The Greek military Junta under Papadopoulos took control of Greece from1967 until 1974. It was a series of right-wing military governments and dictators that ruled Greece following a coup d'état led by a group of colonels on the 21st of April 1967.
The Junta exiled thousands on the grounds that they were communists and/or "enemies of the country". Most of these people where involved in resisting the Junta, through protests and helping refugees who were escaping Greece.  But thousands faced execution. These included: Melina Mercouri, actor and singer, Mikis Theodorakis who was a famous composer of resistance songs. They were not allowed to share their talents due to the fact that freedom of expression was banned. Furthermore a lot of people tried to hide “enemies of the country” knowing the consequences were extremely severe. Many people risked their lives and many died doing so.
To protest against these brutal laws and government actions the students from all over Athens locked themselves inside the Athens Technical University, hung posters up and tried to be heard on the radio as they raised their voices against the dictatorship. The dictators did try to stop them, but when the women and men of Athens began giving supplies to the students to help with their protests, they saw a nation uniting against them. The Junta didn’t approve of this so they declared if anyone was caught passing the students supplies they would be put on trial. This was an attempt to force the protestors out of the university, by limiting the amount of supplies that they could get. Student protests have a long history in Greece.  Papadopoulos, who was the leader of the Junta for some time, did try to discredit and suppress the students and their attempts against his regime, but their actions allowed the students to act and talk more freely. The Junta could see that the nation was uniting against them, and seeing this panicked and reacted violently.
In the early hours of Saturday, 17 November 1973, Papadopoulos sent the army, including two tanks, to intimidate the students. But his attempts did not scare the students, as they stood tall against him and the army. Students were hanging from the gates and fences chanting. Shortly after 03:00 a.m., under almost complete cover of darkness, a tank forced itself through the gates of the Athens Polytechnic. Tragically many young men and women lost their lives that day. The soldier that drove the tank later committed suicide, as he couldn’t live knowing that he had killed so many innocent students. Later that morning, grieving families, friends and neighbours’ visited the site to commemorate the students, their fight, morality and their bravery.
The 17th of November is a day to honor the student’s struggles and bravery. It is a day to remember the loss and sacrifice of so many lives during the Junta, it is a day to celebrate Greece’s freedom.