Greece recovers rare photos showing last walk of defiance by prisoners killed in Nazi reprisals скачать в хорошем качестве

Greece recovers rare photos showing last walk of defiance by prisoners killed in Nazi reprisals

(5 Mar 2026) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Athens, Greece - 5 March 2026 1. Wide of press conference 2. Photographs projected showing the final moments of Greek prisoners before their execution by Nazi forces at the Kaisariani firing range in Athens on 1 May, 1944, presented by Greece's Culture Ministry during a press conference 3. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Lina Mendoni, Greek Culture Minister: "The value of this collection is immense. We have said so from the very beginning. The photographs — especially those from Kaisariani, though not only those — are priceless, because they give a face and a visual dimension to historical testimonies." 4. Photographs projected on screen 5. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Lina Mendoni, Greek Culture Minister: ++AUDIO IAS INCOMING++ "(The ministry) Will deal with the collection -- rather it has already begun to deal with the collection -- with the same process that is foreseen and required for monuments: protection, conservation, preservation, scientific documentation and ultimately its display -- its wider public promotion -- so that it can be used, like all the documents of our historical and cultural heritage, in public discourse and education." 6. Photographs from a collection recently acquired by Greece's Culture Ministry taken during World War II by Nazi forces being projected on screen 7. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Stavroula Fotopoulou, head of Greek Culture Ministry’s Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage: "(Joseph) Goebbels created a powerful propaganda machine, not only with professional photographers in the propaganda units, but by encouraging everyone — soldiers and their families — to take photographs. Why? So these images could be sent back home and build the impression of the Wehrmacht’s successes for families and for the future. He was certain Germany would win, and he wanted a vast album of memories from the great war and Germany’s victories. Of course, and fortunately, none of that came to pass. Still, the way this mechanism operated — so deeply intrusive into people’s personal moments — is extremely significant. And this material is essential for understanding that." 8. Photos projected on screen seen through smartphone screen 9. Wide of press conference STORYLINE: Greece’s Culture Ministry presented a newly acquired archive of 262 World War II photographs, including rare images showing the final moments of 200 Greek prisoners executed by Nazi forces at a firing range in Athens. The Greek government purchased the archive from a Belgian collector for 100,000 euros ($115,700). It includes 262 photographs taken by German Wehrmacht lieutenant Hermann Heuer, who was stationed in Greece in 1943–44, along with wartime banknotes and press clippings from the period. Presenting the material in Athens, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said the images provide powerful documentation of Nazi occupation policies and restore individual identities to victims long known mainly through written accounts. "The value of this collection is immense," Mendoni said. "The photographs ... are priceless, because they give a face and a visual dimension to historical testimonies." Several photographs show the prisoners’ final moments. One series depicts trucks transporting detainees along dirt roads from the Haidari prison camp outside Athens to the firing range east of the city center. Another image shows the men entering the shooting range, where piles of coats are stacked near the gate. Historians say such visual records are extremely rare. AP video shot by: Petros Giannakouris Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...