Theodoros Kokolakis - Greece
“After Melk I was brought to a another, even worse hell...“
1918 born in Epanochori, Selinos, Crete (Greece); grows up in a poor family of farmers
1939 conscription to military service in the Greek army
1940-1941 participation in the Greek-Italian war and in the fights against the German invasion of Crete
1941-1944 supports the partisan struggle of the „National Organisation of Crete“ (EOK)
February 1944 arrested and condemned to death by a German military tribunal
April 1944 pardoned on occasion of Hitler’s birthday and deported to Mauthausen
May 1944 transport to the branch camp Melk, where he is compelled to forced labour in the quarry and in the crematorium commando
April 1945 transfer to the branch camp Ebensee
May 1945 liberation in Ebensee
summer 1945 return to Crete via Bari (Italy) and Athens he is living in Kontomari, Chania, Crete (Greece)
At the time of the interview, he was living in Kontomari, Chania, Crete (Greece)