Macedonian League
  • Who We Are
  • Advocacy
  • Media Center
  • Resources
  • Take Action
  • Contact

THIS PAGE CONTAINS
GRAPHIC IMAGES OF GENOCIDE & CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
 
VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED


Understanding the anti-Greek propaganda operation of the so-called
"Macedonian Genocide"

Picture
Since 2018, North Macedonia [sic] Slav diaspora organizations have deceitfully devised a so-called "Macedonian [sic] Genocide" propaganda operation and have encouraged and emboldened their supporters to reproduce historical photos of this so-called genocide by using out of context photographs of the Jewish Holocaust, the Genocides of Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians in the Ottoman Empire, Nazi atrocities in Greece and Europe, genocides of other people and random war pictures.

The purpose of this fake genocide is to aid in their pursuit of promoting anti-Greek sentiment world-wide. Three main North Macedonia [sic] Slav diaspora organizations have been working around the clock to produce multiple news stories and videos of a genocide that no one has ever heard of before; In 2018 they went "public" and are now attempting to promote the "Macedonian [sic] Genocide" on a worldwide audience. They even held "Macedonian Genocide" events outside of Greek Embassies and Consulates around the world to drive the message home on an unsuspecting public.

The Turkish state-run broadcaster Anadolu Agency was more than happy to oblige in pursuing the fabricated genocide, while at the same time, downplaying the genocides of the Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire in the period of 1912/13 - 1924.   

The offending organizations that are now promoting this genocide as a "factual event" are:
  • the World Macedonian [sic] Congress (a.k.a. WMC),
  • the United Macedonian [sic] Diaspora (a.k.a. UMD) and,
  • the Macedonian [sic] Human Rights Movement International (a.k.a. MHRMI).

Collectively, the above three organizations have organized internationally under the name the "Macedonian [sic] Global Coordinative Network."

To disseminate the fabricated "Macedonian [sic] Genocide" especially to an English speaking audience, they coordinated their efforts with the notorious Anadolu Agency - the state run news agency of the Turkish government known for pushing sensationalist, inaccurate, racist and anti-Greek sentiments on to the Turkish public on an almost daily basis.

The deceitful claims of a "Macedonian [sic] Genocide" are designed to subvert and manipulate the history of Greece’s Civil War (1946-1949) for their own politically-motivated agenda and to ensure anti-Greek sentiment within their community remains strong. The fraudsters go as far as claiming that Greece, an EU and NATO member state, killed and massacred it's Slavophone population in the Greek region of Macedonia and that this "genocide" continues to occur to this day.

The claims become even more ludicrous when leaders within the North Macedonia [sic] Slav community (as seen at their rallies around the world and in their rhetoric online) have no qualms whatsoever in stating to their audience that while the "genocide" continues to occur, Greece has been "encouraged" by the willful blindness of all major world players: the USA, the UN, the EU, NATO etc. In essence, what they are saying is that not only is Greece a "perpetrator", but so are the other above-mentioned entities.

The underlying reason for these fake claims by the three anti-Greek organizations has nothing to do with getting a "genocide" recognized (since they know it doesn’t exist), but everything to do with the name dispute between the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Greece which came to an end in 2018 with the signing of the Prespa Agreement (also spelled Prespes Agreement). These organizations aim to deceive innocent bystanders who don’t understand the main reason behind the anti-Greek campaign.

If one takes a few minutes to search out these organizations, one will be able to see anti-Greek racism runs high. However, one can also see that the word "Jewish" was also slyly weaved into the rhetoric of one of the groups - the Canada-based, ultra-nationalist organization, the MHRMI. Why it mattered that the envoy for the Macedonia name dispute was "Jewish" is beyond comprehension. A few of these seemingly-benign (but with an ulterior, underlying purpose) Jewish references can be seen here in these two links: [1][2]. Prior to Matthew Nimetz, there were other envoys involved in the name dispute, people of various ethnic backgrounds. But, only the Jewish envoy's ethnic background mattered for the MHRMI.

Below, the Macedonian League exposes images used for this campaign by the FYROM Slav organizations in question and their online followers who help promote the so-called "Macedonian [sic] Genocide" by using photos of genocide and war out of context - thus, showing their collective lack of morals when it comes to the promotion of their anti-Greek, racist agenda.

The pictures below portray a side-by-side comparison of the fraudulent use of historical photos (left) versus the authentic images (right).

A message to all North Macedonia [sic] Slav diaspora organizations and all those promoting this fake "genocide" online:

Please see to it that you immediately remove all offending out-of-context photos online purporting to show the so-called "Macedonian [sic] Genocide" because you will be exposed to the world for this disgusting, shameful anti-Hellenic and racist endeavor. We will not quit until all these pictures are removed by you and your supporters.

Genocide is not a joke! Genocide is not a laughing matter!
​

THIS PAGE CONTAINS
GRAPHIC IMAGES OF GENOCIDE & CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED


​#1)
​FRAUDULENT USE OF PHOTO

Source:
​World Macedonian [sic] Congress - Australia
Source:
​United Macedonian [sic] Diaspora
Fraudulent use of photo
This photo often circulates online as child victims of the so-called "Macedonian [sic] Genocide." In the fraudulent use of the photo there is never a specific set date attached to the above. However, it is typical to see those promoting this photo as having been taken in 1949.

The false claim being made
The 'World Macedonian [sic] Congress-Australia (WMC-A)', an international lobby group headquartered in Skopje, North Macedonia [sic] and the 'United Macedonian [sic] Diaspora (UMD)', headquartered in Washington, D.C., have been notoriously instrumental in spearheading the so-called idea of a "Macedonian [sic] Genocide" allegedly perpetrated by the Greek government.

To ensure their message resonates with a mainstream foreign audience they typically always use various pictures purporting to show "Macedonian children" who they claim were victims of the Greek government's genocidal agenda.

The above iconic picture of refugee children is the most extensively used in promoting this aspect of the "genocide" due to the large number of children, used as the subject, on one photo. Most other photos of children being promoted - especially by the above two organizations - are ones which show one or two children which does not have the same impact as the one above featuring dozens of children.

Does the above photo show images of dead "Macedonian children" as victims of genocide perpetrated by Greeks?
No. Please refer to the right hand side of this section to see the authentic context of the photo in question.


​#1)
​AUTHENTIC CONTEXT

​Sources: [1] Third Country Resettlement; [2] Imigração Histórica: Jeff Crisp, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford, 20th photo; [3] Global Voices: Bulgaria.​
Picture
Authentic context of photo
​​This photograph was taken in 1913 and it shows Bulgarian refugee children from Ano Vrontou (Gorno Brodi), Greece after they lost their parents in the Second Balkan War.

The above children were resettled by international aid agencies in the city of Pestera, Bulgaria.

Photographer
Verlag Ernst Siegfried Mittler und Sohn, 1913

Ethnicity of those depicted in the photo
Bulgarians

Other info
N/A


#2)
​FRAUDULENT USE OF PHOTO

Source: World Macedonian [sic] Congress

#2)
AUTHENTIC CONTEXT

Source: Cumhuriyet [Newspaper; Public domain photograph]
Picture
Fraudulent use of photo
The 'World Macedonian [sic] Congress - Australia (WMC-A)', an international lobby group headquartered in Skopje, North Macedonia [sic], promoted the above photo in a racist filled, anti-Hellenic news article on their website.

According to the WMC-A, the photo allegedly shows a large group of people gathered somewhere. The location of the above gathering is not mentioned. Below the photo, the WMC-A has written: "Population Exchange 1928" in bright red font.

The false claim being made
In this article, as part of the push by this organization to promote the so-called "Macedonian [sic] Genocide" on a large scale internationally, the general premise is: "Greece was artificially created by the Great Powers who, in turn, turned a blind eye to the acts of persecution and slaughter (and, therefore, genocide) allegedly committed by successive Greek governments."

The above picture was used by the WMC-A in their racist article to drive the point home that "there was a forced population exchange in 1928 where "Macedonians" [sic] were pushed out of Greece."


Does the above photo show images "a mass exodus of Macedonians [sic] as part of a population exchange" during the alleged "Macedonian [sic] Genocide" perpetrated by Greeks?
No. Please refer to the right hand side of this section to see the authentic context of the photo in question.
Picture
Authentic context of photo
​​This photograph was taken on May 15, 1919 and it shows Greek soldiers of the 1/38 Evzone Regiment taking their posts in Smyrna (Turkish: Izmir) amidst the jubilant ethnic Greek population of the city during the Greek landing at Smyrna. 

​This picture was taken at the Smyrna quay, in Asia Minor (western Aegean, Turkey).

Photographer
Photographer unknown, 1919

Ethnicity of those depicted in the photo
Soldiers, Greek; Jubilant crowds, Greek, other Christians and foreigners

Other info
This is a photograph with historical significance, scanned from a newspaper clipping in the Cumhuriyet, a Turkish newspaper.


#3)
FRAUDULENT USE OF PHOTO

Source: Macedonians Worldwide
Picture
Fraudulent use of photo
The Facebook page known as "Macedonians [sic] Worldwide" is an Australian-based FYROM Slav diaspora page boasting over 29,000 followers (as of October 11, 2021) with a very large reach online.

This mini poster from 2018 shows a black and white photograph of a Jewish man and woman wearing the yellow star with the addition of a photoshopped armband of the flag of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

The white text in the black boxes on the top and bottom state: "Against the Genocide of the Macedonian [sic] people, Macedonian [sic] identity.

The white text below the crossed out NATO emblem states: "No to Fascism."   


The false claim being made
The claim being made is that the Macedonia Name Issue between Greece and the then Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), now North Macedonia [sic] is akin to the Holocaust of European Jews by the Nazis. Obviously, the part played by the Nazis, according to the page, are the Greeks and, by default, all of the NATO organization.

Was it in good taste to use the above photo to compare a modern political issue between Greece and the then FYROM with the horrors of the Holocaust? 
No. Please refer to the right hand side of this section to see the authentic context of the photo in question.

Update
Macedonians [sic] Worldwide removed this offensive out-of-context picture from their Facebook page (as per our attempt to access it on October 11, 2011).

#3)
AUTHENTIC CONTEXT

Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Picture
Authentic context of photo
​​This photograph was taken in January of 1945. It shows 
Hungarian Jews identified with the yellow stars at the time of the liberation of the Budapest ghetto.

Photographer
Photographer unknown, 1945

Ethnicity of those depicted in the photo
Hungarian Jews

Other info
This photographed is featured on the website of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and is archived at the Hungarian National Museum.


#4)
FRAUDULENT USE OF PHOTO

Source: Facebook
​
Picture
Fraudulent use of photo
This Facebook user claims to be showing a Macedonian [sic] woman during an imagined exodus of the alleged "Macedonian [sic] Genocide" perpetrated by Greeks. No year is specified.

The false claim being made
This Facebook user callously states (exactly as spelled by the user): 

"Unforgettable tragedy! The Macedonians Exodus and Genocide continues for centuries from the entire Macedonian country, nowadays butchered among the neighbouring suppresors and oppressors!? This is one of the examples from Agean Macedonia nowadays in Northern Greece"

The Facebook user is stating to the world that the Greeks have perpetrated a genocide "for centuries". The main idea is that this is still happening to this day in Greece, an EU and NATO member.

To ensure the image and the message circulates to a wider audience to make the message believable, a picture of a woman is depicted among a crowd, crying in anguish at an undisclosed location.


Does the above photo show an image of a crying "Macedonian [sic] woman" during an "exodus" as a victim of genocide perpetrated by Greeks?
No. Please refer to the right hand side of this section to see the authentic context of the photo in question.

#4)
AUTHENTIC CONTEXT

Source: [1] German Federal Archives; [2] Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and Museum; [3] Yad Vashem.
Picture
Authentic context of photo
This photograph is known as "Ioannina, Deportation von Juden" (Ioannina, Deportation of the Jews). The long title of this image is "Griechenland, Ioannina.- Deportation der Mitglieder der jüdischen Gemeinde, Frauen und Kinder am Straßenrand / Dorfplatz, junge Frau weinend; PK 690" (Greece, Ioannina.- Deportation of members of the Jewish community, women and children at the roadside / village square, young woman crying; PK 690)

It is an image taken in the city of Ioannina, in the region of Epirus, Greece, during the Nazi occupation.

Photographer
Wetzel, March 25, 1944; This photograph is held at the German Federal Archive (Accession number: Bild 101I-179-1575-08)

Ethnicity of those depicted in the photo
Greek Jews

Other info
This picture's current location is at: Propagandakompanien der Wehrmacht - Heer und Luftwaffe (Bild 101 I);

Please visit:
- Kedosha Kehila
​- Yad Vashem (featured communities: Ioannina);


#5)
FRAUDULENT USE OF PHOTO

Source: Twitter; Others promoting this image incorrectly: [2]
Picture
Fraudulent use of photo
This Twitter user claims to be showing a photo that depicts "Macedonian [sic] women and children" purportedly killed by Greeks in the "Macedonian [sic] Genocide." No year is specified.

The false claim being made
This Twitter user callously states (exactly as spelled by the user):

​"Evzoni were called Greek butchers thair uniforms becomed red from a blood of butchered Aegean #Macedonian children #History #travel"

The Twitter user is stating to the world that the elite Greek Presidential Guards (also referred to as Evzones) were responsible for the killings featured in the photo. However, the function of this elite unit since its founding in 1868 serves two purposes: to guard the tomb of the unknown soldier and to guard the Presidential Mansion in Athens.

To ensure the image and the message circulates to a wider audience, the Twitter user used the hashtags: #Macedonian, #history and #travel.

Does the above photo show images of dead "Macedonian [sic] women and children" as victims of genocide perpetrated by Greeks?
No. Please refer to the right hand side of this section to see the authentic context of the photo in question.

#5)
AUTHENTIC CONTEXT

Source: Library of Congress
Picture
Authentic context of photo
​​The photograph show corpses lying on the ground of two women and three children executed during the assault on Metgethen, Germany, by Soviet troops in 1945.

Photographer
Photographer unknown, 1945; This photograph is held at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington.

Ethnicity of those depicted in the photo
Germans

Other info
This picture was seized by the U.S. Government Interdepartmental Committee for the Acquisition of Foreign Publications, Property seized by the U.S. government and ruled to be public domain in Price vs. United States (Docket 93-2564, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, 20 November 1995).


#6) 
FRAUDULENT USE OF PHOTO

Source: Twitter
Picture
Fraudulent use of photo
This Twitter user claims to be showing a photo that depicts "Macedonian [sic] women and children" purportedly killed by Greeks in the "Macedonian [sic] Genocide." No year is specified.

The false claim being made
This Twitter user callously states (exactly as spelled by the user): 

​
"#Macedonia #solun genocide. Greeks seized infants from their mother's breasts and dashed them against rocks, or inpaled them with baionets. Children, three and four years old, were hurled living into the sea and left to drown. Sadistic Greek soldiers were laughting volgaro songs"

The Twitter user is stating to the world that the Greeks were so bloodthirsty that they would snatch children from their mothers to either throw against rocks, to impale or to throw them in the sea to drown, while at the same time singing songs. 

To ensure the image and the message circulates to a wider English and Slavic audience, the Twitter user used the hashtags: #Macedonia and #Solun (i.e. the Bulgarian term for the Greek city of Thessaloniki).


Does the above photo show images of dead "Macedonian [sic] women and children" as victims of genocide perpetrated by Greeks?
No. Please refer to the right hand side of this section to see the authentic context of the photo in question.

#6) 
AUTHENTIC CONTEXT

Source: National Archives Catalog
Picture
Authentic context of photo
​​Casualties of a mass panic; during Japanese air raid, 4,000 people were trampled or suffocated to death trying to return to shelters. Chungking, China, June 5, 1941.

Photographer
Photographer unknown, 1941; This photograph is held at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Ethnicity of those depicted in the photo
Chinese

Other info
Office for Emergency Management. Office of War Information. Overseas Operations Branch. New York Office. News and Features Bureau. 12/17/1942-9/15/1945;

Series: Photographs of the Allies and Axis, 1942 - 1945;


#7)
FRAUDULENT USE OF PHOTO

Source: Twitter
Picture
Fraudulent use of photo
This Twitter user claims to be showing a photos that depict crimes against humanity (against the "Macedonian" [sic] population in Greece) perpetrated by the Greek government. The photo on the left depicts a mother crying over the lifeless body of her child while the photo on the right, decapitated heads. The victims are meant to be "Macedonians" [sic]. No year is specified.

The false claim being made
This Twitter user callously states (exactly as spelled by the user): 

​
"#macedonia. Greek genocide and forced assimilation of ethnic Macedonians specially in Lerin and Solun! Greece must pay for their crimes against humanity against Aegean Macedonian population!"

The Twitter user is stating to the world that the Greeks perpetrated a mass scale genocide in the Greek region of Macedonia against an "ethnic Macedonian" [sic] minority and that Greece must pay. 

To ensure the image and the message circulates to a wider English and Slavic audience, the Twitter user used the hashtag: #Macedonia.

Note: The term "Lerin" and "Solun" are the Bulgarian terms for the Greek cities of "Florina" and "Thessaloniki" respectively. We are assuming that in the opening line the Twitter user meant to write "Macedonian genocide" and not "Greek genocide" as written.

Does the above photo show images of dead "Macedonian children and adults" as victims of genocide perpetrated by Greeks?
No. Please refer to the right hand side of this section to see the authentic context of the photo in question.

#7)
AUTHENTIC CONTEXT

Source: [1] [2] [3]
Source: [1] [2] [3]
Authentic context of photo
​​[Photo on the left]
Armenian mother grieving over the body of her dead child. Image from the Armenian Genocide (1914-1923) perpetrated by the Ottoman government.


[Photo on the right]
Armenians decapitated in the Armenian Genocide (1914-1923) perpetrated by the Ottoman government.​


Photographer
[Picture on the left]
Photographer unknown, 1922; This photo is in the archives of the AFP.

[Picture on the right]
Photographer unknown; Year unknown.


Ethnicity of those depicted in the photo
Armenians

Other info
To learn more about the Armenian Genocide:
- The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute


#8)
​FRAUDULENT USE OF PHOTO

Source: Twitter
Picture
Fraudulent use of photo
This Twitter user claims to be showing a photo that depicts crimes against "Macedonian [sic] women and children" perpetrated by the Greek government. No year is specified. 

The false claim being made
This Twitter user callously states (exactly as spelled by the user): 

​
"Aegean sea was red from a blood of thousands inicent woman and children massacred by Greek soldiers #History #travel #AegeanHolocaust"

The Twitter user is stating to the world that the Greeks perpetrated a mass scale genocide especially against women and children in the Greek region of Macedonia against an "ethnic Macedonian" [sic] minority in which even the Aegean Sea turned red from the blood of thousands. 

To ensure the image and the message circulates to a wider audience, the Twitter user used the hashtags: #history, #travel and #AegeanHolocaust.
​
Does the above photo show images of dead "Macedonian women and children" as victims of genocide perpetrated by Greeks?
No. Please refer to the right hand side of this section to see the authentic context of the photo in question.

#8)
AUTHENTIC CONTEXT

Source: LTTE Watch Germany; 
Picture
Authentic context of photo
The photo above is from a website in Germany called the "LTTE Watch Germany" - a website that chronicles the horrific atrocities committed in Sri Lanka by the Tamil Tigers in the Sri Lankan Civil War (1983-2009)​​.

Photographer
Photographer unknown, 1983-2009; 

Ethnicity of those depicted in the photo
Sri Lankan

Other info
N/A


#9)
FRAUDULENT USE OF PHOTO

Source: [1, Meto Koloski, President of the United Macedonian [sic] Diaspora (UMD), from Koloski's Public figure page on Facebook]; Other FYROM Slavs promoting this image incorrectly: [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
​
Picture
Fraudulent use of photo
On August 10, 2018, Meto Koloski, lawyer by profession and the President of the ultra-nationalist, US-based United Macedonian [sic] Diaspora (UMD) posted the above photo on his public figure page on Facebook which allegedly shows Greek soldiers posing with severed heads of "Macedonians" as part of the claims of a brutal "Macedonian [sic] Genocide" that he alleges was perpetrated by the Greek state since 1912-1913. 

Meto Koloski is not just any random person who just happened to post and promote a fake historical event from within the North Macedonia [sic] Slav diaspora.

Koloski is the President of a powerful lobby organization that controls the dialogue in his community abroad. As such, Koloski, as a lawyer and a former FARA agent ought to have known better. Koloski is fully aware that as a major community leader he is held to a higher standard and that whatever he posts online his community takes as gospel.


The false claim being made
In his post, Koloski writes:

"We hope you will join us tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. your local time in front of every Greek Embassy and Consulate to peacefully light a candle in their memory:

The Macedonian Genocide - Greek State Brutality, Human Rights Violations, and Systematic Discrimination Against Macedonians Since 1912-1913"

Does the above photo show images of dead "Macedonian [sic] men" as victims of genocide perpetrated by Greeks?
No. Please refer to the right hand side of this section to see the authentic context of the photo in question.

Update
​UMD President, Meto Koloski, removed this offensive out-of-context picture from his Facebook page (as per our attempt to access it on October 11, 2011).

#9)
AUTHENTIC CONTEXT

Source: [1, Img. 13, ** Discretion Advised ** (from KAR, a Greek Communist, anti-racist organization in an article chronicling the deaths of leftist guerrillas during the Greek Civil War 1946-1949)]; Other sources: [2] [3] [4]
Picture
Authentic context of photo
​​This photo was from the very bloody and brutal Greek Civil War (1946-1949) taken in Greece in February of 1949. The Greek Civil War [5] [6] is considered one of the bloodiest events in modern Greek history.

This very horrific photo depicts Greek royalist government soldiers (of the ΛΟΚ and ΜΑΥ) with the heads of eight Greek communist fighters of the DAG (ΔΣΕ). This tactic of photographing and showing the decapitation of opponents (or displaying the heads of opponents in town squares) was especially used to signal to political opponents the fate that awaits them if caught. It was a tactic used by both sides - Left and Right - often accompanied with terror and torture prior to execution.


In his paper 'Atrocities during the Greek Civil War' [7, pg 7], Ben Max (University of Leeds, History, Alumnus) states: "the early rhetoric of resistance claiming liberation, popular rule, and appeals to patriotism had been washed in blood, and the crimes committed by the Left and Right could not easily be forgotten or forgiven."

British historian Richard Cavendish stated the Greek Civil War was "estimated to have taken more than 80,000 lives, it made some 700,000 people homeless. The civil war inflicted worse damage on Greece than the Second World War itself and even by the 1990s the wounds had not entirely healed." [8]

Photographer
Unknown; Greece, Feb 12, 1949

Ethnicity of those depicted in the photo
Soldiers, Greek royalists; Victims, Greek communists
​
Other info
N/A


#10)
​FRAUDULENT USE OF PHOTO

Source: [1, United Macedonian [sic] Diaspora, from a news article on their website disparaging Greece; posted on World Refugee Day, June 20, 2018; [2, UMD on Twitter].
​
Picture
Fraudulent use of photo
On June 20, 2018, the 'United Macedonian [sic] Diaspora (UMD)', headquartered in Washington, D.C., posted the above photo on their organization's website purporting to show as they have written: "Greece’s systematic ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide against Macedonians" [sic].

The UMD is a powerful lobby organization funded by and sharing office space within the Turkish Lobby in Washington, D.C.

The false claim being made
In this "news" article, the UMD states, among other absurdities and inaccuracies:

"Greece must be held accountable for the perfidious ethnic cleansing that they have perpetuated for over a century and allow all native Macedonians [sic] to repatriate their rights and losses caused by those actions."

The UMD is saying that ethnic cleansing is still happening in Greece today - a member of the European Union and NATO - in an era of instant media coverage. How, we ask, is Greece able to cover up the ethnic cleansing that has been going on for over a century in the most technologically advanced era of humanity?

In the above article, the UMD even had the audacity to quote Anne Frank.

Does the above photo show images of dead "Macedonian men" as victims of genocide perpetrated by Greeks?
No. Please refer to the right hand side of this section to see the authentic context of the photo in question.

#10)
AUTHENTIC CONTEXT

Source: [1, Img. 14, ** Discretion Advised ** (from KAR, a Greek Communist, anti-racist organization in an article chronicling the deaths of leftist guerrillas during the Greek Civil War 1946-1949)]; Other sources: [2, 3 Vlasis Agtizidis, Historian]
Picture
Authentic context of photo
​​This photo was from the very bloody and brutal Greek Civil War (1946-1949) taken in Greece in 1949. The Greek Civil War [4] [5] is considered one of the bloodiest events in modern Greek history.

This photo depicts two men with the heads of nine decapitated rebels. According to the KAR article (see source above photo), the men responsible for these decapitations were a gang of "κατσαπλιάδων" - i.e. a derogatory term used for communist rebels in general [used especially against those who were associated with ELAS, the Greek People's Liberation Army (1942-1945) before and after its disbandment]. The term also means thief or plunderer.

Photographer
Unknown; 1949

Ethnicity of those depicted in the photo
Perpetrators, Greek communists; Victims, Greek communists
​
Other info
N/A
(c) 2014-2024 The Macedonian League