Cefalonia

Cefalonia tells the real story about what happened in September 1943 on the Greek island of Kefalonia Cefalonia in Italian when the 12000 men in the Italian 33rd Acqui Infantry Division following Italys surrender to the Allied refused to put themselves under German command and also refused to surrender their weapons The local German force supported by Stuka divebombers and additional troops attacked the Italians and after several days of combat the Italians surrendered having lost 1300 men As punishment the German High Command ordered that all surviving Italians should be executed Some 5000 were executed during a week of killings A handful were rescued by locals and the Greek guerrilla while the rest were shipped off as prisoners whereof 3000 drowned when their ships hit mines The film Captain Corellis Mandolin is based on a novel about the Italian occupation of Cefalonia but the massacre was much toned down in the Hollywood version