From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Markos Vafiadis
Markos Vafiadis
Markos Vafiadis (Greek: Μάρκος Βαφειάδης; Theo- February 1946, Markos Vafiadis again disagreed with
dosiopolis (Erzurum), Ottoman Empire, 1906 – Athens, Nikolaos Zachariadis, the general secretary of KKE, who
Greece, February 23, 1992) was a leading figure of the wanted to resume fighting. Once again, Vafiadis, ab-
Communist Party of Greece (KKE) during the Greek Civil stained from using force to influence the region and re-
War. sorted to diplomatic measures.
However, in July 1946, Zachariadis appointed him as
Pre-war life leader of the communist guerrilla formations. In October
1946, when the General Command of the Democratic
After the Population exchange between Greece and Army of Greece (DSE) was founded, Vafiadis assumed its
Turkey of 1922, Vafiadis went to Thessaloniki and Kavala leadership, and in December 1947 he was appointed
as a refugee. From 1928, he worked in Thessaloniki as Prime Minister and War Minister of the Provisional Demo-
a member of the Young Communist League of Greece cratic Government.
(OKNE). In 1932, he was imprisoned and sent to internal During the last stages of the Civil War his disagree-
exile for his political action. After his release in October ment with Zachariadis on issues of military doctrine lead
1933, he worked as party instructor in many areas of to his removal from leadership (August 1948) and later
Greece. from all offices (January 1949). In October 1950, he was
At the beginning of Ioannis Metaxas’ dictatorship ousted from the Communist Party, while he was in exile
(the "4th of August Regime") he was exiled again to the in the Soviet Union, where he had fled after the breakup
island of Ai Stratis, but managed to escape in less than of the DSE.
a month. Subsequently he worked in the party’s under-
ground organisation in Crete and was one of the leaders
of the Chania uprising against the dictatorial regime (28
Post-Civil War
July 1938). After the suppression of the uprising, he went After the end of Joseph Stalin’s era, Markos Vafiadis was
to Athens where he was arrested. He was jailed in Akron- restored into KKE and was elected as a member of the
afplia and was exiled to the island of Gavdos. Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the party.
However, new disagreement with the party leadership
Resistance and Civil War led to his removal from office in January 1958 and to his
second ousting from the KKE in June 1964. After the party
In May 1941, at the beginning of the Nazi German occu- split in 1968, the so called "interior" (εσωτερικού) faction
pation of Greece, he, along with other communist prison- of KKE restored him. In March 1983, ending his 23 years
ers, was allowed to leave Gavdos and began what was to long exile in the Soviet Union, he returned to Greece and
become the original underground work against the Ger- Chios. Later on, he published his Memoirs. In November
man occupation, initially in Crete, later in Athens, Thes- 1989, and in April 1990, he was honorarily elected in-
saloniki and Macedonia. This was known as a pivitoal to the Greek parliament through the nationwide list of
milestone in Greek history, as the country and its bound- the Panhellenic Socialist Movement. This was denounced
aries were changed to what is now known as modern by conservative circles, with the journalist Eleni Vlahou
Greece. In 1942, he was elected into the Central Commit- calling it a futile attempt to rehabilitate a "senile crimi-
tee of the Communist Party of Greece and was named su- nal".
pervisor of the Macedonia wing of the Greek People’s Lib-
eration Army (ELAS). In May 1944, he was elected as a rep-
resentative of Thessaloniki to the national congress that
References
took place at the village of Koryschades in Evrytania, but [1] [1]
was unable to attend. In October 1944, after the with-
drawal of the German army, he entered in Thessaloniki
with his men.[1].
External link
In November 1944, he disagreed with Aris Velouch- • Interview with Markos Vafiades, 1983
iotis, who wanted ELAS to prepare to fight the British. Persondata
During the December fighting in Athens, the Macedonian Name Vafiadis, Markos
wing of the ELAS didn’t fight against the British troops,
concerned primarily of the northern-most residents. In Alternative names
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Markos Vafiadis
Preceded by Head of Provisional Democratic Government Succeeded by
(none) December 24, 1947 – February 7, 1949 Nikolaos Zachariadis
Short description Date of death February 23, 1992
Date of birth 1906 Place of death
Place of birth
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Markos_Vafiadis&oldid=474783696"
Categories:
• 1906 births
• 1992 deaths
• People from Erzurum
• National Liberation Front (Greece)
• Communist Party of Greece politicians
• Greek Macedonia in World War II
• Greek Resistance members
• Greek exiles
• Greek Civil War
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