What I can see

The Monument to the Dead of Kokkinia is dedicated to the victims of the Nazi crimes in Kokkinia Block and was designed by Giorgos Zongolopoulos, whose technique is very different from the usual standards of monumental sculpture at the time, thus he wanted to inscribe the National Resistance and its importance in the public memory. The sculpture is not only a hymn to the Resistance due to its location, but also due to its artistic language. The geometric forms and the expressionist attitude defied classicism and other works of intense dynamism, determination and glory. Clearly influenced by Parthenis, Zongolopoulos chose a modern language that expresses drama, mourning and collective sacrifice, which is never in vain. That is why the sculptor chose Nike (Goddess of Victory) as the deity who holds the victim.

What I can't see

It is the only public sculpture that honoured specific dead of a war that had just ended. Most of the memorial sculptures related to war victims in general, were placed in the city centre after several years. It is a monument that encountered many obstacles from the right-wing post-civil war governments in terms of its location and symbolism, since the victims of Kokkinia mostly belonged to working class. After the war, no one talked about the Block of Kokkinia, except the communists and the wider left-wing political spectrum. Even today, many do not know what happened in this district of Piraeus. Nevertheless, the sculpture was finally placed where the artist had planned from the beginning, that is, the area where the atrocities took place. It was his last work of academic sculpture. He later followed a completely different artistic path.

Info

• Address: Kyprou St.

Bibliography