Communication between EOK and EAM was poor , with open hostility breaking out between EOK and '' ' ELAS ' '' ( ( ΕΛΑΣ ) , the military wing of EAM , in January 1945 at the siege of Retimo . As Cretan fighters became better armed and more aggressive in 1944 , the German troops pulled out of the country areas , having destroyed a number of villages in the Kedros area and executing many inhabitants , aiming to cow the Cretans . Grouping their forces around Canea , the Germans remained trapped until the end of the war , refusing to surrender to the Greek army , for fear of retaliation . They eventually surrendered to the British on 23 May 1945
destroyed
Holocaust of Kedros
Cretan resistance