<Back to Index>
- Freedom Fighter Michalakis Karaolis (Μιχαλάκης Καραολής), 1933
- Freedom Fighter Andreas Dimitriou (Ανδρέας Δημητρίου), 1934
PAGE SPONSOR
Michalis Karaolis (13 February 1934 - 10 May 1956) was born in the village of Palechori of Pitsilia, Cyprus. He was a government clerk and a member of EOKA. He was the first to be sentenced to death and hanged alongside Andreas Dimitriou on May 10, 1956.
On August 28, 1955 he carried out the public murder of P.C. Michael Poullis, a Cypriot police officer, of the Special Branch who had been spying on the Nicosia groups of EOKA and interfering with their work. The assassination was carried out in broad daylight whilst P.C. Poullis was on duty at an AKEL meeting at the Ledra Palace.
Karaolis was captured on his way to meet Grigoris Afxentiou's guerillas in the Kyrenia mountains, following General George Grivas' orders.
Field Marshal Harding chose to announce Karaolis death sentence on October 28, an important Greek national holiday marking the refusal of Greece to surrender to the Axis Powers in the Second World War, and that hugely inflamed public feeling.
He was 22 years old when he was executed for the murder of P.C. Poullis and buried in the Imprisoned Graves in the Central Jail of Nicosia.
The hangings were condemned internationally and caused
serious demonstrations and unrest in Greece. The Athens
police failed to suppress a huge demonstration and a riot
developed in which 7 people were killed and 200 people
were injured. The Mayor of Athens protested by taking a
hammer to a commemorative marble plaque dedicated in honor
of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip while a crowd
cheered and applauded and there were many more similar
scenes in Greece.
Andreas Dimitriou was a Cypriot guerilla fighter, one of the first two men executed by the British colonial authorities in the EOKA struggle (1955 - 1959).
Dimitriou was born in Agios Mamas, Lemesos province, on September 18, 1934. He lost his father early in life. He had a primary school education but did not complete secondary school.
He was one of the first persons to join EOKA and when the struggle broke out, on April 1, 1955, he operated in the Ammochostos harbour area where he worked. His biggest achievement was the theft of a large amount of British weaponry and ammunition after it was unloaded from the ship and before it could be stored in the local depot.
On November 28, 1955, Dimitriou shot and injured a British Intelligence agent named Taylor. He was himself injured and captured by Taylor's escorts and jailed.
Dimitriou was tried, convicted and executed by hanging on May 10, 1956, along with Michalis Karaolis. He was buried in the Imprisoned Tombs in the Central Jail of Lefkosia. The death of the two men sparked anti - British riots in Greece where 4 persons died and 200 were injured.