Konstantinos Koukidis
The name Konstantinos Koukidis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Κουκίδης) is used to refer to the alleged Greek Evzone or member of the National Youth Organisation who was on flag guard duty on 27 April 1941 at the Athens Acropolis, the day Wehrmacht forces entered Athens and begun the Axis occupation of Greece. 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.
Konstantinos Koukidis | |
|---|---|
 Plaque in memory of Konstantinos Koukidis | |
| Born | 1922 |
| Died | 27 Απριλίου 1941 Acropolis |
| Cause of death | Suicide by jumping |
| Known for | Alleged Evzone who resisted the Nazi invasion of Greece |
The first correspondence about the event occurred on 9 June 1941, and it since has been sporadically mentioned through eye witnesses and personal memoirs of supposed friends of Koukidis, mostly every OΧΙ Day. After research that took place in Greek government facilities as well as the archive of the Greek military, no record had been found of a person named Koukidis, nor of any such event taking place.
Despite that, in October 2000, then mayor of Athens Dimitris Avramopoulos installed a commemorative plaque near the spot which the event supposedly took place, although he stated that there were no specific documentary evidence on Koukidis or his act, which modern historiography considers to be apocryphal.
The narrative
According to popular narrative, Koukidis was a 17 year old Greek Evzone who had guard duty at the Acropolis on 27 April 1941, the day which Wermacht entered Athens.[1] According to another version, he was a member of the National Youth Organization.[1] Nazis ordered him to lower the Greek flag and to raise the Nazi flag. Koukidis did not obey, lowered the Greek flag and, covering himself with the flag, committed suicide from the Acropolis.[1]
References to the event
The first reference to the event took place on 9 May 1941, by the British newspaper the Daily Mail. Archbishop of Athens Crysanthus also mentioned in his memoirs the event, as well as historian and SOE agent Nicolas Hammond in his published diary in 1972.[2]
The entire story had been forgotten up until 1982, when authors Kostas Chatzipateras and Maria Fafaliou mentioned Koukidis in their book Memoirs 40-41.[1] In 1989, Greek holocaust denier Kostantinos Plevris mentioned that the event is true and claimed that he has "the entire folder [of Koukidis and the event] from the Hellenic Army General Staff."[2] In 1994, a book released by KKE Έπεσαν για τη ζωή (They Died for Life), mentioned the alleged sacrifice.[2]
Modern views
The head of DIS/GES, Lt. General Ioannis Kakoudakis, in an interview for ET1 in 2000 and the military magazine War and History in 2001 mentioned that, after research took place in the archives of the Greek Armed Forces as well as in Greek public institutions, no evidence of Koukidis had been found.[2]
Historian Hagen Fleischer claimed that the entire story about Koukidis traces its roots to a joke that was circulating the day the Wermacht entered Athens and that the story had been publicized as a way to highlight heroes that did not involve themselves in civil conflicts (i.e. Aris Velouchiotis).[3]
Public memory
The municipality of Athens, under mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos, erected in 2000 a commemorative plaque at the foothills of the Acropolis, as well as in the Presidential Guard. In his speech during the revelation of the monument, Avramopoulos mentioned that Koukidis is honored despite the fact that historical research does not lend credence to the actual existence of him or his supposed deed and that the more important question is if the Greeks of today want him to exist.[3]
References
- IOS 2000, p. 1.
- IOS 2000, p. 2.
- Fleischer 2006, p. 272-3, note 152.
Sources
- Fleischer, Hagen (2006). "Authoritarian Rule in Greece (1936-1974) and Its Heritage". In Borejsza, Jerzy; Ziemer, Klaus (eds.). Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes in Europe: Legacies and Lessons from the Twentieth Century. New York: Bergham. ISBN 978-1571816412. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
- IOS (22 October 2000). "Κωσταντίνος Κουκίδης: Ο ήρωας φάντασμα" [Kostantinos Koukidis:The phantom Hero]. Eleftherotypia. p. 1. Archived from the original on 21 January 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
