Organization X


The Organization X, and members as Chites ) was a right-wing militant resistance organization set up in 1941 during the Axis occupation of Greece. Initially an anti-Axis resistance organization it gradually shifted its focus towards anti-communism, collaborating with the Axis authorities against EAM and its affiliates.
Following the end of the Axis occupation, it played an active role in the persecution of communist sympathizers during the White Terror and various military operations of the Greek Civil War, most notably the Dekemvriana.

Foundation and activities during the Occupation

Organization X was founded in 1941 by Colonel Georgios Grivas, a Greek Cypriot by birth with the intention of gathering intelligence for the Allied cause, minor anti-German actions and transport of volunteers to the Middle East. However, with the EAM's meteoric rise to prominence within the Greek resistance movement, X shifted its attention towards combating EAM and other affiliated communist groups.
Following the Italian surrender to the Allies in September 1943, X began purchasing weapons from the Axis authorities, transforming into an militant anti-communist organization. In November 1943, Organization X, Rumelia-Avlona-Nisoi, National Committee, National Action and other minor right wing resistance organizations formed the Panhellenic Liberation Coalition ; with the intention of preventing a communist takeover of the country within the first 20 days following the end of Axis occupation.
In August 1944, members of collaborationist organizations such as the EEE and Security Battalions began enlisting into X and EDES en masse in order to avoid persecution as liberation seemed imminent. Grivas concentrated his efforts in the wealthy districts of Athens and expanded X to between 2,000 and 3,000 men in 1944. He recruited his men and arms from officers who were retained on the active list by the quisling government. Before the German departure fortified a base near the ancient temple of Thiseion. Towards the end of the Occupation, X received British arms and uniforms from Middle East Command representative in Athens Panagiotis Spiliotopoulos. X then enacted armed patrols from the eastern coast of Attica to the Athens city center.

The ''Dekemvriana''

In the weeks between the departure of the Germans and the events of December 1944, X played an active part in the campaign of provocation of Athenians orchestrated by the British, according to ELAS' members. This commenced in Athens on 12 October, the day that Athens was celebrating liberation, when a mixed gang of EDES and Chites killed the ELAS member Theodoros Tsilikas. In late October the X of Thiseio, reinforced by Security Battalionists, made an incursion into Petralona and killed 20 locals, including a number of Petralona gypsies.
On 3 December 1944 a 250,000-strong demonstration was shot at by Greek police under the police chief Angelos Evert, with between 22 and 28 people killed and hundreds wounded. In the early morning hours of 4 December, ELAS reservists began operations in the Athens–Piraeus area, attacking Grivas' X forces. In the evening, a peaceful demonstration by EAM members cum funeral procession took place. This time government forces took no action but the procession was attacked by Chites led by Colonel Grivas, with over 100 dead. There followed the Dekemvriana, in which X supported the British and Greek government forces.

''X'' during the White Terror

In accordance with the Treaty of Varkiza of February 1945, ELAS disarmed, leaving its supporters vulnerable to attacks from right-wing forces, during a period known as the White Terror. The White Terror was conducted by an informal alliance of army officers, National Guards, policemen, armed gangs, political organizations and people from families who had victims during the occupation and Dekemvriana seeking revenge. The majority were determined to prepare the way for a rigged plebiscite and the return of the king. Anyone deemed to be left-wing, or who had supported the communist-led resistance in any way was subjected to random beatings, repeated arrests, torture, murder or rape. Many people left their villages for safety either in the big towns or in the mountains. Civil war now appeared to be inevitable.
X played an active role in the White Terror, and even in the weeks before Varkiza British officials were complaining of police using elements of X and EDES to make political arrests under warrants issued by a police magistrate who was a member of X. British authorities estimated X's ranks to have swelled to over 200,000 men at the time.
One of the significant events involving X occurred in January 1946 when 1000 Chites under the bandit Manganas took over the town of Kalamata in the Peloponnese. They released 32 right-wing prisoners and terrorized the town during the night killing 6 people. In 1948 Manganas resumed a career of banditry in the Olympia region.
During 1945 attempts were made to coordinate persecution of the Left. Much of the liaison was conducted by X, which from May 1945 sent agents into the provinces to recruit members, and accepted affiliation from numerous other organizations. The local right-wing organizations rigged the electoral process and compiled lists of people to be arrested in the event of a coup.
As the general election approached early in 1946 the role of X diminished. Themistoklis Sophoulis’s government closed X’s national offices in January, and its successor did not allow them to reopen. Members of the organization formed the "Party of X" and took part in the elections of 1946, without electing any MP. By 1946 X was regarded as an embarrassment as it discredited the Greek government in international eyes.
X was officially recognized as a National Organization of Internal Resistance by a royal decree of March 10, 1950.

Battle of Thiseio

The area of Thiseio was controlled by the Hittites and the Battle of Thiseio took place in December where he participated, with many losses, on the side of the government front.
On the morning of December 3, Grivas was at the Athens Military Command where he met with the Undersecretary of the Army, Leonidas Spai. ELAS. Immediately after, Grivas arrived by car at the Acropolis where the first shots were already fired.
In the early hours of December 4, ELAS was reinforced by reserve forces and attacked Thiseio and the police stations in Athens. The 2nd Brigade of ELAS Athens attacked with 1,200 men. The targets are the police stations of Athens and the headquarters of organization X in Thiseio. The objective of X was to defend the area of Makrygiannis from the side of Thissio. The attack against its headquarters was undertaken by the 4th Regiment of the 2nd ELAS Brigade with a force of 400 men.
A force of about 100 Hittites after an attack on December 3, on the hill of Philopappos were forced to collapse around the buildings of the organization near Nileos Street. By 4 pm, the Hittite positions were occupied by ELAS forces. First, the outpost of Aiginitou Street fell, after that, the ELAS attacks turned towards the Observatory, occupying the hill of Pnyx. There were two more outposts in Apostolou Pavlou that were attacked immediately after the Observatory and some had been set up towards the bridge of Poulopoulos.
The tactics of ELAS started with a distraction attack from Filopappou hill in a sparse formation as the main ELAS forces main attack from the direction of Petralona, while the final blow was given by the Petralona battalion from the "Poulopoulou" bridge.
From the moment the Observatory fell, the Hittites tried to retreat and escape. Most of the Hittites retreated to the 9th Police Department, while the rest, together with their leader, Griva, disarmed and fled from the British, accompanied by three tanks to the Old Palace. The attacking battalions of ELAS stopped, as they had no orders to engage with the British forces.
Opinions about the dead and captives of X differ: Solon Grigoriadis mentions 100 dead and 40 wounded, while the Hittites accept that their force in Thiseio was 80 men. According to a book by relatives of members of X, the losses of the organization in Thissio amounted to 28 dead.
The dead of ELAS were 20 men and 70 wounded as a result of the extremely heavy armament of the men of X, an element that troubled the staff of the 1st Army Corps of ELAS, as well as the immediate intervention of the British as soon as the destruction of X. Par became visible. all but the losses ELAS managed to extract from the Hittites a significant part of its armament, which was later used for the continuation of its struggle. After the departure of the Hittites from Thissio but also during the following days, the men of ELAS proceeded to the executions of members and supporters of X and their relatives. At the same time, a portion of the guerrillas proceeded to retrieve the bodies of the dead.