Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Holocaust of Kedros

Peristeres Beach is located 47 km south of Rethymnon, between Fragokastelo and Rodakino. Resistance forces assisted by Cretan rebels transferred German general Heinrich Kreipe from this beach to Egypt in 1944. In the spring of 1944, the Allies hatched a plan to kidnap General Müller, whose harsh repressive measures had earned him the nickname "the Butcher of Crete". However General Müller left the island before the plan could be executed, so it was decided to abduct Major-general Kreipe instead. On the night of 26 April, Kreipe's car was ambushed. Kreipe was tied and forced into the back seat. The car was abandoned later and the abductors continued on foot, continuing to evade thousands of Axis soldiers sent to stop them, with the help of guides from the local resistance. On 14 May, the team was picked up by a British motorboat from this beach and transported to British-held Egypt. The German punitive expedition included an operation nowadays knwon as "Holocaust of Kedros" involving 2,000 Axis soldiers who targeted Anogeia and Damasta. A total of 900 houses were burned, 50 civilians were shot and 3,500 became internally displaced. In the following days the operation expanded to other villages, men were executed, houses were looted and then burned or dynamited regardless of their involvement in resistance activities.