Eighty-two years ago today, the last German troops pulled out of Athens after 1,264 days of brutal Nazi occupation. This...

Eighty-two years ago today, the last German troops pulled out of Athens after 1,264 days of brutal Nazi occupation. This morning, Evzones from the Presidential Guard marked that anniversary by raising the Greek flag on the Sacred Rock of the Acropolis, with the Flag March and the national anthem performed by the Hellenic Air Force Band. President Konstantinos Tasoulas, Education Minister Sofia Zacharaki, Shipping Minister Vasilis Kikilias, and Athens Mayor Haris Doukas attended the ceremony. A wreath-laying followed at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. On October 12, 1944, thousands of Athenians flooded the streets waving Greek flags the moment German forces withdrew, after three and a half years of hunger, executions, and terror. The official return came days later, on October 18, when Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou re-entered the city and the flag was raised over the Acropolis again. The Acropolis flag holds a particular place in Greek memory. On the night of May 30 to 31, 1941, just weeks into the occupation, two young men, Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas, climbed the rock under cover of darkness and tore down the Nazi flag, one of the earliest acts of open resistance in occupied Europe. Mayor Doukas put it plainly at the ceremony: democracy was not handed to anyone. It was won through struggle and sacrifice, and it is a duty to make sure it is never taken again. President Tasoulas echoed that, calling the anniversary a reminder of the ongoing responsibility to defend freedom and democratic values. #Greece #LiberationOfAthens #Acropolis