During the German Occupation of Greece: 37 Towns Pillaged and 17 Illegal Excavations

How Greek archaeological treasures found themselves in German museums, while the question of their return remains open, as D. Reppas stated in the National Assembly.

By Aggeliki Kotti, To Ethnos, 04.04.2012 (Translated from the Greek Original)

Greece paid is own price from the German Occupation as far as its antiquities are concerned. And that price would have been greatly heavier if the archaeologists, dedicated to their science, had not had the forsight to hide our antiquities before the German inasion. And also if they had not protected them, even risking their own lives.

Members of the Archaeological Service hid cultural treasures, in order to save them, in caves, ancient tombs, hidden underground spaces of the museums, even under the stands of statues.

Dimitris Reppas mentioned in the Assembly that Greece will not abandon its claims against the German authorities concerning all that passed during the Occupation. These claims include the antiquities. In 37 towns and regions of the countries antiquities were stolen by the German conquerors. During the Occupation German archaeologists carried out illegal excavations in 17 areas of Greece. The various finds were sent to Germany. During the departure of the Germans from Athens they caused great harm to antiquities. By shooting and using their bayonets they destroyed statues and vases on the Acropolis and in the Kerameikos [Ancient Cemetery]. All of this is described in a report issued in 1946 by the [Greek] ministry of Education.

Just months before the fall of the front and the German invasion of Greece, foresighted workers of the Archaeological Service decided to hide the cultural treasures of the country. In caves (Acropolis), in ancient tombs (Delphoi), in hidden underground parts of the museums (National Archaeological Museum, Athens), even under the stands of statues (the Hermes of Praxiteles in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia) or in the vaults of banks (gold objects and ancient coins), these wise and humble people of the Archaeological Service secured as many as they could. In good order and with every solemnity. The Academic Vasileios Petrakos describes all of this in his book “The Antiquities of Greece during the War 1940-1944”.

He also describes how even from the first months of the Occupation, the Nazis created a special military “service for the protection of art”, supposedly to protect the antiquities. At its head was the archaeologist Hans Ulrich von Seneberg, who held the military rank of  Lieutenant Colonel. The “protection” lasted very little and was soon succeeded by the pillaging with illegal excavations and stealing.

Illegal excavations were carried out in many areas of Crete (even in Knossos itself), on Aigina, Chalkida, in a cave of the Kopais lake, in Laconia, in Hagia Theodora of Arta, in Nea Anchialos of Magnesia, in Larissa, in Volos, in Thessalonike, in Vergina.

In the report of the Ministry of Education characteristic examples of thefts are mentioned:

An ancient head of a woman of the 4^th century B.C. was given as a gift to the Marshal List. From the Museum of the Kerameikos a black-figure plate was stolen. From the museum of Chaironeia a gold leaf-shaped ear-ring and five clay vases. The German military commander of Larissa Coller asked for and received from the prefect a statue of Athena of the 3^rd century B.C.

In Thessalonike, armed German soldiers removed a marble statue of the Herakleiotissa (which was returned in 1947), a geometric vase, a statue of a woman and a late antiquity portrait.

From the Gortyna Museum a statue of a nymphe or Aphrodite of the roman period was stolen, as well as a statue of a sitting woman and a funerary marker of the Hellenistic period. The archaeological collection of Potidea, stored in a school, was pillaged in its entirety by the Germans.

The Occupiers tried using pressure to discover the hidden antiquities, but met with the stubborn resistance of Greek archaeologists. In a characteristic manner Keramopoulos answers to the argument that the antiquities are in danger because of the humidity, that the Greek government has other priorities, as for example to save the people from starvation. And that the interest of the People in antiquities is limited, “as long as the People is starving”.

Greece: 8. Crete

Crete:

Eleutherna

• Greece and Turkey Boast Two of the World’s Top 2009 Archaeology Discoveries

Herakleion:

Herakleion Museum:

• (T) Economic Crisis and Archaeology in Greece

(T) Economic Crisis and Archaeology in Greece

Delphoi, one of the most important archaeological sites in the world, is closed. Officially the reason is rock-slides that make the area of the stadium dangerous. The famous Castalia source has also been kept closed for the past 15 years for the same reasons.

The problem has always existed on the site and re-appears after every heavy rainfall. However, apart for some interventions that have been made on three points, there is no money even for mapping the situation and even less for a complete study that will finally solve the problem that in the past has even damaged the seats of the stadium. Apart for the official excuse, however, there is also an "unofficial" reason for keeping the site closed: "Lack of personnel" as the guardians admit...

The Archaeological museum of Herakleion on Crete, one of the most important museums, has also been closed for the past 3 years, leaving its approximately 246,000 annual visitors...out in the cold! There is no funding to complete its restoration, as 2,5 million Euros are already owed to the contractor. There is not even a budget calculated for the reopening of the exhibition, so that is could be incorporated in the EU support framework; at the same time an antagonism amongst the archaeologists chosen to set up the exhibition and the local Ephorate of Antiquities, does not help matters...

The result is that "the first European Civilisation" - the Minoan Civilisation - will be represented by just 400 exhibits - in a "temporary" exhibition in a structure that was originally destined to be a garage!

Sounio, the third most visited archaeological site of Attica (153.300 visitors in 2008) is also one of the most abandoned because of lack of funding.

If one of the thousands of visitors trips, he will easily fall from the cliff, as the barriers are inadequate. There are no toilets, and visitors daily form long queues to use those of the restaurant that functions on the site.

"The image that the site gives is disappointing", declared recently the Head of the 2nd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classic Antiquities, Ioanna Drakotou, speaking to the Central Archaeological Council.

As its sea access remains unguarded during the night, it is not impossible that during some nights it is home to Black Magic rituals, as indicated by "Strange remains" that turn up. The fortifications, which in antiquity had made Sounio one of the most important strongholds in Attica, are collapsing and are held up by metal posts, as the 100.000 Euros necessary for their restoration have yet to be found...And of course few are those who understand what the site looked like or what its importance was in antiquity. Not because of lack of excavations. And neither because the temple of Poseidon steal the show. But because the totallity of the site has not been beautified and organised so that visitors will comprehend that Sounio was a fortified settlement and not just an isolated sanctuary at the edge of Attica.

Not only sites that have no funding, but also some that have received funding face problems: An example is the Lyceum of Aristotle, a site that remains closed for the past 13 years, although it is one of the most important of Athens.

The study has been made, but the 4,5 million Euros granded by the Organism of Prediction of Football Games (OPAP) last April, seem too much to the Ministry for a roofing project - in the midst of an economic crisis (there are those who claim that the cost should be readjusted to 6 million).

So, in order to economise, instead of covering the remains of the Philosophical School created by Aristotle, the teacher of Alexander the Great, in 355 B.C. with a modern arched roof - a project that one the relative tender - "a different solution will be sought for the roofing, which will cost 1,8 million Euros", according to the General Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Lina Mendoni. And what about the Roofing Project that was never finished? In a large part it has already been paid for! Wasted money, as the special roofing was adjusted to the needs of this specific site and cannot be used elsewhere!

Source: Ta NEA, 31.03.2010
Translation/Adaptation: ArchaeologyMatters
See also: Greek heritage crumbles

Greece and Turkey Boast Two of the World’s Top 2009 Archaeology Discoveries

Greece and Turkey Boast Two of the World’s Top 2009 Archaeology Discoveries

BalkanTravellers.com

30 March 2010 | Two archaeological sites, one in Crete and one in Istanbul, were included in the list of last year’s most exciting discoveries compiled by the Archaeology Magazine, a publication of the Archaeological Institute of America.

The discovery of the Iron Age necropolis of Orthi Petra at Eleutherna in Crete, which was featured among the year’s top 10 finds, shed light on the role of women in the so-called “Dark Ages” of Greece.

The remains of four females, aged between seven and 70, were excavated last summer in an eight-century BC tomb, whose floor was covered with thin strips of gold, once affixed to burial garments. The women were surrounded by bronze vessels and figurines, as well as jewellery made of gold, silver, glass, ivory, and semiprecious stones imported from Asia Minor, the Near East, and North Africa.

These and other artefacts discovered in the tomb suggested these women played an important role in Eleutherna's religious life, and the head of excavations, Nicholas Stampolidis of the University of Crete, believes the oldest one was a high priestess interred with her protégés.

Based on a shared dental trait, archaeologists discovered that all four women were related and further research is expected to confirm they were related to a dozen women unearthed nearby last year.

“This time period is erroneously called the Dark Ages,” Adelphi University forensic anthropologist Anagnostis Agelarakis said, cited by the publication. “The finds show that these women were aristocratic. Their social standing was superlative. I mean, the phiale alone--it must have been sent from a ‘prince’ of Mesopotamia! And their matrilineage was not ruptured for two centuries. I don't think it was dark at all.”

While the Eleutherna find was the only archaeological site on the Balkans listed among the world’s top 10 most exciting discoveries for 2009, another place in the region was also included as a significant discovery for the year.

This was the Lost City in Istanbul. Described as “too big to classify,” the site stretches over eight kilometres and includes several separate sites from various periods. With its main part being on the peninsula that juts out into the Küçükçekmece lagoon, now separated from the Sea of Marmara by a narrow strip of land, but there are also remains on the surrounding shores of the lagoon and in the lagoon itself.

Some of the sites identified so far are: two harbor installations and kilometers of seawall from the classical period; a harbor, with a long breakwater and a lighthouse, most likely from the fourth century BC; Hellenistic pottery and a second-century BC Corinthian column capital; a wide and well-paved Roman roadway that excavators believe is part of the imperial Via Egnatia; a necropolis and likely residential areas, as well as possible villa remains on the eastern shore of the lagoon.

In addition, finds similar to the artifacts discovered in the central Anatolian late Pre-Pottery Neolithic site, which began around 9500 BC were made. If they turn out to be from the same period, archaeologists say the site at Küçükçekmece could be one of the earliest farming communities settled by people moving from Anatolia into Europe.

As Küçükçekmece is located just 20 kilometres from downtown Istanbul on land that is currently being farmed, the publication suggests turning the area into an archaeological park.

The other top 10 archaeological discoveries for 2009, according to the publication included: the Lord of Úcupe in Peru; the First Domesticated Horses in Botai, Kazakhstan; the Early Irrigators in Tucson, Arizona; the Anglo-Saxon Hoard in Staffordshire, England; the Popol Vuh Relief in El Mirador, Guatemala; the World’s First Zoo in Hierakonpolis, Egypt; the Earliest Chemical Warfare in Dura-Europos, Syria; the Palace of Mithradates in Kuban, Russia; and the Rubaiyat Pot in Jerusalem, Israel.

Source: Balkantravellers