On May 20, 1941, Crete was subjected to a massive air attack by the Nazis. The Cretans and their British and New Zealand allies fought heroically and put up a stout resistance against the outnumbered Germans. The Germans prevailed after 7 days forcing the allies to leave the island.
During the occupation of the island, from 1941 to 1944, the relations between the conquerors and the conquered were ones of hatred. The German terror was continuous with requisitions and chores. The Cretans created the Cretan Resistance and responded by sabotaging airports and fuel depots and neutralizing the conqueror's local collaborators and informers. The toll the Cretan people paid was extremely heavy with executions and the burning of entire villages.
In 1944 British Officers, who had remained on the island, decided to kidnap the German military commander of the 22nd Infantry Division, Heinrich Kreipe, to interrogate him and raise the morale of the Cretans. They dressed in German uniforms, stopped his car for inspection and kidnapped him at gunpoint. The British tried to show that the kidnapping was done entirely by the British and the escape was by submarine so that there would be no reprisals for the Cretans.
The fact that, in the past, Kreipe had been impatient and rude at roadblocks and checkpoints contributed to the success of his own kidnapping since the Germans no longer bothered with him. The kidnappers passed through 22 checkpoints unmolested abandoned the car, at some point, and continued to Anogeia. The Germans now knowing about the kidnapping, dropped leaflets with a reconnaissance plane threatening reprisal. The team left for Psiloritis. Their radio broke down and the lack of communication made their escape more difficult. As they descended towards the Amari valley, the German garrison of over 30,000 soldiers were placed on alert to prevent escape. The British asked for a boat to be sent to pick them up from Shakturia, but were informed that the village was burned down the following day. They were moved from village to village to avoid German patrols. In Asi Gonia they were informed that a boat would be waiting for them in Rodakino, a seaside village south of Chania. Local rebels escorted the group and the British and Kreipe boarded the ship and left for Egypt. There, he was interrogated and sent to Canada as a prisoner.
Several months later the success of the operation was called into question. Kreipe was replaced by Mueller, who ordered large-scale reprisals against the civilian population. The Normandy landings were expected and Kreipe had no reason not to cooperate. In addition, Crete had already lost the strategic importance it had during the war.
In 1972, General Kreipe met his British and Cretan resistance captors on a Greek television show, and the atmosphere between them was quite warm. The cinematic abduction of Kreipe was characterized as a unique example of courage, intelligence and resistance to the hardships of nature and became well known around the world. In 1950, one of his captors wrote the best seller III Met By Moonlight, The Abduction Of General Kreipe, and in 1957 a film, based on the book, was made.
(more articles about Crete on www.gomega.gr)
