History

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Thrasivoulos Marakis grew up hearing stories about the grandfather he was named after but who he never met — about how the tall man was executed during Nazi reprisals in Greece during World War II.

For decades, the only image Marakis had of his grandfather came from a worn family portrait picture.

But last month another photograph emerged. An online auction contained a photograph showing his grandfather walking calmly toward a firing squad alongside other prisoners.

The image shook the Marakis family and has stirred powerful emotions across Greece, where the execution of 200 prisoners by Nazi occupation forces on May 1, 1944 remains one of the country’s most poignant symbols of wartime resistance.

For Marakis, the photographs carry a deeply personal meaning.

“They went to their deaths with their heads held high so that we could be free today,” he said.