Legendary Greek Resistance Fighter Apostolos Santas, Who Defied Nazis, Dies at 89

Photo: The German War Flag is raised on the Acropolis of Athens, April 1941. (Photo by Scheerer, from Deutsches Bundesarchiv / German Federal Archive)   

Monday, 2 May 2011

Legendary Greek resistance fighter Apostolos Santas, who secretly scrambled to the top of the Acropolis in 1941 to tear down a Nazi flag, has died.

Greek officials say he died Saturday in Athens at 89. No cause of death was announced.

On May 31, 1941, the teenage Santas and another young resistance fighter, Manolis Glezos, secretly climbed to the top of the Acropolis and tore down the swastika. It was the first symbolic act of resistance against the Nazi occupation of Greece.

Santas joined the Greek underground and fought against both the Germans and Italian fascists.

Santas later joined a left-wing resistance group and was forced into exile during the civil war that broke out in Greece following the end of World War Two. He returned to Greece in 1963.

In 2008, the Greek parliament formally honored Santas and Glezos for their bravery in seizing the Nazi flag.