Apostolos “Lakis” Santas

In memoriam

Apostolos Santas (Greek: Απόστολος Σάντας), commonly known as Lakis, was 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. 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 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 spent the rest of his life, dying in Athens on 30th April 2011, aged 89. Santas received numerous awards from various institutions in Greece and other Allied countries. Friends, relatives, dignitaries and hundreds of ordinary citizens said their last goodbyes to the National Resistance hero at the church of Agios Theodoros in the First Cemetery of Athens. His funeral was at public expense, and his family requested donations to UNICEF and the Child's Smile Charity instead of wreaths. Manolis Glezos , his old comrade, made the funeral oration. The Greek flag at the Acropolis of Athens flew at half-mast as a mark of respect to one of the men who tore down the swastika from the sacred rock. [How and why the Nazis could have left their flag flying at night and unguarded has not been explained convincingly.]

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