WORLD WAR I AND WORLD WAR II

The fortified narrow passage of Roupel, which is between Aggistro mountain and Beles, is very well-known from both World Wars. (Strymon River flows in this narrow passage and the Greek-Bulgarian border is near its northern exit). Because of the strategic importance, after the Second Balkan War, a deterrent system of forts was constructed. The strongest one was that of Roupel, which is in the northern exit of the narrow passage.

During World War I it was occupied on 26th May 1916 by the Bulgarian-German forces, under the following conditions: At 9.45, the Commander of the fort, major Mauroudis, stopped the advance of two Bulgarian regiments of the 7th Division, which after spending the morning in the border, advanced on the fort. While major Mauroudis was following instructions he started shooting against those regiments, which resulted in the check of their advancement. However, after he consulted the Minister of War, he was ordered to yield the fort, since it was under a German officer's command. So, the fort was yielded together with its artillery to the German officer, Til.

In 1941, the Germans, in their effort to enter Greece, turned their attention towards Beles again and mainly towards the fort of Roupel. The attack against this fort was one of the greatest moments during World War II. The Germans paid a lot of attention to Roupel. However, the Greeks' resistance was very effective. The German attacks were kept on being repulsed, starting at 6 o' clock in the morning on 10th April, when the hostilities stopped and the fort was yielded because of the Germans' invasion in Greece.

The organised armed national resistance in our country during the period of occupation 1941-44, started from Kerdylia, in the Prefecture of Serres. On 17th October 1941, the Hitleresque forces were informed that the armed Greek guerilla force "Ulysses Androutsos" walked through Saint Dimitrios monastery, near the villages at Ano and Kato Kerdylia. Then, they surrounded the area and arrested almost every man and boy, who were then executed on a hill, where the "Cemetery for those who fell for the Nation" can be found today. In total 250 people, between the age 15 and 60, were killed. Then, the barbarous conquerors set the villages on fire and sent the women and children away. Nowadays, only delapidated houses can be seen, whereas the churches of the villages and the Cemetery remain in tact. The execution of the 250 Kerdylians was the first execution that took place in Greece.

However, Nigrita suffered untold losses during the German occupation. After a conflict between the German conquerors and the Greek guerrillas of the national resistance, the Germans set the electrical wiring on fire, burnt a large part of the city and arrested all the men, children and women in order to execute them. But after the mediation of the archimandrite Constantine Kardamenis, the women and children were set free, whereas the men were taken to Kalokastro village. Forty of these men were sent to concentration camps in Germany, whereas the rest were set free. The Germans' revulsion was rendered to Saint Nikitas' miracle, who is honoured by the inhabitants of Nigrita.

Apart from the German occupation troops, the Prefecture of Serres had to cope with the Bulgarian conquerors, who destroyed everything that was Greek and showed their implacable hatred and abysmal malice with torments, imprisonments, persecution, and murders throughout their occupation.