On the night of Saturday, March 11, 1978, a powerful bomb exploded inside the screening hall of the Ellis Cinema (Athens), located in central Athens.
At the time of the explosion, the cinema was showing the Soviet film “The Rainbow” (1944)—a well-known wartime drama about resistance against the Nazis. Around 100 spectators were inside the theater.
Eighteen people were injured, three of them seriously enough to require hospitalization.
The attack took place during the turbulent early years of Metapolitefsi, a period marked by political polarization and sporadic acts of violence in public spaces. In the first hours after the blast, investigators examined multiple possible leads.
As the investigation progressed, however, arrests and the case file increasingly focused on individuals connected to far-right and neo-fascist circles.
The bombing at the Ellis cinema was not the only incident that night. A short time later, police discovered a second explosive device inside the Rex Cinema (Athens) on Panepistimiou Street before it could detonate—strengthening suspicions that the attacks had been coordinated.
The explosion and the injured
A report published in To Vima newspaper on March 15, 1978, just days after the bombing, described the moment of the blast:
“The explosion occurred at 9:35 p.m. on Saturday evening—fifteen minutes after the intermission. It was preceded by a blinding flash and a terrifying bang, followed immediately by the groans of the victims.
“The screening stopped and the lights came on: scenes of horror. Spectators bleeding, seats destroyed and hurled from their places, panic and cries of despair. Ambulances and private cars transported 18 mostly young people to Hippokration Hospital and the General State Hospital.”
The newspaper recorded the identities of the 18 injured victims—men and women aged 15 to 44: students, siblings, couples.
Three had serious injuries and remained hospitalized at Hippokration Hospital (Athens) and the General State Hospital of Athens, while the remaining fifteen returned home after receiving first aid and having their wounds treated.
The power of the bomb
According to the report, the explosive device was powerful and deliberately designed to cause casualties:
“The bomb […] had been placed with criminal intent. The perpetrators were certain that deaths would result—and they surely would have, had more spectators been seated in the section where the bomb had been placed (in the center of the hall, near the screen). If it had been five meters further back, the result would have been tragedy.
“Two elements demonstrate that the perpetrators had murderous intentions:
- The bomb was extremely powerful—the strongest device used so far.
• It contained metal fragments intended to cause a large number of victims, and it was set to explode during the screening of the film.”
The investigation and witness accounts
Authorities launched an immediate and extensive investigation across Athens.
Witnesses reported seeing two young men inside the cinema shortly before the explosion, prompting police to search for them:
“Based on testimony from cinema employees and statements from the injured, the Intelligence Service of the General Security Directorate is searching for two suspicious young men who appeared in the cinema shortly before the bomb exploded. They had short hair, and one of them wore a leather jacket—the familiar appearance of neo-fascists.”
As To Vima reported:
“It is now widely believed that the perpetrators of the criminal act at the Ellis cinema must be sought within fascist right-wing circles.”
Police questioned several young men already known to authorities for involvement in far-right incidents. However, these early interrogations did not immediately lead to results.
The investigation had previously focused on the same circles following bomb attacks days earlier at the offices of the magazine Anti Magazine (Greece), at offices of the Communist Party of Greece in Nea Filadelfeia, and in the Pangrati district of Athens.
According to the report, when those earlier investigations failed to produce results, the Minister of Public Order, Ioannis Balkos, attempted to shift responsibility for the explosions toward left-wing groups.
Political reactions
The bombing triggered strong political reactions.
The Minister of Public Order avoided making any statement, despite being fully briefed by his subordinates and aware from the outset of the direction in which the investigation was moving.
The leader of the opposition party PASOK, Andreas Papandreou, accused the government of failing to confront far-right violence and attempting to mislead public opinion:
“This new—and this time bloody—bomb attack by neo-fascists raises an urgent question:
Is there or is there not a state capable of protecting both citizens and democracy from fascist terrorism and conspiracy?
“The state apparatus, corroded by the seven-year dictatorship, cannot guarantee this protection. Proof is the fact that police authorities, instead of immediately moving against the known circles of extremism, are attempting to mislead public opinion by interrogating democratic citizens and opposition party members.
“Responsibility lies first with the Minister of Public Order, whose anonymous statements set this line. But it also lies with the entire government, which watches passively as neo-fascism re-emerges.”
The 1979 trial
The bombing at the Ellis cinema remained under investigation for a long time.
Several arrests were made during the inquiry, but eventually only four individuals were brought to trial in 1979.
One was sentenced to 13 months in prison for possession of explosives, while a second received 10 months for the same offense. The other two defendants were acquitted.
Importantly, the convictions did not concern the actual placement of the bomb inside the cinema, but rather violations of legislation related to explosives and weapons.
