page_title: Execution of Major General Franz Krech
section_title: Events
hierarchical_section_title: Execution of Major General Franz Krech / Events
caption_attribution_description: English: Greek officer and guerrilla commander Manolis Stathakis
context_page_description: The Execution of Major General Franz Krech took place on 27 April 1944 by a platoon of the Greek People's Liberation Army, during the German occupation of Greece in World War II. It led to harsh reprisals by the occupying forces and contributed to the declaration of the Peloponnese as a combat zone.
context_section_description: A platoon of the 8th (Laconian) Regiment of ELAS, under the career 2nd Lieutenant Manolis Stathakis, ambushed the German Major General and commander of 41st Fortress Division Franz Krech in the area of Laconia on 28 April 1944.
  The result of the attack was the death of Krech and four members of his escort. The day before the German Major General Heinrich Kreipe had been kidnapped by British and Greek agents in Crete. The American OSS and the British SOE, with the collaboration of the Greek National Liberation Front (EAM) spread information, for reasons of propaganda (Operation Hemlock) but also to prevent reprisals, that Major General Krech was executed by the Gestapo as a dissident and publicized a forged letter calling on the German soldiers to desert. It was also reported that Krech, along with Kreipe, would participate in an anti-Hitler "Free German" movement.
caption: Guerilla commander Manolis Stathakis
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