"Many people were murdered or tortured in the most brutal way, and many houses were looted and burned. In general, the transition of this body [Subert] to the places of his actions resembled a wild storm, always accompanied by an abundance of tears, pain, and blood." This is how the Special Deputy summarized in his report in April 1947 the raw terrorism unleashed in Crete and Macedonia during the Occupation by the Greek-speaking Levantine Fritz Subert, commander of the notorious Greek "Hunters Corps". He was considered one of the greatest war criminals, sentenced to death 27 times, and executed in Thessaloniki.

Cosmopolitan, multilingual, violent, sadistic, diplomat and schemer - some of the main characteristics of his peculiar personality - Subert represents an unprecedented and perhaps unique case in the history of World War II. Firstly, he starts his terrorist activities on the island as the leader of a group of Cretans (June 1942), announcing the later establishment of the infamous Security Battalions. Then, with the order of the Military Commander of the Fortress of Crete, he becomes a powerful commander of a German-dressed criminal group of Greeks, with which he inflicts brutal violence against civilians in Crete and Macedonia to impose the New German Order.

With this study, the first on the subject, Thanasis Fotiou attempts to deconstruct the myth based on solid factual material, the product of extensive research consisting of both written and oral sources. Above all, however, he tries to integrate the German officer into the historical framework of that tragic period and reveal unknown small and large events concerning the life and actions of the bloodthirsty officer and his ruthless collaborators. Finally, the author achieves a preliminary interpretation, thus adding another piece to the puzzle of understanding an era that shaped not only the two Greek regions in which Subert played a leading role, but also the whole of Greece.