The family of one of two Greek youths who removed the flag of occupier Nazi Germany from the Acropolis 70 years ago says he has died.
Apostolos "Lakis" Santas' family said Saturday the 89-year-old had died of respiratory failure.
Santas was a 19-year-old law student when he and his close friend Manolis Glezos, also 19, climbed the steep Acropolis hill in the centre of Athens on the night of May 30, 1941, and took down the flag from its mast, even though it was guarded by a sentry. The pair escaped after hiding the flag in a cave.
It was seen as the first, symbolic act of resistance against the month-old occupation.
Glezos and Santas later joined a left-wing resistance group and were imprisoned and exiled during the civil war that followed liberation.
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