Security Battalions

Security Battalions
Τάγματα Ασφαλείας
Participant in the Axis occupation of Greece
Men of the Security Battalions resting during an anti-partisan sweep in 1943. They are wearing the service uniform of the pre-war Evzones regiments.
Active 1943–1944
Ideology Anti-communism,
Fascism,
Germanophilia
Leaders Ioannis Rallis
Ioannis Plytzanopoulos
Headquarters Athens
Size 22,000 (1944)
Part of Hellenic State (1941–44)
Allies Wehrmacht, SS, SiPo, National Union of Greece, Hellenic Gendarmerie, City Police, Organization X, Poulos Verband
Opponents EAM/ELAS, KKE, EDES, EKKA, PEAN, EOK, Greek government-in-exile, Special Operations Executive

The Security Battalions (Greek: Τάγματα Ασφαλείας, translit. Tagmata Asfaleias, derisively known as Germanotsoliades (Γερμανοτσολιάδες) or Tagmatasfalites (Ταγματασφαλίτες) were Greek collaborationist military groups, formed during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II in order to support the German occupation troops.

History

A member of the Security Battalions stands near an executed man.
Local cemetery in Meligalas for members of the Security Battalions executed by Greek People's Liberation Army.

The Battalions were founded in 1943 by the quisling government of Ioannis Rallis.[1] They were supported by the extreme right and Nazi sympathisers, but also by some centrist politicians who were concerned about the dominance of ELAS (the military arm of the communist-dominated National Liberation Front EAM) as the main body of the Greek resistance. Among the members of the Security Battalions one could find ex-army officers, forcefully conscripted soldiers, conservatives, landowners, extreme-right radicals and social outcasts, as well as opportunists who believed the Axis would win the war.[2] The core of the Battalions consisted of men of the Royal Guard (Evzones, so the name tsoliádes).

The main role of the Security Battalions was to fight against ELAS. Their aggregate force was at most 22,000 men, divided into 9 'evzonic' and 22 'voluntary' battalions, under the commands of SS Lieutenant-General Walter Schimana. Although the plan was to expand them all over the occupied Greek territories, their main theater of action was in eastern Central Greece and Peloponnese. At that time, ELAS had already gained control over 1/3 of continental Greece. They remained faithful to the Germans even when the occupation was crumbling. Their last mission was to engage in combat against ELAS and keep them away from the main routes, in order to secure the safe exit of the German troops from Greece.

What the Greek people hated about the Battalions, even more than their collaborationist nature, was the total lack of control over their members. For example after a battle in the hamlet of Attali in Evvia the collaborationists pillaged the houses of the village, taking away 1,000 oka of oil, five sewing machines, 200 ok of cheese and 30 complete trousseaus. 60 mules were needed to carry away the loot. By the end of the occupation their name was synonymous with arbitrary violence and frightful cruelty.[3]

During the war, the Allied-oriented government in exile and the main resistance organizations in Greece decried the Security Battalions for treason multiple times. On the eve of the liberation, several battles took place between the Battalions and ELAS; the best known being the Battle of Meligalas in September 1944.

After the liberation, the groups were only temporarily disbanded, and were recruited into the Gendarmerie to fight alongside the British and government forces against the EAM/ELAS in the battle of Dekemvriana, in Athens. In total, very few of their members were tried and convicted of collaborationism. For instance, their creator and quisling Prime Minister of Greece, Rallis, was sentenced to life imprisonment for treason and died in prison in 1946, but he was acquitted for his involvement with the Security Battalions.

After the defeat of the EAM in Dekemvriana, the members continued to hunt down left, communist and anti-royalist civilians during the white terror period that ensued after the Varkiza Agreement that dismantled ELAS. Many ex-members continued carrying out atrocities against the DSE during the Greek Civil War. After the Civil War, and during the persecution of the communists during the 1950s and '60s in Greece, many of the brutal military personnel of the exile islands accused of tortures were ex-members of the security Battalions. Finally, the leader of the Greek junta of the 1970s, Georgios Papadopoulos had also been accused of being a member of the Security Battalions, but without definite proofs.[4]

Some members of the Security Battalions were recognized during the Greek military junta of 1967-74 by law as "resistance fighters against the Axis", but this decision was cancelled after the fall of the regime.

Oath

According to uncertain references, recruits to the Security battalion were under the following oath:

I swear by God this sacred oath, that I will obey absolutely the orders of the Supreme Commander of the German Army, Adolf Hitler. I will with loyal dedication perform my duties and obey without condition the orders of my superiors. I fully acknowledge that any objection to the obligations hereby accepted will lead to my punishment by the German Military Authorities.

However, it is reported that Rallis in the negotiations for the founding of such militia unit on the side of the Nazi occupation forces, refused to accept this oath as "Greek military forces can't put their legions to a foreign government" It is unknown whether Rallis' views were taken into account by German officials.

Members

References

  1. ↑ Chimbos, Peter D. (1999), "Greek Resistance 1941-45 : Organization, Achievements and Contributions to Allied War Efforts Against the Axis Powers", International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Brill, 40, Rallis and the Nazis organized the Greek Security Battalions (Tagmata Asfalias) to counter the EAM/ELAS forces (Hondros, 1983:81 ) which were becoming the most powerful and effective resistance organizations.
  2. ↑ Chimbos, Peter D. (1999), "Greek Resistance 1941-45 : Organization, Achievements and Contributions to Allied War Efforts Against the Axis Powers", International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Brill, 40, Who were those Greeks who joined the Security Battalions and took an oath to obey the orders of Hitler? They were ex-officers and enlisted men of the Greek army, as well as civilians, with right wing leanings who were sympathetic to the Nazis.
  3. ↑ Mazower, Inside Hitler's Greece, quoted in Dionysis Charitopoulos, Άρης ο αρχηγός των ατάκτων (=Ares, Leader of the Irregulars) (Athens, Topos, 2009), p. 545 (back-translated by contributor).
  4. ↑ Καλλιβρετάκης, Λεωνίδας (2006). "Γεώργιος Παπαδόπουλος, Τάγματα Ασφαλείας και "Χ": Μια απόπειρα συγκέντρωσης και επανεκτίμησης του παλαιότερου και νεότερου τεκμηριωτικού υλικού". Αρχειοτάξιο. Θεμέλιο. 8: 109–147. Retrieved 27 Dec 2016.

Sources

  • Mark Mazower (1995). Inside Hitler's Greece: The Experience of Occupation, 1941-44. United States: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08923-6.
  • Vasileios Stavrogiannopoulos, Η Ζωή της Κατοχής και τα Τάγματα Ασφαλείας
  • Nikolaos D. Christodoulou, Pro-Axis Security Battalions in Southern Greece, 1943-1944
  • Antonio J. Munoz, Herakles & the Swastika: Greek Volunteers in the German Army, Police & SS, 1943-1945
  • Stratos N. Dordanas (2005). Έλληνες εναντίον Ελλήνων. Greece: Epikentro. ISBN 978-960-6647-31-4.
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