Ioannis Tsigantes-Svoronos (1897 - January 14, 1943) was a Greek soldier. An officer of the pro-venizelist movement of 1935, he was active in the resistance during the Axis occupation of Greece as part of the Midas 614 organization.[1] He was killed by the Italian Occupation authorities in Athens on January 14, 1943.[2]
Ioannis Tsigantes | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Ιωάννης Τσιγάντες |
| Born | December 1, 1897 Tulcea |
| Died | January 14, 1943 (aged 45) Athens, Occupied Greece |
| Cause of death | Killed by occupation forces |
| Allegiance | .svg){kind=small} Kingdom of Greece |
| Service | Hellenic Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel (Posthumously awarded after his death) Major |
| Unit | Midas 614 |
| Battles / wars | Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) World War II |
| Alma mater | Hellenic Military Academy |
Life
editIoannis Tsigantes was born in Tulcea, Romania on December 1, 1897, and was the brother of Christodoulos Tsigantes, also an officer, however originally being from Mytilene. He took part in the Asia Minor campaign and played a leading role in the establishment of the Hellenic Military Organization (ESO).[3]
In 1935, he participated as a Captain in the movement of 1935. On the night of March 2–3, he escaped from the Evelpidon Military School, where he was serving, and moved towards Perama, certain that the movement had failed. There he was arrested, remanded in custody and sentenced by an Extraordinary Military Court to "life imprisonment" for high treason, on March 31, 1935, together with his brother Lt. Col. H. Tsigande, Col. Stefanos Sarafi and Lt. Col. Stefanakos. This sentence resulted in the military removal of the above, which took place in public, on April 2, 1935, in the area of the Infantry barracks, in the area of Goudi, (today Freedom Park).[4][5]
With the restoration of democracy, he received amnesty, but he was not recalled to the army when the Greco-Italian War began with the rank he had, but he was demoted to the rank of Private like his brother. However, after the death of Ioannis Metaxas, the government of Emm. Tsouderos, who had moved to Crete, at the suggestion of the successor Pavlos, reinstated him to the rank he held as well as those who participated in the 1938 movement. During the Occupation, he escaped to the Middle East, where he was promoted retroactively to major, joining a circle of executives cooperating with the English secret services (MO4), with the aim of organizing resistance from the urban parties, as a counterweight to the EAM in Greece.[6]
Resistance and Death
editIn the summer of 1942 the Allied forces in North Africa were in a very difficult position after Rommel's offensive.[7] Middle East Command then ordered the Prometheus II group, controlled by the Special Operations Executive in Athens, to carry out widespread sabotage, which would have the effect of delaying the supply of German forces in North Africa, and blocking the Corinth Canal.[8][9] Blocking the canal was an undertaking of the utmost importance, but it was not achieved. It was then decided to organize an independent mission by forming a nine-member organization headed by Ioannis Tsigantes, which, in addition to blocking the Corinth Canal, would seek to collect and transmit information, establish a council that would coordinate the resistance, and form an armed liberation struggle.
At the end of July 1942, the mission arrived in Greece with an English boat which landed it in the bay of Mani. Tsigantes, appearing as a representative of the English and transferring 10,000 pounds, gave priority to the development of the Midas 614 organization and started contacts with almost all political spaces and resistance organizations in order to achieve some form of cooperation.[3][6] It is typically reported that his partner came into contact with 37 people while he contacted no less than 300 people, including university professors and the publisher Dimitrios Lambrakis.[10] However, this effort did not have the expected results as on the one hand various organizations believed that Tsigande's mission had become known to the Occupation authorities and there was a risk that they would be revealed and on the other hand the way his associates spent the money they had brought with them.[11]
At the same time, as Christos Zalokostas notes in his work on the period of the Occupation, Tsigantes had raised suspicions in many circles because he was talking about a neutral movement, not colored against King George II. After all, he himself had participated in the movement of 1935, while again the democrats did not forgive him for having placed himself under the orders of the Greek government-in-exile in Cairo. Even his old partner Stefanos Sarafis was wary of him considering him a renegade and he was not convinced to work with him until the end of 1942, due to the mediation of their mutual friend of Tsigande Dimitrios Psarros.[11] But even he himself, due to his boldness, did not take all the protective measures.[12] Angelos Evert had picked him up and provided him with a fake policeman's ID. In exchange for this, Tsigantes sent to Cairo a report - an anthem in favor of Evert, which Panagiotis Kanellopoulos included in his book.
On January 14, 1943, an Italian military detachment surrounded his hideout, in an underground apartment of an apartment building on Patision Street at number 86, in the center of Athens (near the Athens University of Economics and Business).[13] Tsigantes, displaying the identity of an officer of the City Police, failed to convince the Italians. Finally, and after previously burning his files, he engaged them and lost his life, although he managed to injure three Carabinieri, one of whom succumbed to his injuries.[14]
He was posthumously promoted to lieutenant colonel as "fallen on the field of battle". A commemorative plaque was placed in the building where Ioannis Tsigantes was killed in 1984.
There was a mysterious traitor in the "story" of Tsigantes, who called the occupying authorities every time and betrayed his hiding places, but Tsigantes always managed to escape, except for the fateful moment in Patision's apartment. In fact, the last phone call, according to sources from the Cities Police, of people who were close to the occupiers but gave information to the resistance fighters, was made by an unknown woman, who, however, may have been bogus so that the real traitor would never be found. Although various investigations were carried out post-war, even by order of the Hellenic Parliament, it has not been possible until today to ascertain who betrayed Tsigantes.
References
edit- ^ "ΜΙΔΑΣ 614". Θεματα Στρατιωτικης Ιστοριας (in Greek). 1953-02-27. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
- ^ Αλέξανδρος Λ. Ζαούσης, Λέλα Καραγιάννη. Η Μπουμπουλίνα της Κατοχής 1941 - 1944, Ωκεανίδα, Αθήνα 2004, σελ. 107 - 109.
- ^ a b "Ιωάννης Τσιγάντες- Ο "Μίδας 614" και η προδοσία" (in Greek). 2020-01-14. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
- ^ Ζαούσης, 2004, σελ. 106.
- ^ "Δημόσια καθαίρεση αξιωματικών του κινήματος 1ης Μαρτίου - ΔΕΚΑΕΤΙΑ 1930 - 100 Χρόνια Κ". www.kathimerini.gr. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
- ^ a b Zervas, Panos. Ιωάννης Τσιγάντε: το χρονικό μιας συγκλονιστικής Ιστορίας της Αντίστασης [Ioannis Tsigantes: The timeline of a shocking history of the Resistance] (in Greek). p. 6.
- ^ "The Second Battle of El Alamein: How Was Rommel Defeated?". TheCollector. 2024-04-12. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
- ^ "UK in WWII Greece: Hero or schemer? | eKathimerini.com". www.ekathimerini.com. 2024-09-27. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
- ^ Nioutsikos, Ioannis (2013). The Special Operations Executive in Greece: Operation Harling. Mars & Clio. p. 27.
- ^ Νίκος Νικολούδης, «Ο αινιγματικός θάνατος του Ιωάννη Τσιγάντε. Μια σκοτεινή υπόθεση προδοσίας στην κατοχική Αθήνα», Μνημοσύνη, τομ.20(2014-2015),σελ.398
- ^ a b Νίκος Νικολούδης, «Ο αινιγματικός θάνατος του Ιωάννη Τσιγάντε. Μια σκοτεινή υπόθεση προδοσίας στην κατοχική Αθήνα», Μνημοσύνη, τομ.20(2014-2015),σελ.399
- ^ "Άρτεμις Πετράντη: Εξευτέλισε την αντικατασκοπεία των κατακτητών" (in Greek). 2021-11-01. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
- ^ "ΝΤΟΚΟΥΜΕΝΤΟ: Η δράση του Ιερού Λόχου, όπως την είχε παρουσιάσει το 2002 ο ίδιος ο αείμνηστος Αντιστράτηγος ε.α. Κ.Κόρκας". thepressroom.gr (in Greek). 2024-10-26. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
- ^ "Ο μυστηριώδης θάνατος του Ιωάννη Τσιγάντε το 1943: Η οργάνωση «Μίδας 614», οι 12.000 χρυσές λίρες και η προδοσία". ProtoThema (in Greek). 2024-10-25. Retrieved 2024-10-26.