The next day, the Germans burned down the monastery of Agia Lavra, where the flag of independent Greece had been raised in 1821.

The town of Kalavryta was filled with howling dogs. The bodies, hastily buried, were dug out by the dogs so the women had to bury them again and again until they were too deep for the dogs.

People from neighboring villages arrived with help, as did a detachment of the Red Cross. But it was winter, and Greece, already a poor country, had been further impoverished by the occupation. Not much food and medicine for the wounded became available.

Salvation was at had, though, in the little train. Most of the cars had been thrown into the ravine, and the upper stages of the line to Kalavryta destroyed, but below Zachlorou, the Germans were using the train to transport wood down the mountain. The train could bring the quantities of food and supplied needed to avert a famine. But to use the train, permission would be needed from both the Germans and the Resistance.