Communist groups and local leaders once arrested the brothers and ordered them to stand as guards. When they refused, they were led to a nearby village and handed over to the authorities, who decided that Nicos Papageorgiou, Costas Christanas, and Costas Papageorgiou should be executed. Of the seven-member committee, only one did not endorse the execution. The brothers were led to a mountainside village. The death sentence was read to them, and they were tied up and beaten. During the beating, Nicos Papageorgiou, who was tied hand and foot, rolled partway down the mountainside, stopping only on a ledge just above a river. The brothers were beaten repeatedly during eight days and then freed.

Nicos Papageorgiou recalls: “The team leader of the National Liberation Front took me to his office and told me that he was sorry to inform me that he had been authorized to execute me. He said that he would try to help me but that I would have to help him too. I reached out and took hold of his right hand, saying: ‘If you love me, then execute me right away. If I deny my beliefs, then you should cry for me.’” Evidently moved, this leader set about freeing Brother Papageorgiou.

On August 24, 1944, four of our brothers were charged with treason and sentenced to death by the guerrillas at Tourkolekas, a village near the city of Megalópolis. As they were being led to the place of execution, German artillery launched a surprise attack, and the guerrillas scattered. The brothers got away free!