‘We can see that courage’: Greece recovers long-lost photos of Nazis’ May Day executions

A Belgian collector put up for auction a series of photographs showing the final moments of 200 Greeks executed by a Nazi firing squad. Photograph: eBay

In his book-filled office, Vangelis Sakkatos took in the images of the men lined up before a firing squad. The executions on May Day 1944 have haunted him since he was a boy.

“Their heroism was the stuff of myth,” said the veteran leftist, casting his eyes over the photographs that have dominated Greece’s press in recent days with a mixture of fury and awe. “The years may have passed, but I haven’t forgotten.”