Man tells of pride as lost photos show his grandfather being led to Nazi execution

Photographs showing the final moments of Greek prisoners before their execution by Nazi forces at the Kaisariani firing range in Athens on May 1, 1944, are presented at Greece's Culture Ministry after the state acquired the wartime archive, in Athens on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Thrasivoulos Marakis grew up hearing stories about the grandfather he was named after but who he never met — about how the tall man was executed during Nazi reprisals in Greece during World War II.

For decades, the only image Marakis had of his grandfather came from a worn family portrait picture.