Following the collapse of the italian fascist regime and the country’s surrender to the Allies in the 1943, the Dodecanese passed briefly into Nazi German hands. Nisyrians were thus subjected to a harsh occupation which they defied as best as they could in the hope of a Allied victory. Some italian soldiers chose to hide in the countryside rather than give themselves in to the Germans. 

The story is told of three young Italians who subsisted for a while on the secret delivery of food by the natives. Trusting german promises of safe treatment, they gave themselves in at the place called Platy in the Langadi neighborhood of Mandraki but were execute on the spot. Their sobbing and pleas are still engraved in the memories of some older residents.

Though the Germans remained intermittently on Nisyros for less than two years, their passage is remembered well by the islanders, and has made its way even into the local folklore. Some of the older Mandrakiotes recall a troop of MSoon afterward draki, with the intention of occupying and fortifying it.

They were met outside the church entrance by the Archimandrite Kyrillos Romanos, to whom they conveyed their orders. He responded by saying that, as a mere guest of the monastery, he had no authority to accept or refuse their demands; rather, the soldiers should address the Lady of the House, who resides in “the lower apartments”. The soldiers filed past him into the rock-cut church, only re-emerge in a panic and make their way out of the monastery on the double.

The liberation of Nisyros was by no means uneventful of bloodless. On one occasion, in early April 1944, thirtyfive Germans troopers landed on Nisyros, and proceed to occupy the Loutra establishment near Mandraki. At the time, some forty orphan from Rhodes were housed in the Loutra, together with three or four catholic italian priests.

Unknown to the Germans, ten British commandos and one greek commando from south Africa, called Lazaros, were already present on the island. After a carefully set up ambush involving the evacuation of the orphans and the disguising of Lazaros as catholic priest, the german commander was shot dead in the A’ category section corridor on his way to the dining hall with two other officers. A battle ensued at the port, and the german troops surrendered.

Informed of this action, the german colonel acting as governor of Cos came quickly to Mandraki to assess the situation. Though he was aware of the allegations made by german soldiers of nisyrian assistance to the allies, upon arrival he found an elaborately estates funeral wake, with nisyrians in mourning crowding around a coffin of the fallen German. On another occasion, German troops landed on Nisyros with 120 italian prisoners from Cos, who were detained at a military installation on the Akrotira peninsula overlooking Paloi. The Italians were put to work extracting sulfur from the volcanic caldera to export to the vineyards of german-occupied Crete and Samos.

On the might of 11 February 1945, at 3 am, thirtyseven Germans landed at the place known as Ellinika beyond the bathing establishment of Pandelidis at Paloi, and proceeded to Emporios, informed of this new german deployment, the Ieros Lochos, a body of specially trained greek commandos, dispatched about one hundred and twenty men from Symi with three or four British commandos.

They landed secretly, by night near Paloi. The Germans meanwhile had installed themselves in the Xanthos coffee shop in Emporios, overlooking the volcanic crater, and were busy burning chairs in the fireplace for warmth, and sampling the wine.

After a quietly surrounding the building, the Ierolochites took up position on the roof of houses across the square facing the coffee shop, and a small detachment was sent to guard the road into the village. As the exact number of Germans in the coffee shop was unclear, a village girl( Maria Kafetzi) offered to assist the greek troops, and managed to make a quick headcount.

Returning to the Ierolochites she reported that were some thirty to thirtyfive germans . Soon afterward the Ierolochites under the command of colonel Triandafyllakos neutralized the german guard and, with well-aimed shot destroyed the machinegun that had been mounted outside the shop. The Germans subsequently accepted to surrender, but, panicking at the overzealous forward charge of lieutenant Evangelos Hadzievangelou (accompanied by a soldier from Tilos called Hadzifoundas), killed him with a bullet or grenade.

This led to a chaotic exchange of fire, during which eight Germans soldiers were killed. A bullet or grenade blast shattered a wall hung mirrors which remains untouched and in place to this day as reminder of the battle.

The german surrender of the Dodecanese was signed on May 8, 1945 by general Otto wagener in the presence of the Ierolochites commander colonel Christodoulos Tsigantes and British brigadier general J. moffat.

Like the rest years, until march 31, 1947. Union with Greece took place officially on the October 28th 1947, thirty five years after its liberation by italy ; which was 641 years since passing into foreign hands after its capture in 1306 by the Knight’s St. John.