Greece will send a team of experts to Belgium in order to probe the authenticity of the historical pictures of the “Kaisariani Massacre” where 200 Greek communists were executed by the Nazis on May 1, 944.
The pictures became public for the first time after a Belgian national put them for auction on ebay. He has halted the auction and removed the pictures following the reactions in Greece.
Although not authenticated yet, the pictures are labelled as showing the execution of 200 Greeks by the German occupation forces.
Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said that the Culture Ministry will take all legal steps to acquire the historic photograph archive, which will then be turned over to the Greek Parliament.
The publication of the pictures triggered a shock in Greece as it was not known that somebody had captured the Nazis’ atrocity.
Already the Greek Communist party KKE has reportedly identified two of the 200 men on the pictures. The overwhelming majority of the executed Greeks were members of the Communist party, arrested some years ago by the regime of dictator Ioannis Metaxas and were handed over to the Nazis who sought to execute Greeks as retaliation for the killing of a Nazi general. The youngest victim was 14 years old.
Note: the tall man in white shirt was initially falsely identified as engineer Vassilis Papadimas. KKE identified him as 30-year-old Thrasyvoulos Kalafatakis from Creteand the man walking on left on the picture as Dimitris Papadopoulos from Pontus.
KKE is using its own archives for the identification.
Check HERE on KTG for more pictures.
Seller closes ebay auction
“This morning, I personally decided to close the eBay auctions regarding the historical photographs of Kaisariani,” the seller said in a note to daily efsyn.gr on Monday.
The Belgian collector who is in possession of the shocking photographs of Kaisariani stated that he is open to constructive dialogue with the Greek authorities.
Seller Tim De Crenne from Ghent said further that he “fully understands that these photographs are of a sensitive historical nature.”
He also stated that he is deeply shocked “by the damage caused to the monument of Kaisariani” on Sunday.
The vandalized monument with the names of the 200 executed Greeks in Kaisariani – more on 902.gr in Greek.
“I know that the emotions surrounding this issue can be significant and I regret that the issue is also being appropriated politically,” he emphasized
“No decision has yet been made on a sale and I remain open to constructive dialogue with the relevant Greek government authorities regarding the future of this material,” he stressed adding, however, that “ultimately, the decision regarding who and under what conditions these photographs can find a new guardian lies with me and I intend to make such decisions carefully, responsibly and with full awareness of their historical significance.”
He revealed that following the intense media coverage on Sunday, he was contacted by a large number of private collectors who expressed a strong interest in acquiring the photographs.
Culture ministry to contact the seller
In a later statement, Culture Minister Mendoni said the Central Council of Modern Monuments will meet on Wednesday to discuss the issue of authenticity and legal options on acquiring the photographs.
According to the ministry, the 12 photographs showed up on eBay for sale on Saturday, February 14. They belong to a collector who is interested in memorabilia of the German Army and documents of World War II.
“The conclusion of the classification of the collection as a monument comprises the basis for its claim by the Greek state. Specialist officials of the Ministry of Culture have already gotten in touch with the collector,” the Culture Ministry said.
It added that in the coming days, the experts will visit the seller at his home base in Ghent, Belgium, to evaluate their authenticity, the legality of provenance, and the importance and value of the collection.”
“If the authenticity and legal provenance of the collection are ascertained, the Ministry of Culture will finalize the measures to acquire it through the appropriate legal path.”
