Georgios Bakos (, 1892âÂÂ1945) was a Hellenic Army major general and leading collaborationist with Nazi Germany during the Axis occupation of Greece.
Born in Athens in 1892, Bakos became a career officer of the artillery and fought in the Balkan Wars of 1912âÂÂ1913 and in the Asia Minor Campaign in 1920âÂÂ1922. As a major general, he commanded the 3rd Infantry Division in the Greco-Italian War of 1940âÂÂ41.
After the German invasion of Greece and the Hellenic Army's capitulation, he served as Minister of National Defence in the collaborationist government set up by Lieutenant General Georgios Tsolakoglou on 30 April 1941, and retained the post under Tsolakoglou's successor, Konstantinos Logothetopoulos, until the Logothetopoulos cabinet resigned on 7 April 1943. An ardent Germanophile and anti-communist, who remained convinced of Germany's ultimate victory even after the German defeats in the Eastern Front and North Africa in 1942, Bakos helped in the formation of the national-socialist ESPO organization. In late 1941 he tried, without success, to raise a Greek volunteer unit (a "Blue-and-White Division", ) to fight along the German Wehrmacht in the Eastern Front. This failed due to lack of enthusiasm even among the collaborationist governmentâÂÂwhere it was supported only by the likewise ardently Germanophile Logothetopoulos and Sotirios GotzamanisâÂÂas well as the refusal of the organizations representing the disbanded Hellenic Army's officer corps and reservist associations to participate.
After the country's liberation, he was arrested and placed in Averof prison in Athens waiting trial. During the Dekemvriana events, a group of EAM-ELAS guerrillas under officer Stavros Mavrothalassitis attacked the prison. Bakos was taken prisoner and after a court-martial was executed as a traitor on 6 January 1945.