These are images of the execution of 200 communists in Kaisariani, Athens, on May 1, 1944, carried out by German soldiers during the three-year occupation of Greece in World War II.
The photographs, believed to have been taken by a German commander, have stirred strong emotions in Greece, as no images of the massacre were previously known.
At Greece's request, the auction has been halted and the seller, a Belgian collector, has agreed to sell the photographs to the Greek state.
"They give us the opportunity to portray the occupation of Greece from the occupiers' perspective," said Culture Minister Lisa Mendoni in a statement, according to AFP.
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