Greek Cops Hospitalize Manolis Glezos WWII Anti-Nazi Veteran

I hope that 87 year old comrade Manolis Glezos is recovering from his ordeal at the hands of the Greek anti-riot police. The veteran hero of the fight against nazi occupation of Greece

(who in 1959 had a Soviet postage stamp issued to commemorate his actions see below)

received a direct spray of tear gas in to his eyes in the recent anti-government austerity protests in Athen. One Greek commentator pithily observed

The point is that Glezos , fell wounded in front of [the Monument of] the Unknown Soldier, struck by a greek employee of the Greek State, at the same time that the Head of [that] State was begging in Germany

On May 30, 1941, he and Apostolos Santas climbed on the Acropolis and tore down the Swastika, which had been there since April 27, 1941, when the Nazi forces had entered Athens. That was the first resistance act that took place in Greece, and probably among the very first ones in Europe. It inspired not only the Greeks, but all subjected people, to resist against the occupation, and established them both as two international anti-Nazi heroes.
The Nazi regime responded by sentencing Glezos and Santas to death in absentia. Glezos was arrested by the German occupation forces on March 24, 1942, and he was subjected to imprisonment and torture. As a result of this treatment, he was gravely affected by tuberculosis. He was arrested on April 21, 1943 by the Italian occupation forces and spent three months in jail. In February 7, 1944 he was arrested again, this time by Greek Nazi collaborators. He spent another seven and a half months in jail, until he finally escaped on September 21 of the same year.

I only hope that Manolis recovers from his ordeal, and sincerely hope that every one of us are able to display such vim and vitality when we reach our 87th year!