Russia year 1959 Manolis Glezos stamps MNH

In 1959, two postage stamps were issued by the Soviet Union honoring Manolis Glezos, a Greek communist activist and resistance fighter against the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II.

The stamps featured a portrait of Glezos and depicted his famous act of defiance in 1941 when he and a friend climbed up the Acropolis in Athens and tore down the Nazi swastika flag that was flying there.

Some key details about these 1959 Soviet stamps honoring Manolis Glezos:

• They had face values of 10 kopeks and 40 kopeks
• The stamps were part of a set issued to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Greece’s liberation from Nazi German occupation in 1944
• They featured a black and white portrait image of Glezos along with the dates “1941-1944” printed on them
• The lower values showed Glezos climbing up to remove the Nazi flag, while the higher value depicted him waving the Greek flag defiantly

By issuing these stamps, the Soviet Union was honoring Glezos as a hero of the communist resistance movement against the Nazis during WWII when Greece was an occupied territory. His bold act of tearing down the swastika from the Acropolis became an iconic symbol of Greek defiance against fascist oppression.