Taking a vote to fight, the men of the Acqui Division fired on Germans attempting to land on Cephalonia. Some of the Italians thought the Germans would surrender. General Antonio Gandin, however, agreed to a truce.

That agreement bought the Germans time to organize. When Stukas began dropping bombs on Italian positions, the white flag was meaningless. Actual war, not mere occupation, would change Cephalonia’s history.

Trying to resist the coming onslaught, the Acqui Division men were no match for Nazi aggression. For many, surrender seemed the only option. The Italians would be prisoners of war, governed by the rules of the 1929 Geneva Convention. But the Germans had other ideas. Hitler’s order of total liquidation required creative thinking. If the Italians were traitors, not prisoners of war, they could be shot.

Captain Amos Pampaloni recalls what happened on September 22, 1943. (Scroll down half-way to read the full account.)

After the soldiers had disarmed us, they began taking off our watches, chains, wallets and belts. I protested to the captain in charge that it was not permitted to take prisoners’ personal effects. He replied through an interpreter: “Not from prisoners, but from traitors, yes.” They told us to stand in a row and I was made to go at the end of the line, Lieutenant Tognato next to me. He called out to the soldiers to say their prayers, but I had no idea what was about to happen and I told him not to demoralize the men.