Apostolos Santas

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The German War Flag is raised on the Acropolis of Athens, April 1941.

Apostolos Santas (Greek: î„î¿î»î¿ îîî„î, born 1922) is a Greek veteran of the Resistance against the Axis Occupation of Greece during World War II, most notable for his participation, along with Manolis Glezos, in the taking down of the German flag from the Acropolis on 30 May 1941.

Apostolos Santas was born on 22 February 1922 in Patras, Greece. His family moved to Athens in 1934. He completed his secondary education in Athens and was accepted to the law school of the University of Athens, completing his law studies after the liberation of the country from Nazi occupation in 1944.

On the night of 30 May 1941, he and Manolis Glezos climbed on the Acropolis of Athens and tore down the Nazi flag, which had been there since 27 April, when the Nazi forces had entered and occupied Athens, replacing it with the Greek flag. That was one of the first resistance acts in Greece, and possibly among the very first in Europe. The act inspired the Greeks to resist occupation, and made the two into folk heroes. The Germans responded by sentencing Glezos and Santas to death in absentia.

In 1942, he joined the fledgling National Liberation Front (EAM), and a year later the guerrilla force ELAS, with which he participated in several battles with the Axis troops throughout Central Greece. After the Occupation, because of his leftist beliefs, he was sent into internal exile to Ikaria in 1946, then to Psyttaleia in 1947 and finally to the infamous Makronisos island in 1948. He managed to escape to Italy, from where he went to Canada where he was granted political asylum. He lived in Canada until 1962, when he returned to Greece, where he still resides.

Apostolos Santas has received numerous awards from various institutions in Greece and other Allied countries.

Greece during World War II

1940–41 Balkans Campaign	Occupation and Resistance		Greek government in exile

Greco-Italian War Battles: Elaia–Kalamas– Pindus– Morava-Ivan– Klisura– Italian Spring Offensive Commanders: Greece Ioannis Metaxas– Alexander Papagos– Charalambos Katsimitros Italy Sebastiano Visconti Prasca– Ubaldo Soddu– Ugo Cavallero– Giovanni Messe German invasion Battles: Metaxas Line– Vevi– Thermopylae– Crete Commanders: Greece Alexander Papagos– Georgios Tsolakoglou British Expeditionary Corps Henry Maitland Wilson– Thomas Blamey– Bernard Freyberg Germany Wilhelm List– Kurt Student	Occupying powers Occupation Authorities: Germany Hermann Neubacher– Walter Schimana– Alexander Lhr– Hellmuth Felmy Italy Pellegrino Ghigi– Carlo Geloso Bulgaria Atrocities: Kondomari– Kandanos– Doxato– Kommeno– Kalavryta– Distomo– Domenikon – Drakeia– Cephalonia– Paramythia– Mesovouno– Pyrgoi– The Holocaust in Greece– Greek famine of 1941–42 Collaborators People: Georgios Tsolakoglou– K. Logothetopoulos– Ioannis Rallis– Georgios Poulos Organizations: Collaborationist government– Security Battalions– ESPO– EEE– Greek National Socialist Party Secessionists: Principality of the Pindus– Ohrana– Cham collaboration (K«shilla)	National Liberation Front (EAM) People: Aris Velouchiotis– Stefanos Sarafis– Georgios Siantos– Markos Vafiades– Evripidis Bakirtzis– Andreas Tzimas Organizations: KKE– ELAS– PEEA– EPON– E.A.– OPLA– SNOF Operations: Ryka– Mikro Chorio– Gorgopotamos Bridge– Fardykambos– Sarantaporo– Kournovo Tunnel Non-EAM Resistance People: Napoleon Zervas– Dimitrios Psarros– Komninos Pyromaglou– Kostas Perrikos– Georgios Kartalis Organizations: EDES– EKKA– YVE/PAO– PEAN– îîîš– E.S.– MAVI– Other Atrocities: Expulsion of Cham Albanians British Mission in Greece (SOE) People: Eddie Myers– Chris Woodhouse– Patrick Leigh Fermor Operations: Operation "Albumen"– Gorgopotamos Bridge– Operation "Animals"– Asopos Bridge– Kidnap of General Kreipe	Events: El Alamein– Dodecanese– April 1944 mutiny– Rimini People: King George II– Emm. Tsouderos– Panagiotis Kanellopoulos Notable units: 3rd Mountain Brigade– Sacred Band– Vasilissa Olga– Adrias Towards the Civil War Events: Plaka agreement– Lebanon conference– Caserta agreement– Percentages agreement– Dekemvriana People: Ronald Scobie– George Papandreou– Archbishop Damaskinos

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