Meligalas is a village and a former municipality

Communities and Municipalities of Greece

For the new municipalities of Greece see the Kallikratis ProgrammeThe municipalities and communities of Greece are one of several levels of government within the organizational structure of that country. Thirteen regions called peripheries form the largest unit of government beneath the State. ...

 in Messenia

Messenia

Messenia is a regional unit in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, one of 13 regions into which Greece has been divided by the Kallikratis plan, implemented 1 January 2011...

, Peloponnese, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Oichalia

Oichalia, Messenia

Oichalia is a village and a municipality in Messenia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is in Meligalas. Oichalia is known for its rich expanse of olive trees and fig orchards. At its height the village boasted several cafes, a bustling farmer's market, and a popular open air cinema run by the...

, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 4,040 (2001).

Mass execution of 706 to 1,144 nazi collaborationists

After the Germans left southern Greece terminating the occupation of Kalamata and surrounding Messinia area, Axis Occupation of Greece (1941–1944), the town became the site of a battle between the communist-dominated Greek Resistance

Greek Resistance

The Greek Resistance is the blanket term for a number of armed and unarmed groups from across the political spectrum that resisted the Axis Occupation of Greece in the period 1941–1944, during World War II.-Origins:...

 forces of EAM-ELAS commanded by Aris Velouchiotis

Aris Velouchiotis

Aris Velouchiotis , the nom de guerre of Athanasios Klaras , was the most prominent leader and chief instigator of the Greek People's Liberation Army , the military branch of the National Liberation Front , which was the major resistance organization in occupied Greece from 1942 to 1945...

 and the Security Battalions

Security Battalions

The Security Battalions were Greek collaborationist military groups, formed during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II in order to support the German occupation troops.- History :...

 that had been stationed in the town during German occupation. After a 14-day siege of the town (Sept. 2, 1944 to Sept. 16, 1944), Meligalas fell to the hands of the Resistance forces. Following the fall of the city, the unknown correctly number of Nazi collaborationists were executed by the partisans for treason and collaboration with the occupation forces. Their bodies were subsequently thrown in a well shaft known as "pigada". Far-right and pro-nazi factions in Greece claim "thousands of civilian casualties", a claim unsupported even by relatives of the executed. After the Occupation and the end of the Greek Civil War

Greek Civil War

The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...

, right wing governments used to pay tribute to the executed, a practice which ceased after the fall of the military junta.