images depicts trucks transporting detainees along dirt roads from Haidari to the firing range. Another shows the men entering the shooting range, where piles of coats were stacked near the gate.
Valentin Schneider, a researcher at the University of Athens’ Department of History and Archaeology who helped verify the images, said the clothing detail carried historical significance.
“Most likely it was on the orders of the German army,” Schneider said. “To make the bullets penetrate more easily, they asked them to remove their coats and heavy clothing.”
Other photographs capture moments historians describe as extremely rare in the visual record: one shows the instant shots are fired, while another depicts the executed prisoners lying on the ground, all fallen backward.
Background on the prisoners and the occupation
Historians say many of the 200 prisoners executed at Kaisariani had been arrested years earlier by Greece’s prewar authoritarian government for communist political activity and remained imprisoned when German forces occupied the country beginning in 1941. During the occupation, which lasted until 1944, German commanders frequently ordered the execution of hostages or civilians following resistance attacks.
The archive also includes scenes from Heuer’s private life — swimming near Athens, visiting the Acropolis, and spending time with his family after returning to Germany — revealing the personal record kept alongside the documentation of atrocity.
Why the photographs were taken at all
Stavroula Fotopoulou, head of the Culture Ministry’s department of antiquities and cultural heritage, said the images reflected a systematic practice encouraged by the Nazi regime.
“They created a powerful propaganda machine, not only with professional photographers in the propaganda units, but by encouraging everyone — soldiers and their families — to take photographs,” Fotopoulou said. “So these images could be sent back home and build the impression of the Wehrmacht’s successes.”
Mendoni said the collection’s documentary value was significant precisely because it documented what written records could only describe.
“The photographs are priceless, because they give a face and a visual dimension to historical testimonies,” she said. “What matters is how the Greeks faced the Nazi system with courage.”
Next steps for the archive
Mendoni said official identification of the people shown in the photographs will begin immediately. Digital copies will be provided to families of victims and to institutions and museums that request them.
“In that moment, the Greeks — and these people in particular — showed true greatness,” Mendoni said. “They reacted with bravery and dignity. That’s what we must hold on to.”