Deportation Transports from Magnesia to Italy and the Third Reich

*Sketch by former forced labourer Omiros Pellas, from his book STALAG VI-C, Diary of Captivity (in Greek), 1962.*

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The deportation dates recorded in our sources are not always precise, and occasionally conflicting dates are provided for the same individual. The available records are insufficient to definitively conclude whether, apart from mass deportations, individual or small-group deportations occurred as well. However, it is clear that the following ten transports formed the core of the deportation process:

30.04.1942: From Larissa to Fiume–Ferramonti–Cremona. The transport consisted primarily of resistance fighters from Volos and Almyros held in Trikala and Larissa prisons, initially deported to various camps in Italy. Among them was Greek politician Evangelos Averoff. Many were later transferred to Nazi camps in Germany following the Italian armistice on September 8, 1943, while others escaped or were released.

25.12.1942: From Athens/Patras to Italy A transport consisting of 300 Greeks.

01.04.1944: Transport of 35 women from Pavlos Melas Camp (Thessaloniki) to Banjica Prison (Belgrade) From there, the prisoners were moved to Auschwitz (June 28, 1944), Ravensbrück (September 30, 1944), and finally Buchenwald (October 27, 1944). Eleni Vlachava from Almyros was part of this group. (Ref: Vaso Stamatiou, “Warum? A Greek Woman in Auschwitz” (in Greek), 2023).

20.05.1944: From Pavlos Melas to Moosburg POW Camp (STALAG VIIA) The first transport to Moosburg. According to our records, five prisoners from Magnesia were deported on this date.

25.05.1944: From Haidari to Neuengamme and Ravensbrück via Thessaloniki Likely the largest mass deportation from Greece. It departed Chaidari camp (Athens) with 850 men and 61 women, picked up approximately 250 more people from Pavlos Melas, and reached Neuengamme with 1,300 people. Earlier, in Weimar, two carriages of women destined for Ravensbrück were detached. (Ref: Maria Tsiskaki-Galiatsatou, “Greek Women in Nazi Camps”, (in Greek) 1998). Eleven prisoners from Magnesia were on this train.

05.06.1944: From Pavlos Melas to Moosburg This transport included between 120 and 200 Greeks (16 from Magnesia) and reached Moosburg on June 14, 1944.

10.07.1944: From Pavlos Melas to Moosburg The largest mass deportation from Magnesia, involving 126 individuals out of a total of 900 prisoners.

19.07.1944: From Chaidari to Bathorn POW Camp (STALAG VI C)

24.08.1944: From Pavlos Melas to Bathorn Consisting of 500 people. Although sources cite various nearby dates, we assume they departed on the same transport. This group included 16 people from Magnesia. From Bathorn (Northwest Germany, near the Dutch border), they were later sent to camps or construction sites in neighbouring cities. (Ref: Omiros Pellas, “STALAG VI C: Diary of Captivity” (in Greek), 1962).

01.09.1944: From Pavlos Melas to Ravensbrück This was the final transport, which included sisters Marianthi (Nachmia) and Trigona Souli, as well as Afroditi Kalatzi (Koutrouli).