Athens was brought to a standstill on Monday as tens of thousands of people flooded the streets to mark the 52nd anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising, with the historic slogan “Bread – Education – Health – Freedom” echoing through the city centre.
Authorities estimated more than 15,000 demonstrators joined the main march in the capital, while large rallies were also held in Thessaloniki and other cities. From early morning, the gates of the National Technical University of Athens (the Polytechnic) on Patission Street were open for wreath-laying and tributes. The President of the Republic Konstantinos Tasoulas, Athens mayor Haris Doukas and party leaders were among those who honoured the dead of November 1973.
Shortly after 13:00 the gates closed and organisations began forming columns for the traditional march to the U.S. Embassy, seen as a symbol of American support for the 1967–74 military dictatorship. At the head of the main procession were the Association of Imprisoned and Exiled Resistance Fighters (SFEA), student unions from the Polytechnic and the University of Athens, and youth organisations.
As every year, the student wing PASP carried the iconic bloodstained Greek flag associated with the uprising, reaching the U.S. Embassy around 16:20. A separate, massive bloc of the Communist Party (KKE) and its youth wing KNE set off from Omonoia Square with banners proclaiming: “The flame of November forever alive. Organisation and struggle for overthrow.”
This year’s march was marked by strong internationalist overtones. Numerous student banners carried the Palestinian flag, and chants of “Freedom for Palestine” mixed with classic Polytechnic slogans such as “The Polytechnic lives, it calls us to struggle” and “Uprisings don’t belong in museums.” In Exarchia, primary school children staged their own small march, shouting “Bread – Education – Freedom,” moving many onlookers.
Athens, however, was under an unprecedented security lockdown. More than 5,000 police officers were deployed, including riot units, motorcycle squads, anti-terror officers and plainclothes agents, backed by drones and a helicopter feeding live images to the police operations centre. Water cannon vehicles stood by, while buses of riot police ringed Parliament and the U.S. Embassy. Several central metro stations were closed from midday and extensive traffic restrictions were imposed across the downtown area.
Police conducted sweeping “preventive” checks from the morning around the Polytechnic and key junctions. By early evening, authorities reported 47 detentions and 11 arrests in Athens. In Thessaloniki, six people were detained and two arrested around the commemorative march. Rights groups and opposition parties criticised the tactic as heavy-handed.
PASOK angrily denounced the preventive detention of the secretary of its student wing at Panteion University, who was reportedly stopped while simply carrying chairs. The party demanded to know “who gave the orders for blind preventive detentions and what purpose they serve.”
The commemorations also had a strong anti-fascist tone. Magda Fyssa, mother of murdered anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas, laid flowers at the Polytechnic in memory of those who fought the junta. SYRIZA figures, including party leader Socrates Famellos and former prime minister Alexis Tsipras, stressed that the demands for “Bread, Education, Freedom” remain timely amid low wages, threats to public education and health, and concerns over the rule of law. Zoe Konstantopoulou of Course of Freedom and Yanis Varoufakis of MeRA25 used their messages to attack what they described as authoritarian and pro‑NATO policies of the current government.
Background: Why November 17 Still Matters in Greece
The annual march commemorates the student-led uprising at the Athens Polytechnic in November 1973 against the military junta that had ruled Greece since 1967. Students occupied the campus and set up a clandestine radio station broadcasting the call “Here Polytechnic” and demanding “Bread, Education, Freedom.”
In the early hours of 17 November, a tank smashed through the main gate. At least 24 people were killed in and around the campus according to official figures, though many believe the true number is higher. The bloodshed shocked Greek society and is widely seen as the beginning of the end for the dictatorship, which collapsed the following year after the Cyprus crisis.
Since the restoration of democracy, November 17 has become a powerful symbol of anti-dictatorial struggle, social rights and resistance to foreign interference. The annual march to the U.S. Embassy reflects enduring anger at Washington’s backing of the colonels.
Today, the slogans of 1973 are invoked in debates over austerity, inequality, privatisation, police violence and the rise of the far right. For many Greeks, especially the young, the Polytechnic is not a closed chapter of history but a living reference point – a reminder that democracy and social justice are won and defended in the streets as well as at the ballot box.
Photo: Efimerida ton Syntakton