Domenikon massacre

Domenikon Massacre
Dead civilians at Kaukaki.
Location	Kaukaki, Greece
Date	16–17 February 1943
Target	Male civilians
Deaths	175
Perpetrators	24th Infantry Division Pinerolo

The Domenikon Massacre (Greek: Σφαγή του Δομένικου, Italian: La strage di Domenikon) was a violent reprisal by the Italian Royal Army's 24th Infantry Division Pinerolo during the Axis Occupation of Greece. On 16–17 February 1943, Italian troops executed a total of 175 male civilians from the Domenikon, Mesohori, Amouri and Damasi villages. Domenikon and Mesohori were also set ablaze.

In the aftermath of the Allied defeat during the Battle of Greece, and the subsequent Axis occupation of Greece, a group of 72 Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) guerrillas created a base outside the village of Oxia, close to Domenikon. The guerrillas received an intelligence report stating that a force of 350 Italian and Vlach troops were planning to assemble in the village of Mesohori in order to conduct a counter-insurgency operation in the Verdikousia area. The ELAS fighters decided to ambush an Italian column in support of their comrades on Mount Olympus.

In the early morning of 16 February 1943, the rebels positioned themselves on the Mauritsa hillock two kilometers south of Domenikon, but plans of organising an ambush at the Asprogia hill were abandoned at the last moment due to erosion. At 10.00 a.m., an Italian column consisting of three trucks and three motorcycles emerged on a road opposite the hillock. The rebels fired at the Italians immediately before the whole convoy had entered the engagement area, thus allowing an unseen motorcycle at the end of the column to escape and make its way to the Axis encampment at Mesohori. Nine soldiers were killed and a general was severely wounded, before the guerrillas retreated to the Profitis Ilias mountain.

In the meantime, Italian military personnel began amassing at Mesohori and Mauritsa, with plans being laid concerning a punitive expedition. Civilians in Domenikon were ordered to remain inside their houses. The Domenikiots obeyed the order believing that they would avoid punishment since they had not participated in or had any foreknowledge of the ambush. Forty vehicles carrying members of the 24th Infantry Division Pinerolo then arrived at the village. Aided by a local collaborationist mayor, Italian troops rounded the local population at the village square, while also setting fire to 150 houses. 25 men accused of directly participating in the assault on the column were taken to Mauritsa where they were executed. Women and small children were then transferred to the Amouri village, while all males above the age of 14 were told that they would be sent to a concentration camp in Larissa.