March 2, 2026 / 6:12 AM EST / CBS/AFP
Greece has acquired a collection of World War II photographs that appear to show the final moments of 200 men executed by German soldiers after the assassination of a Nazi general, the culture minister said Saturday. The archive contains 262 photographs, 16 documents and four contemporary banknotes; officials believe the images were taken by a German soldier who had served in Belgium and France.
“The transfer of ownership of the photographic collection… has been completed,” Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said in a statement. The ministry says the images depict the last moments of 200 communists executed at an Athens shooting range on May 1, 1944.
Twelve of the photographs briefly appeared on the eBay site Crain’s Militaria earlier this month before being removed, a move that prompted strong reactions in Greece, particularly from relatives of the victims. Ministry officials traveled to Belgium to meet the collector who listed them for sale and to verify the materials’ authenticity.
Belgian collector Tim de Craen removed the photos after some had attracted bids exceeding $2,000, France 24 reported. De Craen told a Greek newspaper he understood the particularly sensitive nature of the images.
The executions came days after communist guerrillas killed a German general and members of his staff. Greece was under Nazi occupation from 1941 until 1944. Most of the men executed on May 1 had been detained earlier during anti-communist operations carried out by the police of Greece’s prewar dictator Ioannis Metaxas.
Until now, testimony about the victims’ final hours consisted mainly of handwritten notes they reportedly threw from the trucks transporting them to the firing range. The newly acquired photographs show groups of men marching through a field, standing against a wall at the firing range, and facing the camera in their last moments. One striking image captures several men looking defiantly at the photographer; two appear to be singing.
“The photographs shocked me,” said Polymeris Voglis, a professor of social history in Greece. He told France 24 that although the mass execution of resistance fighters is a known historical event, there had been no photographic documentation until now. “Some of the photographs show the faces of the men, reflecting their determination as they walk proudly towards the firing squad,” Voglis added.