1943 Greek protests against labour mobilization

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In February–March 1943, a series of large-scale protests took place in Athens against the intended forcible mobilization of occupied Greece's labour force for work in Nazi Germany. The protests, organized by the National Liberation Front (EAM), led to clashes with the occupation troops and the collaborationist Greek police that left several dead. As a result of the protests, the forced labour mobilization was never implemented in Greece, and the collaborationist prime minister, Konstantinos Logothetopoulos, who was perceived as too weak by the Germans, was replaced by Ioannis Rallis.

Faced with increasing manpower shortages in its war industry, and the regime's reluctance to draft German women for ideological reasons, Nazi Germany early on resorted to the use of foreign labour.^[1] This search for manpower intensified in 1942, with the first defeats at the hands of the Allied powers; in the event, over 8.4 million labourers were forcibly recruited in occupied and allied countries, while over 4.5 million prisoners of war were likewise employed.^[2] Although Greece had been occupied by Germany and its Axis allies since April–May 1941, by late 1941, only 550 Greek workers were registered in German factories, compared to over 14,600 from Germany's ally Bulgaria, and 109,000 from conquered Yugoslavia.^[1] Efforts to boost voluntary enlistment in early 1942 in the German-occupied zone around Thessaloniki were a failure, and the German authorities resorted to a combination of civil mobilization, threats that those who did not come forward voluntarily would be sent as auxiliaries to the Eastern Front, and ideological blandishments as contributing to the "Fight against Bolshevism" by working in German factories. In view of Greece's desolate economic situation, famine, and high unemployment, the Germans also offered material incentives, such as the better food supply in Germany, higher wages and the free transportation of families to Germany.^[3][4] However, both the Greek public at large and the Greek bureaucracy were not very receptive: only 10,000–12,000 responded by the end of the year from across Greece, well below the target of 30,000. Even those Greeks who reached Germany often proved to be unfit for work due to the malnutrition and diseases ravaging the country as a result of the occupation, and Greek workers were widely reported to be unmotivated, quarrelsome, and more trouble than they were worth.^[4][5]

Since early January 1943, rumours were circulating about the imposition of forced labour conscription in Greece. To calm such fears, the recently appointed prime minister of the collaborationist government, Konstantinos Logothetopoulos, issued an "unequivocal denial" on 12 January that such plans were being made.^[6] However, on 30 January 1943, the German commander-in-chief in the Balkans, Alexander Löhr, issued a decree ordering the obligatory registration of all Greek males aged 16 to 45 for labour "away from their permanent place of domicile...in communal groups in camps, if necessary".^[4][7] While the decree was not published until 23 February, rumours of it continued to gain intensity.^[6] Whilst the decree did not explicitly stipulate work in Germany, this was widely—and likely correctly—assumed by the Greek population to be the case,^[7] leading immediately to the outbreak of unrest, especially in the capital, Athens.^[8]

On 7 February, the funeral of a student killed in a demonstration in December became the occasion for a gathering of 500 students. Further protests followed, with an alarming participation of civil servants: on 9 February, civil servants gathered to protest outside the building where the collaborationist government was meeting, and strikes were declared in the Bank of Greece, the Municipality of Athens, the Ministry of Finance, private banks, the post, and public transport.^[8]

• Grigoriadis, Solon (2011) [1973]. Ιστορία της Σύγχρονης Ελλάδας 1941-1974. Τόμος 1 – Κατοχή: Η μεγάλη νύχτα [History of Modern Greece 1941-1974. Volume 1 – The Occupation: The Great Night] (in Greek). Athens: POLARIS. ISBN 978-960-9487-63-4.
• Haralambidis, Menelaos (2023). Οι Δωσίλογοι: Ένοπλη, πολιτική και οικονομική συνεργασία στα χρόνια της Κατοχής [The Collaborators: Armed, Political and Economic Collaboration During the Occupation] (in Greek). Athens: Alexandreia. ISBN 978-618-223-034-3.
• Kochanski, Halik (2023). Resistance: The Underground War in Europe, 1939-1945. London: Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 978-0-14-197901-4.
• Mazower, Mark (1993). Inside Hitler's Greece: The Experience of Occupation, 1941–44. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-06552-3.