The Nazi Protectorate of Mount Athos. Between Illusion and Reality

Abstract

This study presents the situation of the monastic communities of Mount Athos in the context of the Second World War and their relations with the Nazi power. The conquest of Greece in 1941 by the Axis powers created confusion among the monks of the Holy Mountain, who tried to preserve the monastic tradition and the Orthodox Christian faith in the new political context. The lack of information of the Athos monks, as well as the opportunism characteristic of the Nazis, led to a blurred situation regarding the political authority to which the Holy Mountain had to report. This gave rise to the idea of a Nazi protectorate, but also to the illusion that this protectorate could improve the life and status of the monks in the Athos monasteries. The historical reality of those years is very difficult to unravel because of the war, but it is necessary to discover it to understand what really happened then.