Monday, November 18, 2013
The customary three-day events culminated on Sunday with the annual march - several thousand people took part - from the Polytechnic to the American Embassy, a symbolic protest against the support offered to the regime by the United States.
The uprising was the most significant popular protest against the seven-year dictatorship that ruled the country from 1976 to 1974. In the early hours of November 17, the regime tanks entered the school yard, killing dozens of resisting students. But the revolt and its tragic epilogue untangled the events that finally led to the fall of the colonels’ regime, and became a point of reference for Modern Greek history.
President of the Hellenic Republic Karolos Papoulias emphasised the peaceful nature of the student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic in 1973, in a message marking the 40th anniversary against the military dictatorship. "Their fight was decisive and strong, but peaceful," Papoulias noted, adding that “the way they chose to claim freedom and take the responsibility for all of us is deeply instructive. Forty years later, the photos of unarmed people in front of tanks still evoke strong feelings," Papoulias concluded.
See also the The Presidency: Speech (15.11.2013, in Greek)
- Photo exhibition Athens Polytechnic 1973 @Greek Parliament
The exhibition features photos from the private archive of photo reporter and eye-witness Vassilis Karageorgos, many of which are published for the first time. The exhibition was inaugurated by Parliament Speaker Evangelos Meimarakis on Friday.
