SECRET WAR Rigas Rigopoulos GREECE – MIDDLE EAST, 1940-1945 THE EVENTS SURROUNDING THE STORY OF SERVICE 5-16-5 TURNER PUBLISHING COMPANY PADUCAH, KY 1 SECRET WAR Rigas Rigopoulos Award of the Academy of Athens as an amalgam of history and literature Original Greek text published in Athens, 1973 English edition by Jesse M. Heines in collaboration with Rigas Rigopoulos and Dionysis Rigopoulos from a draft translation by Eleni Dedoglou Greek Edition Copyright © 1973, 2003 by Rigas Rigopoulos. English Edition Copyright © 2003 by Jesse M. Heines. All rights reserved. Publishing Rights: Turner Publishing Company The cover is a woodcut offered for this book by Greek painter Spiros Vasiliou. It was created during the German Occupation for a handwritten book (in 100 copies with woodcuts) to accompany poems for liberty and resistance by Angelos Sikelianos. TURNER PUBLISHING COMPANY Publishers of America’s History 412 Broadway • P.O. Box 3101 Paducah, Kentucky 42002-3101 (270) 443-0121 www.turnerpublishing.com Editor: Randy Baumgardner Designer: Peter Zuniga This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced without the express written consent of the publisher and/or author. Library of Congress Catalog No. 2003104153 ISBN: 1-56311-886-6 LIMITED EDITION Printed in the U.S.A. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication................................................................................................................. 5 Foreword .................................................................................................................. 7 Introductory Thoughts ............................................................................................ 11 PART ONE THE RETREAT (Instead of Prologue) Intense Moments in Historical Hours ......................................................... 13 Chapter A: PREPARATIONS An Unusual Athens.......................................................................................... 23 Home and Friends ........................................................................................... 27 The First Efforts .............................................................................................. 34 Hellenic Patriotic Society or Service 5-16-5................................................... 41 How We Acquired the Wireless Set. Radio Message from the Allied Service. ............................................................................................ 54 Chapter B: IN ACTION The Assault. Espionage in the German Headquarters of Southern Greece..... 61 New Inspection and Security Measures. The First Results Actions of Our Harbor People. ..................................................................................... 70 Actions of Our Technicians. Questions of the Allied Service. In the Confidential Archives of the Germans. ............................................ 76 Spiritual and Intellectual Resistance, 1942-1943............................................ 83 Our Last Deeds from New Year’s to Easter .................................................. 102 Chapter C: THE PERSECUTION The Germans On Our Trail. Arrests. Executions. ......................................... 119 Two Last Months in Athens. Hide and Seek with the Gestapo. .................... 145 3 PART TWO Chapter D: THE CONSPIRACY Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt. Abuse of Trust. .............................. 159 One Month Near the Prime Minister............................................................. 170 Raids from Air and Sea. The Greatest Moment of Alexander, Kairis. Consequences of Mistakes........................................................................ 176 Return Home. An Agitated Liberation. The Final Loss of Service 5-16-5. .. 188 The Horrible December. The Secret of the British Conspiracy..................... 201 Chapter E: THE FINAL RECKONING The End of the War. Honor to Our Dead....................................................... 215 APPENDICES Excerpts from the Report of Rigas Rigopoulos to the President of the Greek Government in Cairo, Emmanuel Tsouderos ................................. 225 Excerpts from a Speech by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill Before the House of Commons................................................................. 229 Photographs ................................................................................................... 233 4 Στουζ To Αλεξανδρο Καιρη Alexander Kairis Νικο Παλιατσεα Nicos Paliatseas Πετρο Δρακοπουλο Petros Drakopoulos Νικο Μενεγατο Nicos Menegatos Σταματη Τρατρα Stamatis Tratras Σωκρατη Τσελεντη Socratis Tselentis who gave their lives for all of us, I dedicate this book with gratitude. R.R. 5 6 FOREWORD The Second World War dauntingly continues to fascinate and intrigue both his- torians and the general public alike. Indeed, the end of the global conflict in 1945 also served as a catalyst for inspiring hundreds and thousands of books, memoirs, biographies, and, of course, film and television. Perhaps, movies and television pro- grams, more than any other medium, have served to keep the war alive by providing a visual reminder of the horrors as well as the extraordinary achievements of the men and women who struggled to overcome totalitarian rule. This is particularly true of those individuals who fought in the shadowy world of espionage. They risked torture and the threat of death for the Allies to win the intelligence war against the Axis powers. Espionage has been aptly labeled as the “second oldest profession.” During the Second World War, the role of secret intelligence was critical in the defeat of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. The ability of the British to break and read Germany’s codes enabled the Allies to win several decisive battles. The victory of the war in the Atlantic and even the success of D-Day on June 6, 1944, owed a great deal to the code breakers toiling at Bletchley Park. However, the most dramatic use of secret intelligence in the Western Theater resulted from covert operations against the Nazis in the cities of occupied Europe, which were implemented, to a great extent, by young men and women. For the most part, their stories remained shrouded in secrecy. Only in the late 1970s, with the opening of British and American archives, did the exploits of these remarkable people see the light of day. Until then, a plethora of books and articles testified to the gal- lantry and significant contributions of the resistance forces in occupied Europe, but little was written about the clandestine war in the urban centers. Readers were car- ried away reading the brave feats of the partisans in the mountains, deserts, and jungles, while the strategic role of the spies and saboteurs in the cities remained almost anonymous. There are several factors that contributed to the slender bibliography of the in- telligence war in the post-war period. Espionage, dealing with wartime intelligence, remained a subject for mystery novels and fiction rather than for serious works of history. The few studies that emerged following the end of the Second World War were confined to carefully vetted memoirs and official accounts of major intelli- gence operations. Memoirs by actual participants of the intelligence war were fur- ther limited by the official secrets acts of Great Britain and the United States and by the fact that most of these covert warriors were either killed during the course of the occupation or continued as professional intelligence officers after 1945. Further- more, with the exception of British, American, German, and, to a lesser degree, French archives, most of the countries that participated in the Second World War refused to allow access to their archives. Consequently, most English language stud- ies of the occupation period in Europe focus on Anglo-British operations against the Axis. Under these circumstances, the limited publications that do concentrate on the history of espionage and other covert operations in occupied Europe are still viewed through a British or American prism. In the case of Greece, accounts of the occupation period (1941-44) concentrate on the history of the guerrilla fighters in the mountains and the British liaison offic- ers who tried, in vain, to coordinate the Greek partisan bands. As was the situation in 7 Europe and North America, the story of the guerrilla war eclipsed the equally sig- nificant and harrowing history of the spies and saboteurs. For many decades after the Second World War, the publication of memoirs and autobiographies of Greek and British participants with the resistance dominated the history of the Axis occupation of Greece. Many historians as well as other specialists were intrigued by the cre- ation of mass resistance movements such as EAM (the National Liberation Front) and its military wing ELAS (National Liberation Army). The fascination was fu- eled by the crisis between the left and right forces that dominated the development of the resistance in occupied Greece and obscured the covert war waged in the cities and towns. The history of intelligence operations, sabotage, and espionage in occupied Greece is inextricably tied to the story of Britain’s wartime Special Operations Executive (SOE), which was set up to implement guerrilla warfare, subversion, and sabotage in occupied Europe and Asia. The SOE was created during the dark days of July 1940 after the fall of France, when Britain stood alone against what appeared to be the irresistible onslaught of Nazi Germany. Winston Churchill is- sued the new organization a simple directive – “Set