The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at Soúdha must be one of the most beautifully sited in the world. It is kept perfectly. The lawns had been watered the morning we visited.
Most of the fallen were killed in the Battle of Crete in May 1941 and it is striking how many soldiers from New Zealand Regiments are buried here.
One British headstone marks the grave of John Pendlebury, English archaeologist who excavated the ruins at Knossós and the late Minoan refuge at Karfí. He had great affection for Crete and the Cretans, fighting alongside them in 1941.
The land for this cemetery was a gift from the Greek government. Beauty and sadness mingle walking through the graves.
Not far away at Méleme there is the only German War Cemetery on Crete. It is also well-tended and has the names of 4,465 fallen German soldiers. Because the stones are laid flat it looks less impressive that the Commonwealth design. It also took some negotiation to get the site and move the remains of German soldiers here, some decades after the end of the war.
One grave is unusual and rather sad. Bruno Bräuer was a General in the Luftwaffe who commanded the German troops in Crete from 1942 until 1945. Here is what became of him:
Along with General Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller, Bräuer was charged with war crimes by a Greek military court. He stood trial in Athens for atrocities on Crete. He was accused of the deaths of 3,000 Cretans, massacres, systematic terrorism, deportation, pillage, wanton destruction, torture and ill treatment. Bräuer was convicted and sentenced to death on 9 December 1946. He was executed by firing squad at 5 o’clock on 20 May 1947, the anniversary of the German invasion of Crete. The historian Antony Beevor describes him as ‘a truly unfortunate man’ having been executed for crimes ‘committed under another general’. Wiki.
He is buried alongside German troops, many of whom were killed in 1941; a brave and patriotic warrior who served his country with courage and compassion. In March 1943, on Greek National Day, he released a hundred Cretan prisoners, one of whom went on to become the Greek Prime Minister.
Almost every village has a memorial to Cretans killed either in the war or fighting in the Resistance. We saw one monument commemorating those executed by the Germans. It is perhaps understandable that these memorials are more explicit than their Commonwealth and German counterparts. There are no punches pulled here.
Tomorrow, Peace. You are reading this on the Greek Orthodox commemoration of Christ’s crucifixion.
Re Pendlebury and his excavations, I recommend reading “The Villa Ariadne” by Dilys Powell – the villa being where,first, Evans and then Pendlebury lived. Having read the book we went to find Pendlebury’s grave in the lovely cemetery, surrounded, as you say, by painfully young New Zealanders.