At the end of May 1941, one month had passed since the surrender of Athens to the Germans, who were completing their operations in Greece with the capture of Crete. Manolis Glezos and Lakis Santas they were two young students, who wept, like thousands of Athenians, seeing the German swastika waving on the Acropolis. The Hitler symbol caused Greek pride. So he had to go down...
As sansimera.gr reports, the daring plan was born in their minds on a spring evening in Zappeion, as they were looking at the Acropolis and they set to work to implement it. They went to the National Library and read everything related to the Sacred Rock. In the Great Encyclopedia they discovered all the caves and holes of the Acropolis. They quickly realized that the only route they had to take to avoid being spotted by the German guards was through Pandrosius Andrus.
On the morning of May 30, 1941, Glezos and Santas were informed by radio that Crete had fallen. The Germans boasted of their feat with proclamations. The two young men decided to act on the same night. They had no weapons, only a flashlight and a knife. It was 9:30 in the evening. The small guard of the Acropolis was gathered at the entrance of the Propylaea and was having fun with young Greek women, who were selling their love, drinking beer and drinking wine.
Ignorant of danger, they jumped the wires, crawled to the cave of Pandrosios Andros and began to climb from the scaffolding, which the archaeologists had built for the excavations. Arriving at a distance of a few meters from the flagpole, they did not notice any guards and with quick movements they took down the hated symbol of Nazism from the flagpole. It was a huge flag, measuring 4x2 m. It was already midnight. The two "commandos" folded and took the flag with them and following the same route they left the Acropolis, again without being noticed by the Germans, who were continuing their fun.
To their surprise the German garrison realized early in the morning that the swastika was missing from the mast. German authorities panicked and ordered interrogations. It wasn't until 11am that they posted a new flag on the empty mast.
Glezos and Santas were sentenced to death in absentia, the men of the guard were executed, the Greek commanders of the police stations in the area were relieved of their duties, while for the guards of the Acropolis no incriminating evidence emerged.
The submission of the swastika from the Acropolis was essentially the first act of resistance in occupied Athens, an action with a symbolic character, but a huge impact on the morale of the Greeks being tested. In September of the same year, the two major resistance organizations EAM and EDES were founded.
During the Occupation, Manolis Glezos was arrested three times by the Germans , was imprisoned and managed to escape, whileLakis Santas escaped from his persecutors and joined ELAS.
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