Attacks and memorials for Kyriakos Xymitiris

Arson in Berlin, marches and repression in Greece mark a year since fatal Athens explosion

~ Kit Dimou ~

The past week saw a series of anarchist actions and memorials across Europe, marking one year since the death of Greek anarchist Kyriakos Xymitiris, who was killed on 31 October 2024 in a bomb explosion in Athens.

Most lately on Tuesday (4 November), an anonymous group calling itself “the three funny four beavers” claimed responsibility for setting fire to a transformer station at a Virtus data centre construction site in Berlin, dedicating the action to Xymitiris. In a rhymed communiqué titled “Fire and flame to the data centres!”, the group denounced the AI industry’s environmental destruction and its role in militarism, including the use of artificial intelligence in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. It said gasoline and car tyres were used to start the fire, although police gave mainstream media a contradictory account.

Palestine, West Bank

Commemoration events for Xymitiris began on 30 October with a public gathering at Athens Panteion University, discussing revolutionary memory and presenting a book on armed struggle. The following evening, hundreds marched in central Athens under banners remembering the fallen anarchist and demanding freedom for those imprisoned in connection with the 2024 Ampelokipi explosion: Marianna Manoura, Dimitra Zarafeta, Nikos Romanos, and two others. The march was violently attacked by riot police as it entered Exarchia, with stun grenades and chemical sprays used against people sitting in nearby cafés. Witnesses reported dozens detained during the dispersal.

In Crete, the same morning saw large-scale raids in Heraklion targeting anarchist structures including the Evangelismos squat. Several people were arrested after a recent public confrontation with the far-right former minister Makis Voridis, whose long history with Greece’s military junta and neo-Nazi networks has once again drawn scrutiny. The raids coincided with the anniversary of Xymitiris’s death and appeared aimed at disrupting planned memorial assemblies.

In Hamburg, comrades gathered to hang a banner reading “Revolutionary hearts burn forever — Kyriakos X.” and to share discussion and remembrance. Further statements of solidarity appeared from Portugal, Palestine, and Germany’s autonomous housing scene. A collective from the squatted building Rigaer94 in Berlin published a long text recalling Xymitiris’s presence in the city and linking his memory to struggles against eviction, militarism and digital control.

Verified machine edit

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