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Christos and the Haidari 200
Seminar Date: Thursday 2 July 2026 @ 7pm Melbourne
Location: Level 12, The Greek Centre, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Presenter: Dr Phil Kafcaloudes Language of Presentation: English
Entry: FREE |
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Abstract
Earlier this year a group of photos were discovered that showed the last minutes of the Haidari 200, the political prisoners shot in Athens on the orders of Adolf Hitler on the 1st of May 1944. They were executed by Nazi forces at the Kaisariani shooting range. The majority of the 200 were pre-war communist political prisoners, previously held in the Akronafplia prison. The photos had been taken and kept by a German officer and their existence was only discovered when they were listed on eBay by a Belgian collector. The Greek government acted quickly and acquired them as a protected monument. The photos confirm oral histories of that day, and reveal the courage of the condemned men and the behaviour of the Germans, thus adding to the understanding of Greece’s WWII history. Dr Phil Kafcaloudes tells the story of the photos and the background of the condemned prisoners through the lens of his own grandfather, who one of the Haidari 200.
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Dr Phil Kafcaloudes
Dr Phil Kafcaloudes is an author, journalist and academic who presented the breakfast program on the ABC ’s Radio Australia for nine years. He has taught journalism at La Trobe and RMIT universities, and in South Africa, the U.S., Asia and the Pacific. His novel Someone Else’s War, told the story of his maternal grandmother, who was a spy in Greece in WWII, and his play adaptation of this novel, Of Forgetting, was recently staged at the La Mama theatre in Melbourne. Among his academic papers are works on the anglicisation of Greek migrant names, and a survey of the adaptations of the story of Ulysses.
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Join us at The Greek Centre
This is an in-person only event, join us on Level 12, at The Greek Centre. Join our speaker at The Greek Centre, submit questions during the Q&A, and enjoy conversing on the topic after the presentation. We look forward to seeing you at The Greek Centre on Thursday night.
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Sponsors
This seminar is sponsored by Kostas Stefanidis. During the course of the year considerable expenses are incurred in staging the seminars. In order to mitigate these costs individuals or organisations are invited to donate against a lecture of their choice. You too can donate for one or more seminars and (optionally) let your name or brand be known as a patron of culture to our members, visitors and followers, as well as the broader artistic and cultural community of Melbourne. Please email: info@greekcommunity.com.au or call 03 9662 2722. We thank the following corporate sponsors:
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See the Full 2026 Seminar Schedule
The Greek History and Culture Seminars are organised and hosted by The Greek Community of Melbourne and provide the opportunity for everyone to experience the long and fascinating history of Greece and Greek culture in its various forms and stages, aspects of which have formed the foundation of Western civilisation.
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The Greek Community of Melbourne is registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Non-Profits Commission ABN 14004258360
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