Lela Karagianni

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Lela Karagianni, 1916

Lela Karagianni (also Carayannis and Karayiannis ; Greek Λέλα Καραγιάννη ; June 24 . Jul / July 6, 1898 greg. In Limni , Fokida - 8. September 1944 in Chaidari , Attica ) was a Greek resistance fighter against the German occupation forces in Greece . The mother of seven organized major parts of the Greek resistance, was arrested by the Nazi regime in July 1944 , tortured and finally interned in the Chaidari concentration camp. There she was murdered by a firing squad .

life and work

Lela Karagianni was a mother of seven, was generally described as "apolitical" and lived in Athens during the German invasion of Greece in April 1941. She spontaneously hid British soldiers and helped them escape. She founded the underground organization Bouboulina ( Greek Οργάνωση Μπουμπουλίνα ), named after the heroine of the Greek War of Freedom , Laskarina Bouboulina (1771-1825). She began working with the British Secret Service and the National Republican Greek League (EDES for short), the largest non-communist resistance group in the country. The Greeks in the underground organized shelters, issued forged identity cards and helped people escape. People at risk should be able to flee to the partisans in the mountains or abroad. These included many Jews, including the family of Samuel Cohen from Thessaloniki .

Lela Karagianni was arrested on July 11, 1944 and then tortured for several days in the SS interrogation center on Merlinstrasse in Athens. She was eventually sent to the Chaidari Concentration Camp. In the early morning of September 8, 1944, she was shot together with 71 members of her resistance organization in the Daphni forest.

Award

Commemoration

  • After the fall of the Nazi regime, she was highly decorated by the Greek state for her services; Streets and schools were named after her.
  • Her former home in Athens has been placed under protection as a historic building.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Stella Tsolakidou: Greeks Honored Righteous Among Nations - GreekReporter.com. In: greece.greekreporter.com. March 15, 2013, accessed October 13, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Karagianni, Lela
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Carayannis, Lela; Karayiannis, Lela; Καραγιάννη, Λέλα (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek resistance fighter against the German occupation forces in Greece
DATE OF BIRTH July 6, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Limni , Fokida
DATE OF DEATH September 8, 1944
Place of death Chaidari , Attica