Yesterday the 21st of April 2021 was the anniversary of the establishment of the hated junta, a dark day for those living in Greece and Greeks abroad.
For Greece, the 21st of April 1967, was the day that the army overthrew the legal government and established a 7-year long dictatorship. For most Greeks, it is a day we wish to forget. For the people who were jailed and tortured, it is a date that brings back dark memories and nightmares, even after half a century, Even more, applies to families whose loved ones were cruelly murdered by the junta.
From early January 1967, many politicians and the young King Constantine feared a revolt by the army and the imposition of a military dictatorship. It was expected to be a coup by the generals, however, it was three lower-ranking officers, who took everyone by surprise, when, in one day, they took over the power. It was Colonel George Papadopoulos, Brigadier-General Stylianos Pattakos, and Colonel Nikolaos Makarezos who ordered the tanks to roll into Athens. The army took over the most crucial areas of the capital. Then, they arrested the key politicians and Leftenant-General Georgios Spandidakis the Commander-in-Chief of the Greek army, and other senior officers.
On the morning of the 21st April 1967, Greeks woke up to a nightmare: the rumbling noise of tanks, constant staccato rifle shots, and military music on the radio. Then came the announcement: "The Hellenic Armed Forces undertake the Governance of the Country."
Mikis Theodorakis
After the politicians, many individuals, both prominent people and ordinary citizens, who belonged to Greece's Left were arrested in a methodical and brutal manner. The 10.000 had already been placed on a list by the military. The rounding up included personalities like composer Mikis Theodorakis and many artists and academics.
The excuse of the "Colonels" was that Greece was in great danger to be falling into the hands of communists, which was a gross lie. The 10.000 "blacklisted" individuals were sent to Yaros island concentration camp. Yaros was an island for political prisoners since the occupation of Greece by the Romans, it is also called "devil's island" due to its inhuman connotations.
The least fortunate of the thousands of political prisoners suffered brutal tortures leaving them marked for life.
The junta suspended 11 articles of Greece's constitution to establish the regime. Freedom of speech ceased to exist, while strict censorship was instituted for radio, newspapers, and later for television.
Realizing that they were isolated from the rest of Europe and condemned by most Greeks, especially by those who were in self-imposed exile, the junta made some efforts of being more democratic, more human, more likable. They held large public celebrations on the anniversary of the 21st of April each year.
The resistance inside Greece and abroad continued throughout the seven long years of the colonels' rule. Politicians, intellectuals, artists, and academics, who lived abroad, joined their voices to tell the world that the colonels were violating human rights and they held Greece captive inside their ruthless regime.
When the junta finally succumbed to the anger of the repressed Greek people and the outcry from around the globe, they decided to call elections. First colonel Papadopoulos appointed Spyros Markezinis as Prime Minister and himself as President of the Republic.
Some people believed that there would be democratic elections, unlike the rigged 1968 referendum to change the constitution. No one will ever know what would have happened if it hadn't been for the uprising of the Polytechnic School of Athens.
In November 1973, a few hundred students of the Politechneio and other Greek citizens, exhausted with the repression of the regime, occupied the building of the National Technical University of Athens and demanded the colonels to leave power. The events of the 17th of November when the premises of the university were cruelly cleared by the military, tragically, left several students dead.
The turmoil gave the opportunity to Colonel D. Ioannides to topple Papadopoulos, on November the 25th, with yet another coup. His ambition was to overthrow the President of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios so Greece and Cyprus would unite, unfortunately causing the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, on the 20th July 1974 and the tragic and frightful aftermath for Greek Cypriots and Greeks all over the world.
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