Another grim discovery has surfaced in northern Greece, where 14 bodies believed to be victims of civil war-era executions have been unearthed in a park near Thessaloniki, local officials confirmed Saturday, according to abcnews.go.com.
The remains were found in Neapolis-Sykies, the same suburb where a previous cluster of 33 unmarked graves was uncovered earlier this year. Historians believe the dead were political prisoners — suspected communists and sympathizers — held and executed at the nearby Yedi Kule prison, also known by its Greek name, Eptapyrgio (“Seven Towers”).
Yedi Kule, a former Byzantine fortress, served as a prison where detainees were tortured and executed during and after Greece’s Civil War (1946–1949).
The latest graves came to light during municipal park renovations. “We insisted on continuing the digging for the graves,” said Haris Charismiadis, the supervising engineer on the project.
Unlike the earlier graves where bodies were laid side by side, the latest remains were found piled haphazardly — with torsos and heads separated, suggesting a rushed burial.
During the prison’s operation, families of executed inmates were often not informed. Some only learned their relatives had died from newspaper reports — even while en route to the prison with clean clothes.
Relatives are now demanding DNA testing to identify the remains. Testing has yet to begin.
Source: abc.go.com
