Konstantinos Koukidis

Konstantinos Koukidis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Κουκίδης) was the alleged Greek Evzone on flag guard duty on 27 April 1941 at the Athens Acropolis, at the beginning of the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II. After the first Germans climbed up the Acropolis, an officer ordered him to surrender, give up the Greek flag and raise the Nazi swastika flag in its place. Koukidis instead supposedly chose to stay loyal to his duty by hauling down the flag, wrapping it around his body and jumping from the Acropolis rock to his death.[1] A commemorative plaque near the spot marks the event.

Konstantinos Koukidis
Plaque in memory of Konstantinos Koukidis
Born
1922
Died27 Απριλίου 1941
Acropolis
Cause of deathSuicide by jumping
Known forAlleged Evzone who resisted the Nazi invasion of Greece
The Acropolis of Athens.

True story

On May 12, 2006, the local newspaper "Vima tis Aigialeia" published a personal investigation of resistance fighter Charalambos Roupas. Let's see what Rupas wrote:[2]

"Me and my friends, curious and lazy pensioners, started looking in Plaka in the traditional taverns and cafes, maybe we could find some old man who could tell us something about it. Everyone knew about the incident, but they told us, "I heard... they told me...", meaning what we also knew. Finally, searching and patiently doing our research, we found an old woman who told us: "Go down to Makrygiannis (she gave us roughly the address), and there lives a former shoemaker. This is the son of the ice seller who took him with a cart the dead soldier, and took him to the First Cemetery and buried him. Finally, we met the old cobbler. But we had a hard time letting him understand what we wanted him to tell us, because he could neither hear nor see well. At the end, moved, he told us: "That day we were locked in our homes, like all of Athens. I was 16 years old at the time. We heard an old woman squealing in the street. We then rushed to the street two or three times, to see the what was happening, and then we saw this tragic sight: A mutilated corpse dressed in khaki and a flag around him covered in blood. No papers, wallet, etc. were found on him, except a card with his name on it. The card was kept by a friend of my father. Because my father and I used to deliver ice columns to the houses, we had a cart. They put the lad inside with the flag, covered him with a blanket and took him and his friend to the First Cemetery and buried him ". There they found a priest and told him what had happened. He took them to an open grave, they wrapped the lad with what was left of the flag, and the priest said two or three words and they delivered him. But what should be to emphasize to you, this tragic approx all of Athens had learned it by word of mouth. My father was afraid and did not take me with him. If I went too, then I would show you exactly where the lad is. I lost my father in January 1942 in the great famine".

References
  1. William Manchester (1973). The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America, 1932-1972. RosettaBooks. ISBN 978-0-7953-3557-0.
  2. May 12, 2006, the local newspaper "Vima tis Aegialia"

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