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Memorial in Ano Viannos

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In the heart of Ano Viannos, in a lovely square, stands a war memorial.

Here's a bit of the story. Around midday on May 30, 1941, as the Battle of Crete was drawing to a close, Ano Viannos was relentlessly bombed. German planes dropped 18 bombs on the town and the nearby villages. Among the victims were a pregnant woman in her eighth month and a three-year-old boy.

This bombing was a dark foreshadowing of the destruction that would follow.

The tragic events in the Mesa Villages of Viannos took place on September 14, 1943. On the same day, 150 people from Ano Viannos were arrested and detained in the local secondary school building, awaiting execution.

Thanks to the intervention of certain individuals—though the exact reasons remain unclear—the execution was not carried out, and the captives were released after twelve days.

The total number of deaths in Ano Viannos during the German-Italian occupation reached 17.

In the early hours of Saturday, September 9, 1944, the Germans withdrew from Viannos.

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