October 12, 1944: The Nazis Retreat From Athens

Restoring the flag used in Greece

from 1822 to 1969 to the Parthenon

October 12, 1944: The Nazis evacuate the Greek capital of Athens, ending their occupation of Greece.

The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany invaded, to assist its ally, Italy, in their ongoing war that had started in October 1940. Following the conquest of Crete on June 1, 1941, the entirety of Greece was occupied.

The occupation of the mainland lasted until Germany and its ally Bulgaria withdrew under Allied pressure in early October 1944, with Crete and some other islands in the Aegean Sea being surrendered to the Allies by German garrisons in May and June 1945, after the end of World War II in Europe.

The occupation reduced the Greek economy, and brought hardships to the Greek civilian population. Much of Greece's economic capacity was destroyed, including 80 percent of industry, 28 percent of infrastructure (ports, roads and railways), 90 percent of its bridges, and 25 percent of its forests and other natural resources.

Along with the loss of economic capacity, an estimated 7 to 11 percent of Greece's civilian population died as a result of the occupation. In Athens alone, 40,000 civilians died from starvation, and tens of thousands more died from reprisals by Nazis and their collaborators. The Jewish population of Greece was nearly eradicated. Of its pre-war population of about 75,000, around 11,000 survived, often by joining the resistance or being hidden.

The Greek Resistance was formed during this occupation. These resistance groups launched guerrilla attacks against the occupying powers, fought against collaborationist Security Battalions, and set up espionage networks. By late 1943, the resistance groups began to fight amongst themselves. At the end of occupation of the mainland in October 1944, Greece was in a state of political polarization, which soon led to the outbreak of the Greek Civil War. This war gave an opportunity to many prominent Nazi collaborators to escape punishment because of their anti-communism, and to eventually rule postwar Greece after the communist defeat.

*

October 12, 1944 was a Thursday. At the time, Columbus Day was celebrated on the actual anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World, October 12, 1492. Since 1971, America has observed the holiday on the 2nd Monday in October -- which is also Canada's Thanksgiving Day.

This was also the day that of the Frank Sinatra concert that became known as the Columbus Day Riot. I have a separate entry for that event.

The baseball season ended with the World Series 3 days earlier. It was a Thursday, so there were no NFL scores. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And the 1944-45 NHL season didn't begin until October 28. So there were no scores on this historic day.