Alikianos executions The Alikianos executions ( ) refer to the mass execution by firing squad of mostly male civilians from Alikianos and nearby villages in Crete , Greece by German paratroopers on 2 June and 1 August 1941 during World War II . The executions were ordered by Generaloberst Kurt Student , commander of the XI Air Corps , in reprisal for the active participation of Cretan civilians to the Battle of Crete . Background . The village of Alikianos ( or " Alikianou " ) is located on a fertile plain near the north coast of Crete , approximately 12 km ( 7 . 5 mi ) southwest of the city of Chania . During the Battle of Crete , Heidrich ' s 3rd Fallschirmjäger Regiment ( " FJR 3 " ) was ordered to land on the plain and advance northwest towards the Maleme airstrip , one of the island ' s most strategic targets . Covering the rear of the 3rd Regiment was the 7th Engineer Battalion , dropped in the vicinity of Alikianos between the road to Chania and the bed of Keritis ( , ancient Ιάρδανος ) river and charged with the mission to conduct reconnaissance . The Engineer Battalion were confronted by the ill - armed and poorly trained 8th Greek Regiment , who were assisted by local irregulars . Despite being armed with primitive weapons , the locals attacked the Parachute Engineer Battalion inflicting them significant losses . The area in and around Alikianos was the theater of a fierce battle that started on 21 May and lasted for seven days . The battle zone became known as " Prison Valley " owing to the presence of a prison farm that was its prominent building . The gallant defence of the 8th Greek Regiment and the local population is today credited with protecting the Allied line of retreat , making possible their safe withdrawal and subsequent evacuation from Sfakia . The executions . Infuriated by the involvement of the local population in repulsing the invasion by German paratroopers , General Student , ordered collective punishment operations against the locals soon after the end of the Battle . Among other punitive measures , these operations prescribed summary execution s . 2nd June 1941 . On 2 June 1941 , Alikianos was surrounded by German forces . 42 male civilians were marched to the churchyard and shot in groups of ten in front of their relatives . On the same day and during similar operations , 12 and 25 civilians were respectively executed in the nearby villages of Agia ( ) and Kyrtomado ( Κυρτομάδω ) . 1st August 1941 . General Alexander Andrae , who succeeded Student as the Commander - in - Chief of Fortress Crete , continued Student ' s campaign of retaliations . Two months after the first execution , the Germans gathered 118 civilians at a bridge over the Keritis river near Alikianos and shot them after forcing them to dig their own graves . Twelve of those killed were from Alikianos whereas the rest came from the nearby villages Fournes ( ) , Skines ( Σκηνές ) , Vatolakos ( Βατόλακκος ) , Koufo ( Κουφό ) , Prases ( Πρασές ) , Karanou ( Καράνου ) , Lakkoi ( Λάκκοι ) , Orthouni ( Ορθούνι ) , Nea Roumata ( Νέα Ρούματα ) and Hosti ( Χωστή ) . Aftermath . After the surrender of Germany , Student was captured by the British . In May 1947 , he came before a military tribunal to answer charges of mistreatment and murder of prisoners of war by his forces in Crete . Greece ' s demand to have Student extradited was declined . Student was found guilty of three out of eight charges and sentenced to five years in prison . However , he was given a medical discharge and was released in 1948 . Student was never tried for crimes against civilians . Andrae was captured by the British and then extradited to Greece to be tried for war crimes he was responsible for during his time in Crete . In 1947 , he was condemned to four life sentences , but after spending four years in prison , he was released in January 1952 . Memorials . A monument commemorating the victims of the first execution has been erected by the church of Alikianos . A second one stands near the Keritis bridge .