Holocaust of Kedros
The Holocaust of Kedros (Greek: Ολοκαύτωμα του Κέντρους/Κέδρους), also known as the Holocaust of Amari (Greek: Ολοκαύτωμα του Αμαρίου), was the mass murder of the civilian residents of nine villages located in the Amari Valley on the Greek island of Crete during its occupation by the Axis powers in World War II. The massacre was a reprisal operation mounted by Nazi German forces partly in response to the kidnapping of General Heinrich Kreipe, the Wehrmacht’s commander of Fortress Crete, by British and Greek SOE operatives in April 1944. The operation was carried out on 22 August 1944 by Wehrmacht infantry and was followed in the coming days by the razing of most villages, looting, pillage of livestock and destruction of harvests.