Müller , who had returned to his role of commander of Fortress Crete , had further strategic reasons for reprisals : to assist the German evacuation from much of the island to the stronghold of Chania , as well as desiring to punish Anogeia for being unpunished despite years of resistance . The inhabitants of Anogeia had been actively involved in , and given refuge to , the Cretan resistance for many years , had killed Olenhauer and the garrison from Yeni Gave , and had also provided shelter to the Kreipe abduction team . His order of the day to destroy Anogeia was specific and retrospective , confirming British fears of large-scale reprisals . The Holocaust of Kedros was a coordinated operation involving 2,000 Axis soldiers who targeted Anogeia and Damasta . 900 houses were burned , 50 civilians were shot and 3,500 became internally displaced . At Zarko 35 out of the 42 men inhabiting the village were shot for their alleged participation in the assassination of the publisher of the collaborationist newspaper '' Kritikos Kiryx '' ( Cretan Herald ) . In the following days the operation expanded to other villages , men were executed , houses were looted and then burned or dynamited regardless of their involvement in resistance activities . The looted property was collected at Scholi Asomaton and transported by lorries to Rethymno . Harvest and livestock were confiscated for use by the German troops . Local resistance bands could do nothing but watch , being vastly outnumbered
Holocaust of Kedros
Holocaust of Kedros
Kidnap of Heinrich Kreipe