Place & Local Memory · First Cycle 2026

Lofos Kapi

Before and After the Holocaust of Kalavryta

A memorial monument, which was built at the same place where the massacre took place, up to the hill is not only a monument but also a reminder to the memory for all the people who resist

ELENI GKOUVELOU- PANAGIOTA KATSARAMENIDOUPhoto essay

Read the story

Illustration or archival image 0 supplied by the project author — FIG. 00Image from page 1 of the original project. Original credits remain with the author and credited sources.

The public-history question

How a massacre has change the local memory and the landscape?

Why this story matters

A memorial monument is a reminder for human rights violation and all people should be against to these energies. Also it's a kind of honor for the people who have been killed.

CHAPTER 01

Kalavryta under occupation

Democratic Participation in Digital Public History

Group 3 — Place, Local Memory, Monuments & Heritage

«Lofos Kapi- Before and after the Holocaust of Kalavryta»

In Greece during World War II, the German occupation lasted from April 1941

Illustration or archival image 1 supplied by the project author — FIG. 01Image from page 2 of the original project. Original credits remain with the author and credited sources.

CHAPTER 02

The massacre and its location

The Holocaust of Kalavryta was part of the Wehrmacht military operation

targeted against ELAS forces operating in the area. "Operation Kalavryta" was planned

on November 25, 1943, by the commander of the 117th Jäger Division, Karl von Le

Suire, and was carried out by the Kampfgruppen (battle groups) led by Woelffinger,

Illustration or archival image 2 supplied by the project author — FIG. 02Figure 1. Prior to the execution. View of the town of Kalavryta; Kapi Hill is visible in the

CHAPTER 03

From field to memorial

for the victims of the Occupation, and

nowadays a historical site requiring special state protection, as a location "directly

linked to the memory of the local inhabitants as well as the entirety of Greece" as the

site of one of the bloodiest mass crimes of Nazism against a civilian population

Illustration or archival image 3 supplied by the project author — FIG. 03Figure 2. View of the town after December 13, 1943.

CHAPTER 04

Commemoration

At the Execution Site, wreaths are laid, and the Mayor of the town reads aloud

the names of the executed. This event serves as a preservation of memory for the

tragedy suffered by the town and the Greek nation as a whole, while on a broader scale,

it keeps alive in public memory the atrocities of an era that is distant, yet remains so

Illustration or archival image 4 supplied by the project author — FIG. 04Figure 3. View of the town after December 13, 1943. The execution plateau and Kapi Hill

CHAPTER 05

The town after December 1943

are visible in the upper right.

Illustration or archival image 5 supplied by the project author — FIG. 05Figure 4. View of Kapi Hill and its initial layout as a site of memory.

CHAPTER 06

An evolving memorial landscape

background.

Illustration or archival image 6 supplied by the project author — FIG. 06Figure 5. The placement of the cross at the peak of the hill. Kalavryta is visible in the

CHAPTER 07

Changes in the 1960s

Figure 6. 1960s. The perimeter demarcation and ongoing layout of the site.

Illustration or archival image 7 supplied by the project author — FIG. 07Image from page 6 of the original project. Original credits remain with the author and credited sources.

CHAPTER 08

A sculpture of mourning

4 Photographic archive of Eleni Gouvelou

Illustration or archival image 8 supplied by the project author — FIG. 08Image from page 6 of the original project. Original credits remain with the author and credited sources.

Visual sources

From the project archive

Illustration or archival image 10 supplied by the project author — FIG. 10Figure 8. 1970s. The Execution Site following the creation of the monument.

Illustration or archival image 11 supplied by the project author — FIG. 11Figure 9. The Execution Site today.

Illustration or archival image 12 supplied by the project author — FIG. 12Image from page 7 of the original project. Original credits remain with the author and credited sources.

Illustration or archival image 13 supplied by the project author — FIG. 13Image from page 8 of the original project. Original credits remain with the author and credited sources.

Illustration or archival image 14 supplied by the project author — FIG. 14Image from page 9 of the original project. Original credits remain with the author and credited sources.

Research · Evidence · Attribution

Sources & Credits

Original project references, visual sources and creator credits are collected here in one place.

Creator & project
Eleni Gkouvelou and Panagiota Katsaramenidou. Photo essay. Who Owns Memory? Digital Public Exhibition, First Cycle 2026.
Municipal Museum of the Kalavrytians Holocaust https://www.dmko.gr/
Government Gazette of the Kingdom of Greece (Issue A'). (1936, December 7). On holding a memorial service in Kalavryta for the victims of the Occupation forces (Sheet No. 293, p. 4). Athens. Government Gazette of the Hellenic Republic (Issue B'). (1993, May 17). Designation of the site of sacrifice in Kalavryta, Prefecture of Achaea, as a historical site (Sheet No. 348). Athens.
Lazaris, V. K. (2018). Achaea during the Occupation, 1934–1944: Ten years of struggles and hopes – Exhibition of documents (Vasilis K. Lazaris Archive).
Visual and media material
Photographs, documents, illustrations, video and audio are attributed through the project text, captions and contributor documentation wherever that information was supplied. This exhibition page does not grant additional reuse permissions.
Digital exhibition edition
Web presentation adapted for Who Owns Memory? (2026), with layout and language editing. The original contributors retain authorship of their research, interpretation and creative work.