November 17 – “Polytechnio Day” is celebrated especially in Greece

In the photo, Manolis Glezos celebrates Politiechnio Day for the last time. Archive photo

Outside of Greece, few people know about this event, and even in Athens itself, foreign students of Greek universities with a very indifferent look pass by posters with tanks, reminiscent of the events of 50 years ago. Perhaps the best thing about Polytechnio Greek students and the police department know that every year they “unravel” the consequences of the hardness of student memory.

In Greece, this date is special: November 17 the country celebrates memorable eventsthat happened on this day in 1973 at the National Polytechnic University of Metzoviosince it falls on the day student protests against the military junta of the “black colonels”.

Polytechnic is not a holiday, but it’s not a wake either. This is rather a traditional political action with Greek national overtones. I would even draw a parallel between Polytechnic and Happy Okha, because both days are the result of a Greek protest against what they considered unacceptable. But if Okha Day is a protest against an external enemy, then with Polytechnic everything is much more complicated. Then the Greeks went against the Greeks, and, ultimately, 28 people died, 128 were seriously injured and more than 1000 more went down in history as “victims”. However, these are approximate figures; exact data about the victims in those days still remains a mystery.

How do the Greeks celebrate this day?

Schools hold festive events where children read poems and draw pictures dedicated to this event. People of the older generation, who remember or took part in the events of distant 1973, come to the Polytechnio building to pay tribute to the memory of the dead or gather in the café, discussing the times of their youth. Students and their peers march through the streets of Greek cities.

But there is also a special category of people in Greece who celebrate this day with fights, pogroms and clashes with the police. In fact, not a single year has passed since 1974 when this day passed without any incident. The author of these lines did not have the chance to be in Greece until 2001, but even then the local media discussed this event in nothing other than police chronicles. This is still happening today…

Chronicle of events

November 14, 1973

Students from the city of Athens took over the Polytechnic. Their slogan: BREAD – EDUCATION – FREEDOM – NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE (ΨΩΜΙ – ΠΑΙΔΕΙΑ – ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΙΑ – ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΑΝΕΞΑΡΤΗΣΙΑ).

19:00. More than 1500 students decided to stay overnight at the Polytechnic. A coordinating council was created from representatives of all faculties, which established control over slogans, prohibiting those that did not convey the actual demands of students. Using bullhorns and a small transmitter, the committee began to broadcast the slogans of the rebel students and began collecting food, medicine, etc. Tens of thousands of Athenian residents gathered around the university in support.

November 15, 1973

Students filled the courtyard and buildings of the Polytechnic, students from the city of Athens approached the university directly from their schools, bringing more and more food, medicine and other necessary things to the struggling students. The Coordination Council announced that the performance at the Polytechnic will be anti-fascist and anti-imperialist character.

A new transmitter has come into operation, covering the whole of Attica. All listeners were overcome with overwhelming excitement and a sense of pride: “Polytechnio speaking! Polytechnio speaks! The student radio station of the Greek freedom fighters is on the air. Down with the junta! Down with Papadopoulos! Americans – get out of the country! No to fascism! The junta will fall at the hands of the people… Everyone take to the streets, support us in the name of your freedom!”

In turn, students in Thessaloniki and Patras also occupied university buildings. Peasants from Megara headed to Athens… Revolutionary protests began in the Athenian district of Egaleo, followed by Piraeus… All of Greece sided with the students who rose up to fight.

November 16, 1973

More than 150,000 people lined up around the Polytechnic, chanting along with freedom-loving students: “Down with the junta, the junta will fall by the hands of the people!”

19:30 – The dictatorial government gave the order to strike the mass of people standing around the Polytechnic. Tear bombs fell incessantly, creating an unbearable atmosphere. People began to light fires to neutralize the effects of the gas. Bullets whistled, killing the first victims inside and outside the fence of the Polytechnic. The people began building barricades without retreating a single step.

24:00 – The army entered Athens, accompanied by tanks, occupying strategically important positions.

November 17, 1973

02:00 – The tanks approached the Polytechnic building. “Soldiers, we are unarmed, we are brothers, don’t shoot at us! Join us!” – the students shouted.

03:00 – One of the tanks knocked down the iron gates of the Polytechnic, which the students had climbed. The army and police entered the courtyard. Many students were arrested and taken to the military police, where they were tortured. Some soldiers came to the students’ defense, helping them escape. Street fighting continued around the Polytechnic until the morning.

11:00 – The power of the military was restored, but the student uprising at the Polytechnic was the beginning of its end. The uprising of the people and the crime committed against the nation led to the overthrow of the dictatorship.

Since then, on this day, the country’s students honor the memory of their fallen comrades, and for the entire Greek people, November 17 has become one of those sacred dates that characterize their perseverance and steadfastness in the struggle for their freedom and independence.

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