The Battle of Meligalas (Greek: Μάχη του Μελιγαλά, romanized: Machi tou Meligala) took place at Meligalas in Messenia in southwestern Greece, on 13–15 September 1944, between the Greek Resistance forces of the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) and the collaborationist Security Battalions.
During the Axis occupation of Greece, ELAS partisan forces began operating in the Peloponnese from 1942, and in 1943 began to establish their control over the area. To confront them, the German occupation authorities formed the Security Battalions, which took part not only in anti-guerrilla operations but also in mass reprisals against the local civilian population. With the liberation of Greece drawing near in 1944, the Security Battalions were increasingly targeted by ELAS.
Following the withdrawal of German forces from the Peloponnese in September 1944, a part of the collaborationist forces in Kalamata withdrew to Meligalas, where a force of about 1,000 Battalionists gathered. There they were quickly surrounded by ELAS detachments, some 1,200 strong. After a three-day battle, the ELAS partisans broke through the fortifications and entered the town. The ELAS victory was followed by a massacre, during which prisoners and civilians were executed near a well. The number of executed people is variously estimated at between 700 and 1,100 on different counts. After news of the massacre spread, the leadership of ELAS and of its political parent group, the National Liberation Front (EAM) took steps to ensure a peaceful transition of power in most of the country, limiting reprisal occurrences.
During the post-war period and following the Greek Civil War, the ruling right-wing establishment immortalized the Meligalas massacre as evidence of communist brutality, and memorialized the victims as patriotic heroes. Following the Metapolitefsi, the official support of this commemoration ceased. The massacre continues to be commemorated by the descendants and ideological sympathizers of the Security Battalions, and remains a point of reference and a rallying cry both for the far right and the left in Greece.

source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Meligalas

In September, 1944, communist guerrilla forces of EAM-ELAS encircled the retreating forces of the collaborationist Security Battalions. After defeating them in pitched combat, the guerrillas executed the surrendered militiamen along with scores of civilians from surrounding villages who were suspected of sympathizing with them.

The dark events took place over the course of four days. Hundreds of prisoners were summarily tried and executed as the guerrillas looted and burned the village of Meligalas. There are 787 names in the memorial wall, although other sources cite that 1,144 or more men and women of all ages were killed in a field outside the village, their bodies thrown in a nearby well.

Today, a massive concrete cross marks the location of the executions, and the well where the bodies were deposited can still be seen. At the site is a monument, ossuary, chapel, memorial wall, and the field with hundreds of crosses bearing the names and ages of the dead. They commemorate this atrocity that marked the opening stages of the Greek Civil War and which, decades later, still divides politics and public opinion in Greece.

Know Before You Go
The site is about 31 kilometers from Kalamata, on the village road linking Meligalas with nearby Neochori. It can be easily reached by car and there is some off-road parking space for those who stop by.

source: atlasobscura.com/places/the-well-of-meligalas

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Location: Messenia, Greece

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