Fodor's Expert Review War Memorial & Museum for Acqui Division

In 1941, at the height of the Second World War, Greece was occupied by the Axis Powers. During this period Kefalonia was given over to the Italian Acqui Division to run. Two years later, when Italy surrended to the Allies, German troops moved in to seize control and one of the great atrocities of this era played out. Italian general Antonio Gandin offered his troops a vote on whether to join or fight the Germans; they chose the latter, aided by local resistance, but quickly ran out of ammunition. A recorded 1,315 Italians fell in battle, but the worst was to come. The Italian troops had previously been placed under German command, so all soldiers that had resisted were considered deserters and ordered to be shot on sight. Those that had surrended were ruthlessly executed, killed eight at a time in Argostolion's main square, though some escaped by being hidden by sympathetic islanders. A further 5,155 Italians died in the massacre, and 3,000 later perished when the German ship taking the island's Italian POWs to a concentration camp sank. Yet few outside Italy and Greece had heard of this atrocity until the publishing of Louis de Bernieres' novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin, whose tale touches upon the events—though it is widely disliked on Kefalonia for its portrayal of the Greek partisans. A memorial dedicated to the Italian soldiers that fell lies north of the city, near to the lighthouse. A tiny but moving exhibition-museum run by the Italo-Greco Association can also be found next to the St. Nikolaos Church (free; open 9 am–10:30 pm) in the center. READ LESS