Security Battalions The Security Battalions ( , " Tágmata Asfalías " , derisively known as " Germanotsoliades " or " Tagmatasfalites " ) were Greek collaborationist military groups , formed during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II in order to support the German occupation troops . History . The Battalions were founded in 1943 by the Greek puppet government of Ioannis Rallis . They were supported by the extreme right and Nazi sympathisers , but also by some centrist politicians who were concerned about the dominance of ELAS ( the military arm of the communist - dominated National Liberation Front EAM ) as the main body of the Greek resistance . Among the members of the Security Battalions one could find ex - army officers , forcefully conscripted soldiers , conservatives , landowners , extreme - right radicals and social outcasts , as well as opportunists who believed the Axis would win the war . The main role of the Security Battalions was to fight against ELAS . Their aggregate force was at most 22 , 000 men , divided into 9 ' evzonic ' and 22 ' voluntary ' battalions , under the commands of SS Lieutenant - General Walter Schimana . Although the plan was to expand them all over the occupied Greek territories , their main theater of action was in eastern Central Greece and Peloponnese . At that time , ELAS had already gained control over 1 / 3 of continental Greece . They remained faithful to the Germans even when the occupation was crumbling . Their last mission was to engage in combat against ELAS and keep them away from the main routes , in order to secure the safe exit of the German troops from Greece . What the Greek people hated about the Battalions , even more than their collaborationist nature , was the total lack of control over their members . For example after a battle in the hamlet of Attali in Evvia the collaborationists pillaged the houses of the village , taking away 1 , 000 oka of oil , five sewing machines , 200 ok of cheese and 30 complete trousseaus . 60 mules were needed to carry away the loot . By the end of the occupation their name was synonymous with arbitrary violence and frightful cruelty . During the war , the Allied - oriented government in exile decried the Security Battalions for treason . After the liberation , the groups were disbanded ; many of their members were tried and were convicted of collaborationism . Their creator , Rallis , was sentenced to life imprisonment for treason . He died in prison in 1946 after months of abuse by his guards . When the first conflicts of the Greek Civil War broke out in December 1944 , however , many of them were recruited into the gendarmerie to fight alongside the British and government forces against the ELAS guerrillas . The Left has accused the governments of the period of utilizing the Security Battalions against the Communists , while others suggest the Security Battalions joined the Anti - Communist forces looking to redeem themselves in the eyes of the public . Oath of the Security Battalions . According to uncertain references , recruits to the Security battalion were under the following oath : However , it is reported that Rallis , the PM installed by the occupation forces , in the negotiations for the founding of such militia unit on the side of the Nazi occupation forces , refused to accept this oath as " . . . Greek military forces can ' t put their legions to a foreign government . . . . " It is unknown whether Rallis ' views were taken into account by German officials .