1 Painting, The art of War, Alkis Keramidas' The massacre of Distomo, Macedonia, with footnotes

Alkis Keramidas (1905 - 1980)

The massacre of Distomo

Oil on hardboard

50 X 50 cm

Private collection

On June 10, 1944, one of the most brutal events in all of World War II took place in the tiny village of Distomo on the Greek mainland.

According to survivor testimony, Nazi SS troops went door to door and massacred 218 Greek civilians.

Survivors said that the Nazis bayoneted babies in their cribs and stabbed pregnant women and beheaded the village priest. It was a two-hour killing spree ordered by the Germans in retaliation for rebel activity in the area.

Following the massacre, a Secret Field Police agent accompanying German forces told authorities that, contrary to an official report from Nazi commander Fritz Lautenbach, German troops had come under attack several miles away from Distomo — not nearby.

The Secret Field Police said that the Germans had not been fired upon “with mortars, machine-guns and rifles from the direction of Distomo.”

Lautenbach later admitted that he had surpassed standing orders, but a tribunal ruled in his favor. The tribunal found that he was not motivated by negligence, but instead a sense of responsibility for his men. More on The massacre of Distomo

Keramidas Alkis was born in High Fthiotida in 1905 and died in 1980. He was a prolific Greek artist with hundreds of paintings currently in public and private art collections in Greece, Europe and the US. In addition to his paintings, his work included theater sets, fabric designs, book illustrations and pottery.

He studied painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts (1924-1932). He moved in the frames of naturalistic tendencies, often with a gullible way and in certain work, particularly those of last period, with an intensely decorative perception of so much drawing of what colour. He presented his work individually and took part in group exhibitions as well. He taught for many years in the secondary education as well as in the pedagogic school of Athens University (1933-1976). He was member of the team “Free Artists” and EETE. More on Keramidas Alkis

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