1943–today
Burned twice – the occupation and the great dispersal
The village was burned in 1943 and 1944. Its people scattered to Kalyvia, Pieria, Katerini, Thessaloniki and overseas.
The occupation
During the German and Italian occupation, partisans were active around the village. In reprisal Kokkinopilos was burned twice: in 1943 by the Italians and in 1944 by the Germans. The church of Agia Paraskevi was burned in 1943.
Scattered
After the destruction, the population scattered. Many families moved to Katerini and Thessaloniki, or to villages in Pieria such as Malathria. Others emigrated to America, Australia and Germany. Kalyvia, until then a seasonal settlement, became a permanent village.
The censuses show the scale of it: 1,734 people lived in the mountain village in 1940, and only 732 in 1951.
The ties that remain
The families of Kokkinopilos kept their bond with the village through their associations, the feast of Agia Paraskevi and the summers spent in the old houses. From the 1950s, children’s summer camps also brought new life to the mountain.