World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseGeorgios Poulos was born to Greek parents in Romania in 1889. His parents were originally of the village of Platanos in Aetolia-Acarnania, Greece. In 1935, at the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Greek Army, he was dismissed in the result of the turbulent Greek political climate. Shortly after the occupation of Greece by the Germans, he rose to the leadership position of the National Union of Greece, a nationalist group. In May 1941, the police of of Thessaloniki, Greece ordered his group to cease the publication of the group's newspaper. In Sep 1941, the German occupation administration demanded the group to cease operations altogether. In Oct 1941, the city of Thessaloniki formally requested the dissolution of National Union of Greece. These obstacles did little to blunder his ambition. Changing directions, he abandoned his forays into politics, and instead began to form an anti-communist para-military group in 1943. He secured German recognition for his new group, as well as German support in form of weapons and supplies. His group was known by the Germans as the Poulos Verband. Between 1943 and 1944, this para-military group, sometimes with direct German military support, conducted a terror campaign against Greek civilians whether or not the victims had actually aided Greek communist partisan fighters. One of the worst atrocities committed by the Poulos Verband was the massacre of 600 men, women, and children in the villages of Pyrgi, Messouno, and Ermia in Apr 1944. Another instance saw the murder of 120 civilians in the city of Giannitsa, conducted by his men as well as men under German non-commission officer Sonderführer Friedrich Schubert, in Sep 1944; the killings were done in the name of an anti-communist operation, but communist involvement was doubtful for many of the victims. In Mar 1945, Poulos and his men withdrew to Kitzbühel, Austria alongside of German troops. He was captured by personnel of the US 7th Army at the end of the war and was returned to Greece to face trials. He was convicted of treason and was executed in Jun 1949.

Georgios Poulos Timeline