Aris Velouchiotis (Άρης Βελουχιώτης), (August 27, 1905-June 16, 1945, real name Thanassis Klaras/Θανάσης Κλάρας) was a prominent leader of the communist segment of Greek guerrilla resistance during World War II which was followed by the Greek Civil War. August 27 is the 239th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (240th in leap years), with 126 days remaining. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... June 16 is the 167th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (168th in leap years), with 198 days remaining. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Guerrilla War redirects here. ... Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II... Combatants Hellenic Army, Royalist forces, British troops Communist guerillas (ELAS, DSE) Commanders Alexander Papagos Markos Vafiadis Strength 100,000 men 20,000 men (and women) An ELAS soldier The Greek Civil War was fought between 1946 and 1949, and was the first example of a post-war Communist insurgency. ...

Early Years

Klaras was born in Lamia (Greece) in 1905. As a youth he participated in the leftist movement of his era and finally became a member of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). During the Ioannis Metaxas dictatorship (1936-1941) he was arrested and jailed in the Aegina prison. During his trial he escaped and joined the illegal mechanism of the Communist Party. He was arrested again in 1939, he was sent to the Corfu prison and stayed there until he signed a “statement of renouncement” of the Communist Party. There are several different meanings of Lamia. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Party logo The Communist Party of Greece (Greek: Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, Kommunistiko Komma Elladas), better known by its acronym ΚΚΕ (usually pronounced koo-koo-eh) , is the communist party in Greece. ... Ioannis Metaxas (Greek Ιωάννης Μεταξάς, April 12, 1871 - January 29, 1941) was a Greek General and the Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... Pontikonisi Island Corfu (ancient and modern Greek Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, Latin Corcyra; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is an island of Greece, in the Ionian Sea. ...

World War II

During the World War II he served as an artillery corporal of the Greek army in the Albanian front (1940-1941) against Mussolini's army until the Nazi invasion and Greece’s surrender (April 1941). Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... Benito Mussolini created a fascist state through the use of propaganda, total control of the media and disassembly of the working democratic government. ... National Socialism redirects here. ...

After Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Klaras was sent to Central Greece (Roumeli) by the Communist Party in order to assess the capacity of the development of a guerrilla movement against the Nazis. His proposals were adopted by the party and consequently in January 1942 Klaras moved to the mountains in order to start setting up the guerrilla groups. This article is about the year. ...

The first appearance of the partisans organized by Klaras was on the 7th of June 1942 in the village of Domnista (Evritania) in Central Greece. This was also the first time that he appeared under the alias Aris Velouchiotis. From this time on, he rose to prominence in the ELAS ("Greek Popular Liberation Army") forces, which he headed along with Stephanos Sarafis. Look up partisan on Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Evritania, Evrytania (Greek: Ευρυτανία), rarely/Latin: Eurytania is one of the fifty-one prefectures of Greece. ...

One of the most important operations of the Greek resistance movement, in which Velouchiotis and his fighters participated, in cooperation with Napoleon Zervas's republican EDES resistance forces and British saboteurs, was the blasting of the Gorgopotamus bridge in Lamia (November 1942). Their success disrupted the replenishment of Rommel's German forces in Africa for several days, as the latter took place by means of the Thessaloniki-Athens railroad.

This was to be, however, the last operation to pit the communist-dominated ELAS organization on the same front with Greek Republican resistance forces, who favoured a return to constitutional parliamentary monarchy, as opposed to the communists' aspiration of imposing a communist regime in Greece.

The End

In October 1944 the Nazis evacuated Greece and legitimate government was reinstated under Georgios Papandreou, the leader of a "National Unity" government-in-exile during the period of German occupation in Greece. When the Varkiza agreement was signed to end clashes between EAM-ELAS communist insurgents and governmental forces, Velouchiotis vehemently refused to comply and collided with the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) leadership, which accused him of Trotskyism and treachery, referencing his 1939 statement of renouncement and removing him from the party's member list. 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... National Socialism redirects here. ... Varkiza (Greek: Βάρκιζα), also Alianthos (Αλίανθος) is a suburban place that is part of the municipality of Vari in southern Attica and is the located east of the Megalo Daktylo (Large Finger). ... Party logo The Communist Party of Greece (Greek: Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, Kommunistiko Komma Elladas), better known by its acronym ΚΚΕ (usually pronounced koo-koo-eh) , is the communist party in Greece. ...

Velouchiotis moved again towards the mountains of Central Greece, in order to start an insurgency against the legitimate Greek Government and the British allies who supported them. Though most of his associates abandoned him, he continued to conduct guerilla war until, in June 1945, he fell into an ambush by Greek Army forces and died, along with his deputy-commander Javellas, during battle. Whether he was killed during battle (as some claim), or committed suicide after being incapacitated in battle (as others support) is still a matter of some debate.

Controversial figure

Aris Velouchiotis remains one of the most controversial figures of modern Greek history. He is considered by some to be one of the symbols of Greek resistance against Germans. Leftists lionized Aris as a hero of the communist cause and have made him the subject of a personality cult comparable only to those of Ernesto Che Guevara, Stalin and Mao Ze Dong. Che Guevara Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna (May 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967), commonly known as Che Guevara, was an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary and Cuban guerrilla leader. ... Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვილი; see Other names section) (December 21, 1879[1] – March 5, 1953) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and leader of the Soviet Union. ... Mao Zedong (December 26, 1893—September 9, 1976) was the chairman of the Communist Party of China from 1935 until his death. ...

On the other hand, however, part of the Greek public see Aris as the perpetrator of brutal mass atrocities against defenseless rural populations perceived as negative to their "socialist cause", attacks against non-communist Greek resistance forces, and insurgency against the installed government after Greece had been liberated from the Nazis. An atrocity (from the Latin atrox, atrocious, from Latin ater = matte black (as distinct from niger = shiny black)) is a term used to describe crimes ranging from an act committed against a single person to one committed against a population or ethnic group. ...

Further reading

• Χαριτόπουλος, Διονύσης (Charitopoulos, Dionysis) (2003). Άρης, ο Αρχηγός των Ατάκτων (Aris, the Leader of the Rebels). Athens: Ελληνικά Γράμματα (Ellinika Grammata). ISBN 960-406-538-6. Extensive biography in Greek.