History
The Battalions were founded in 1943 by the Greek puppet government of Ioannis Rallis. They were supported by the extreme right and Nazi sympathisers, but also by some centrist politicians who were concerned about the dominance of ELAS (the military arm of the communist-dominated National Liberation Front EAM) as the main body of the Greek resistance. Among the members of the Security Battalions one could find ex-army officers, forcefully conscripted soldiers, conservatives, landowners, extreme-right radicals and social outcasts, as well as common opportunists who believed the Axis would win the war.
The main role of the Security Battalions was to fight against ELAS. Their aggregate force was at most 22,000 men, divided into 9 'evzonic' and 22 'voluntary' battalions, under the commands of SS Lieutenant-General Walter Schimana. Although the plan was to expand them all over the occupied Greek territories, their main theater of action was in eastern Central Greece and Peloponnese. At that time, ELAS had already gained control over 1/3 of continental Greece. They remained faithful to the Germans even when the occupation was crumbling. Their last mission was to engage in combat against ELAS and keep them away from the main routes, in order to secure the safe exit of the German troops from Greece.
What the Greek people hated about the Battalions, even more than their collaborationist nature, was the total lack of control over their members. For example after a battle in the hamlet of Attali in Evvia the collaborationists pillaged the houses of the village, taking away 1,000 oka of oil, five sewing machines, 200 ok of cheese and 30 complete trousseaus. 60 mules were needed to carry away the loot. By the end of the occupation their name was synonymous with arbitrary violence and frightful cruelty.
During the war, the Allied-oriented government in exile decried the Security Battalions for treason. After the liberation, the groups were disbanded; many of their members were tried and were convicted of collaborationism. Their creator, Rallis, was sentenced to life imprisonment for treason. He died in prison in 1946 after months of abuse by his guards.
When the first conflicts of the Greek Civil War broke out in December 1944, however, many of them were recruited into the gendarmerie to fight alongside the British and government forces against the ELAS guerrillas. The Left has accused the governments of the period of utilizing the Security Battalions against the Communists, while others suggest the Security Battalions joined the Anti-Communist forces looking to redeem themselves in the eyes of the public.
Read more about this topic: Security Battalions
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