Political prisoners in the Greek Civil War, 1945-50: Greece in comparative perspective

Abstract

Political prisoners in Europe are a phenomenon of the first half of the twentieth century. They are characteristic of an era of violent confrontation between antagonistic social political movements and ideologies which determined state policies. The category of political prisoners in this period underwent a significant change because of the external threat to the state was closely interrelated to the enemy within. At the same time, political prisoners provide us with the opportunity to reconsider the social and cultural history of the communist movement and the subjectivity of communists. The experience of political prisoners in the Greek Civil War (1946-49) shows that for them communism was moral cosmos rather than a political doctrine.