The Liberation of Serres, 1913

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The Battle of Vetrina on June 26 and 27 (BC) led to the liberation of Demir Issar, where atrocities and destruction had also been committed by the retreating Bulgarian army.

In the meantime there was a rumor about the entry of the Greek army into the city of Serres. In fact, on June 26 a military detachment under the command of Lieutenant Petros G. Kalogeropoulos was ordered to advance to the city's railway station to detect and – if necessary – prevent its use by Bulgarian soldiers. There it became known to them that the Bulgarian army had already left Serres, and it seems that some, perhaps all, of the soldiers of the detachment entered the town unofficially. But they were notified that they had to leave in a hurry, because parts of the Bulgarian army - after the defeat in the battle of Demir Issar - were heading towards Serres, and the military detachment under Kalogeropoulos was neither authorized nor sufficiently equipped to engage in an unequal battle. And of course, no one could have imagined what would follow: the burning of the largest part of the city, the massacre of notable Greek elites (such as the high school teacher Leonidas Papapavlou, the doctor Anastasios Chrysafis, the banker Konstantinos Stamoulis, the pharmacist Nestoras Fokas, etc. .) and ordinary Serrai.

The Greek army entered the city of Serres in an organized manner on the night of June 28/July 11, when the commander of the 7th Division, colonel Sotilis, telegraphed the grim sight he encountered:

"The whole city of Serres, except for the Turkish and Jewish quarter. Shop there too. Many women and children were found murdered or charred inside the houses. Polis is completely devoid of bread. There is an absolute need to take measures to feed the population. Homeless people exceed twenty thousand. Details will be telegraphed soon"

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The next morning, Sotilis officially occupied the city: "In the name of the king of the Greeks, Constantine, I free the Serras from the yoke of the barbarian and heinous raiders, I occupy the city, and I invite all the inhabitants, regardless of race, language and religion, to return to the of these peaceful occupations, being certain that under the scepter of His Majesty our king, and under the protection of this valiant army, they will also enjoy absolute equality and security of honor and property".

Let us see in detail the path to liberation. On June 16, 1913, the Second Balkan War broke out, with the combined attack of Bulgaria against Greece and Serbia, which had concluded an alliance treaty from May 19 against their former ally Bulgaria. On the Greek-Bulgarian front, the Bulgarian army made a surprise attack against Nigrita and Pangaeo, areas which it occupied. The 3rd Cavalry Regiment, stationed in Serres, left the area in time to avoid being captured.

THE GREEK ARMY'S REACTION WAS IMMEDIATE, ALMOST INSTANT. AFTER FIRST CLEARING THESSALONIKI OF THE REMAINING BULGARIAN SOLDIERS, THEN HE TURNED AGAINST THE BULGARIAN ARMY ON TWO FRONTS.

On June 20, the 7th Division under Colonel Napoleon Sotilis liberated Nigrita, but the Bulgarians destroyed it before withdrawing, setting fire to houses and massacring the civilian population. It was the foreshadowing of what would prevail in Serres a week later.

 The main bulk of the Greek army had moved north, and with a rapid rush fell upon the fortified positions of the enemy in the Kilkis-Lahana region and occupied them after a three-day hard battle, which cost thousands of dead in the Greek camp. On June 21, 1913 the defensive line of the Bulgarians had broken and the capture of Serres seemed an easy task for the Greek army. The Bulgarians understood this very well, who from the next day, June 22, began to leave Serres.

The Battle of Kilkis

The Greek army continued its advance. After the victorious battle of Doirani (June 22 and 23) it poured into the Strymonas valley. The Bulgarians put up a last defense near Sidirokastro, which at the time was called Demir Hisar. In the two-day battle that followed (June 26 and 27) the Bulgarians blew up the middle arch of the bridge and retreated north. Before leaving Sidirokastro, the Bulgarians massacred the inhabitants of the city here as well.

 Meanwhile, from June 20, the Bulgarian authorities began to take hostage prominent citizens of Serres. Among them, the high school teacher Leonidas Papapavlou, the doctor Anastasios Chrysafis, the pharmacist Nestor Fokas, the baker Georgios Vlachos and the banker Konstantinos Stamoulis, who were later found dead. The Metropolitan of Serres Apostolos was placed under house arrest, while he was instructed by the Bulgarian authorities to order the people of Serres not to hostile actions, because otherwise they would set fire to the city. On June 22, the Bulgarian authorities of Serres began to leave the city, bound for Bulgaria. The movement of citizens was prohibited. Serres looked like a dead city.

 METROPOLITAN APOSTOLOS WROTE IN HIS MEMOIRS "WEEKS OF PASSIONS OF THE SERRIAN GREEKS".

 On June 24, an armed militia of a thousand Christians and Ottomans was formed to protect the residents of Serres. At the suggestion of Metropolitan Apostolos, the Turkish colonel Agia Beys, who had been taken prisoner during the First Balkan War and came from Serres, was put in charge. From the next day, the militia took action and managed to repulse after skirmishes Bulgarian detachments trying to enter the city.

 But on the evening of June 27, a force of the Bulgarian army captured from the militia the surrounding heights of Serres and the Acropolis, where they set up their cannons. From 10 a.m. the following day (June 28), the bombardment of Serres began. Terrified, the inhabitants began to leave the city and with phalanxes to pull towards Strymons, where the Greek forces were trying to bridge the river. The untrained militiamen were easy prey for the Bulgarian cavalrymen, who entered the city and wreaked havoc.

 In the early afternoon hours of June 28, Bulgarian soldiers kidnapped 150 people barricaded in the Austro-Hungarian consulate, along with the vice-consul. They were taken to the mountain and released only when a ransom was paid. They also collected a ransom from the Italian consul in order not to blow up the consulate building, in which around 600 people had taken refuge, including many women and children.

Around 2 p.m. the director of the local Bulgarian police Karagiozov ordered the city center to be set on fire. The destruction of Serres was almost total. The image of the city, nightmarish.

 OF THE 6,000 HOUSES OF SERRES, 4,000 BURNT, AS WELL AS 1,000 SHOPS. PEOPLE OF ANIMBORA, OLD, SICK, PREGNANT, INFANTS, WERE CHARGED IN THE RUINS OF THEIR HOMES. THE VICTIMS OF THE FIRE ARE CALCULATED AT 100.

 This is how the Italian journalist Roberto Largo describes the disaster in his response, published on July 18, 1913 in the great Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera: "The soldiers and officers indulged in acts of unheard of barbarity. They forcibly entered the houses and ran threateningly through the streets. They tortured them, but the old and sick were beaten and the fire spread to all the shops and palaces. They also attacked the Greek hospital and threw the patients outside it into the garden. Then they set fire to this charitable foundation. The Bulgarians ran through the streets carrying containers of gasoline and oil, and after wetting the streets and sprinkling the houses, they set fire. This chief of the Gendarmerie was seen roaming about the city and spreading the fire. Ai Serrai was a rich city, it had 30,000 inhabitants. Now it's a pile of ruins."

From the destroyed Serres, the Cypriot journalist Christos Pantelidis will write in the Limassol newspaper Salpinga, in August 1913: "You would have read many descriptions of the disasters in an Athenian newspaper. I assure you, they do not even come close to showing the magnitude of the calamity. They are all below reality. I will not take it upon myself to describe it to you because I will probably fall much further behind. Just imagine a rich city with magnificent buildings, with rich shops of changing brightness in a shapeless heap of ruins. Of the 24 churches, only 3 were saved. The entire Greek quarter is destroyed. Only part of the Turkish one is saved, where the others also fled."

 This horrible sight was witnessed by the first Greek soldiers of the 7th Division, when around 6 p.m. of June 28 they reached the outskirts and then entered the ruined city. The artillery from Lefkona began to shell the Bulgarian positions on the heights of Kamenikia and forced them to abandon Serres.

That same evening, the commander of the 7th Division, colonel Napoleon Sotilis, sent the following telegram to the headquarters: "The city of Serres is in its entirety except for the Turkish and Jewish quarters. Shop there too. Many women and children were found murdered or charred inside houses. The city lacks bread. There is an absolute need to take measures to feed the population. Homeless people exceed 20,000". However, it was quickly established that both the Turkish and Jewish quarters had been set on fire.

 THE NEXT DAY IN THE MORNING, JUNE 29, 1913, COLONEL SOTILIS OFFICIALLY CAPTURED THE CITY OF SERRES AND IN THE PROCLAMATION HE ISSUED HE MENTIONED:

"In the name of the king of the Greeks Constantine, I free the Serras from the yoke of the barbarian and heinous raiders, I occupy the city, and I invite all the inhabitants, regardless of race, language and religion, to return to their peaceful occupations, being sure that under the scepter of His Majesty our king, and under the protection of this valiant army they will enjoy absolute equality and security of honor and property.

Long live King Constantine the Great

Long live the people of Serres"

King Constantine

The people of Serra, with feelings of joy, welcomed their liberator by ringing bells in Agios Georgios Krionerites. In his address, Metropolitan Apostolos emphasized: "Today, slavery is abolished forever and the national Easter of the Serrai is celebrated." Then a eulogy was sung and followed by the installation of the Greek Authorities in the Governorate.

THE FIRST GUARDMAN OF THE CITY WAS TAGAMATHIS KONSTANTINOS MAZARAKIS, THE CAPTAIN OF AKRITAS OF THE MACEDONIAN STRUGGLE.

In the coming days, the Greek press will put a lot of emphasis on the tragic situation that had arisen in the city of Serres. The Cypriot journalist Christos Pantelidis will write in the Salpinga newspaper of Limassol: "The Greek government took over the feeding of the homeless, and the most moving thing was the sight of thousands of Greeks and Turks presenting themselves in front of the Governor's Square and anxiously waiting for the mother government's bread."

Konstantinos Mazarakis, first guard of Serres, and Metropolitan Apostolos at Serres Headquarters, 1913

 In the diplomatic field, the government of Eleftherios Venizelos will address a strong protest to the Great Powers of the time for the Bulgarian atrocities, while King Constantine will threaten reprisals. At the beginning of July 1913, the consuls general of Italy and Austria-Hungary in Thessaloniki will visit the devastated Serres, who will confirm the extent of the destruction.