The National Union of Greece (Greek: Εθνική Ένωσις Ελλάδος, Ethniki Enosis Ellados or EEE) was a far-right political party established in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1927.
Registered as a mutual aid society, the EEE was founded by Asia Minor refugee businesspeople. According to the organisation's constitution, only Christians could join. Its members were in political and, especially, commercial antagonism with Thessaloniki's substantial Jewish population.
It was eventually led by Georgios Kosmidis who claimed to be a Venizelist and so did his party even though it was opposed to most Venizelist principles.
Owing to its military uniforms and organisation, the party was commonly referred to as "The Three Epsilons" (τα Τρία Εψιλον) or "The Steelhelmets" (οι Χαλυβδόκρανοι), in allusion to the German paramilitary Der Stahlhelm.
It gained a revival in 1941 when Nazi Germany captured Thessaloniki and put it in charge and then it also changed its name to "Εθνική Σοσιαλιστική Ένωση Ελλάδος" (National Socialist Union of Greece) and it also ran the collaborationist newspaper.
References
External links
- History of the EEE (in Greek)
Further reading
- Mark Mazower, Salonica, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews, 1430-1950, London: HarperCollins, 2004. ISBN 0-00-712023-0
