March 5, 1943

1943Lucio Battisti, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1998)^[†]

Lucio Battisti was an Italian singer-songwriter and composer. He is widely recognized for songs that defined the late 1960s and 1970s era of Italian songwriting.

1943World War II: General strike and protest march in Athens against rumours of forced mobilization of Greek workers for work in Germany, resulting in clashes with the Axis occupation forces and collaborationist police. The decree is withdrawn on the next day.^[†]

In February–March 1943, a series of large-scale protests took place in Athens against the intended forcible mobilization of occupied Greece's labour force for work in Nazi Germany. The protests, organized spontaneously or by the National Liberation Front (EAM), led to repeated clashes with the occupation troops and the collaborationist Greek police that left several dead. As a result of the protests, especially those of on 24 February and 5 March, the forced labour mobilization was never implemented in Greece. The protests, stoppages and other acts of civil disobedience alarmed the Germans about EAM's increasing influence; the collaborationist prime minister, Konstantinos Logothetopoulos, who was perceived as too weak by the Germans, was replaced by Ioannis Rallis in April, paving the way for a concerted anti-communist drive on behalf of the collaborationist government.