The “24 HOURS” show opens the door of the Kokkinotrimithia Detention Center, reviving, through testimonies and images, the experiences of thousands of fighters who had been arrested by the British, including the emblematic figures of the 1955-1959 liberation struggle.

Journalist Konstantinos Konstantinou and his team present a feature on a place inextricably linked to the history of that time.

By highlighting an archive of shocking photos and videos, in combination with today’s images, the “24 HOURS” series “enlivens the place”, the moments and what happened behind the barbed wire of the “Cyprus Auschwitz”.

The brother of the hero Kyriakos Matsis, Giannakis Matsis, the comrade-in-arms of Iakovos Patatsos, Andreas Paraskevas, and also the fighter and writer Giannis Spanos tell us about known and unknown aspects of the history of the detention centres.

The Kokkinotrimithia Detention Center was a place where more than 3,000 EOKA fighters were detained without trial during the four-year liberation struggle.

They were founded according to Hitler standards in 1955 and were abolished on February 22, 1959, after the end of the struggle. The life of political prisoners was a nightmare. In the Detention Centers there was an invisible authority that regulated the fighters’ action. This Council carried out the orders of the Organization, approved or rejected escape plans, decided on uprisings, mass protests and other events of the Prisoners.

Protests include hunger strikes, such as the three-day Holy Week strike in 1958 and the Holy Thursday uprising, in which organized political prisoners set fire to the Kokkinotrimithia Detention Center in five minutes. The uprising was followed by mass torture.

Also read: “24 HOURS” | Inside the UDU, the elite unit of the National Guard – VIDEO

Watch the feature here: