110 Martyrs Memorial - Freedom Monument

The operation of the Nazi Germany military forces to occupy Crete was given the code name “Hermes” because it was the first major attempt to occupy the island almost exclusively by air. The attack of the German paratroopers began on May 20th, 1941. The first wave targeted Maleme and the second wave targeted Rethymno, specifically the suburb of Missiria and the areas surrounding the airport in Pigianos Kampos. However, the Nazi forces had not anticipated the fierce resistance of the local population, who bravely threw themselves at the enemy with very few weapons, walking sticks and agricultural tools. It is in fact estimated that it was the civilian population that caused the most significant losses in the German camp. During the hostilities and in retaliation of the Cretans’ resistance, three mass executions of civilians took place in Missiria. The memorial on the beach of Missiria is located right next to the place where they were executed. The memorial was completed with the addition of a marble column depicting Eleftheria, the personification of freedom, in the form of a winged woman wielding a sword, created by the Cretan sculptor Giannis Kanakakis. The monument is dedicated to the 110 victims executed in late May and early June. The 4 inscriptions cite the names of the 110 persons executed, while more recent studies claim that the dead were in fact 111.