Massacre of the Acqui Division

1943 CE.

Shown on the map at 38.250°, 20.590°.

The Massacre of the Acqui Division, also known as the Cephalonia massacre, was a war crime by German soldiers against POWs of the Italian 33rd Infantry Division "Acqui" on the island of Cephalonia, Greece, in September 1943, following the Armistice of Cassibile during the Second World War. About 5,000 soldiers were executed, and around 3,000 more drowned. Following the decision of the Italian government to negotiate a surrender to the Allies in 1943, the German Army tried to disarm the Italians during Operation Achse. On 13 September the Italians of the Acqui resisted, and fought the Germans on the island of Cephalonia. By 22 September the last of the Italian resistance surrendered after running out of ammunition. A total of 1,315 Italians were killed in the battle, 5,155 were executed by 26 September, and 3,000 drowned when the German ships taking the survivors to concentration camps were sunk by the Allies. It was one of the largest prisoner of war massacres of the war, along with the Katyn massacre carried out by the Soviet Union, and it was one of many atrocities committed by the 1st Mountain Division (German: 1. Gebirgs-Division).

Text from the Wikipedia article Massacre of the Acqui Division, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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