Cretan resistance soldiers World War 2

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  7. >The [Battle of Crete](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Crete) was the first occasion where Fallschirmjäger (German paratroops) were used en masse, the first mainly airborne invasion in military history, the first time the Allies made significant use of intelligence from decrypted German messages from the Enigma machine, and the first time German troops encountered mass resistance from a civilian population. Due to the number of casualties and the belief that airborne forces no longer had the advantage of surprise, Adolf Hitler became reluctant to authorise further large airborne operations, preferring instead to employ paratroopers as ground troops. In contrast, the Allies were impressed by the potential of paratroopers and started to form airborne-assault and airfield-defence regiments.

    (Source: [Battle of Crete](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Crete) on Wikipedia)

  10. To this day, Cretans refer to a ruffian/snitch as “Gestabitis”, meaning Gestapo collaborator.

    There is also the story of Giorgis Vretzos, also known as “Tiganitis”. Tiganitis’ brother was killed after a local Gestabitis called Magiasis betrayed him as a resistance member to the German forces. After the war was over, Gestabites were taken into trials for high treason. Tiganitis hid a knife under a court desk before the trial, and when called to testify against his brother’s indirect murderer, he took the knife and slayed Magiasis in front of the judges. He was initially sentenced to death but later pardoned, as the locals threatened with a rebellion against the Greek state if Tiganitis was executed. Today he is considered a local hero and there is an antifascist football team in Heraklion with his name.

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