During the Second World War, the Bulgarians, who were allies of the Germans, invaded Macedonia and Thrace, they ex-Bulgarianized the region and the church property passed to the Bulgarian state.
Then the monks of Mount Athos, fearing that this would also happen to them, sent a letter to Hitler asking him to put Mount Athos under his protection. It was written at the suggestion of a German major.
Relics of the monasteries were hidden and monks fled for their resistance action.
Hitler accepted their request and Mount Athos was under German protection.
This letter was unknown until 1963 when it was found in Russian archives.
[Source: http://www.mixanitouxronou.gr]
