Organization for the Protection of the People's Fighters
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The Organization for the Protection of the People's Fighters (Greek: Οργάνωση Προστασίας Λαϊκών Αγωνιστών, abbreviated ΟΠΛΑ - OPLA) was an urban guerrilla organization of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) during the last phase of the Axis Occupation of Greece during World War II. It operated in the cities, and its purpose was ostensibly the "self-defense" of the members of the National Liberation Front (EAM) and its affiliated organizations from the German occupation authorities and the collaborationist government, the Police and the Security Battalions. However, it also became involved in political assassinations of political opponents of the KKE on both ends of the political spectrum, such as Trotskyites and Archive-Marxists. As a result, the activities of the OPLA are a subject of heated debate even today.
The organization was active during the December of 1944 events in Athens, and during the subsequent Greek Civil War, especially in Thessaloniki in 1946-1947. One of its more notable later actions was the assassination of Justice Minister Christos Ladas in Athens on 1 May 1948, by OPLA and KKE member Efstratios Koutsogiannis.
[edit] External links
- (Greek) Urban guerrilla in Thessaloniki