Evening star., 1947-12-28
Gen. Markos' Career
Featured by Violent
Political Agitation
By the Assnciatsd Press

ATHENS, Dec. 27 - Markos
Vifades. guerrilla chieftain who has
proclaimed a Communist state in
Northern Greece, is convert to
Communism who has made career
OF violent political agitation.
The mysterious, mustached guer-
rilla who uses the nom de guerre
of Gen. Markos," is known to be
an energetic and efficient admins
traitor who has complete faith in
ruthless discipline and in the Com
munist Party.
The Greek army has been hunt
ing the elusive Vifiades for months.
The Greek government has ex-
pected that he would proclaim his
capital somewhere in the region Of
Florina, near the Yugoslav border
plan F" Put Down.
Last July Demetrios Ma&imos,
then premier Of the royalist Greek
government. said the Communists
had evolved a plan for a nation
wide insurrection called plan F."
He said the plan had been ordered
into effect by Gen Vifiades, but that
police intercepted the orders. The
government said the plot was
crushed when police rounded up
thousands Of leftists in mass
arrests.
Gen Vifades is Al years old,
five feet seven inches tall, lean and
sinewy. He has steely blue eyes
and wavy chestnut hair.
He was in Salonika in 1916 when
the guerrilla bands in the North
were beginning in earnest their
attacks against government forces
Gen, Vifiades slipped from his hide
out and Joined the guerrillas that
September. Within a month he
became a commander-in-c chief of
all the guerrilla forces.
Reported Elected"
There has been speculation that
Gen. Vifades was appointed COM
nlander by some mysterious figure.
But George Yannoulis, commander
of guerrilla forces in the Mount
Grammos area, said last spring that
Gen Vifades was elected" by all
guerrilla captains after he had
toured their camps.
Gen. Yannoulis since has been re-
ported either to have killed himself
or to have been executed at Gen
Vifiades' order because of differences
over the announcement of the Com
mllnist government.
Gen. VifiadeS headed Elias, the
armed force of the Fam National
Liberation 'FRONT.', in Western Mace
donia during the war When Sa-
lonika was liberated, he became an
important figure
The British officers who had con-
tact with him after the Germans
left the port city were impressed by
Gen. Vjfiades' obvious ability to get
things done.
Gen. Vifiades, described as a dy-
manic organizer and improViser,
controlled Salonika at the time of
his own secret police organization
During the early days of the liberia
ton he ordered scores of "anti- Com
munists' executed.
Born in Asia Minor.
Gen Vifades was born in Kasta-
lnoni in Asia Minor in 1906. He came
TO Greece by way of Istanbul with
the wave of refugees after the I'M
successful Greek campaign against
the Turks in 1928
He became street peddler, then
shipping clerk and a waiter in q
coffee house. 1t was when he was
a tobacco worker in Kavalla that
he made his contacts with the Com
nunists and joined the Communist
youth movement.
From that time on his life was a
violent one. Greek police records
show Gen. Vifiaaes has been jailed
at least eight times since 1929
on charges of making seditious
speeches, provoking riots, agitating
strikes. robbery and carrying false
Identification papers.