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'''Konstantinos Koukidis''' ({{lang-el|Κωνσταντίνος Κουκίδης}}) was the alleged [[Greece|Greek]] [[Evzones|Evzone]] on flag guard duty on 27 April 1941 at the [[Athens]] [[Acropolis of Athens|Acropolis]], at the beginning of the [[Axis occupation of Greece during World War II]]. After the first Germans climbed up the Acropolis, an officer ordered him to surrender, give up the Greek flag and raise the [[Nazi Germany|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.<ref name="Manchester2013">{{cite book|author=William Manchester|title=The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America, 1932-1972|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1TYVAgAAQBAJ|date=1973|publisher=RosettaBooks|isbn=978-0-7953-3557-0}}</ref> A commemorative plaque near the spot marks the event.
During a television programme on 26 April 2000, the then mayor of Athens Dimitris Avramopoulos, stated that there was no specific documentary evidence on Koukidis or his deed. It was noted that a heroic legend of this nature had been important in maintaining national morale under a harsh occupation. On the same occasion, Lieutenant General Ioannis Kakoudakis, Director of the Department of the History of the Army, reported that an investigation had failed to confirm the existence of this soldier.<ref>[http://www.iospress.gr/ios2000/ios20001022a.htm Ο ήρωας φάντασμα], iospress.gr; accessed 8 December 2014. {{in lang|el}}</ref> ''[[The Daily Mail]]'' original article about Koukidis in 1941 as well as relevant discussion is available online.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
==See also==
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