Iro Konstantopoulou was born on July 16th 1927, in Athens and became one of Greece’s heroines during the German Occupation.
At thirteen years of age, when the Nazi Germans invaded Greece, despite her young age, she loved her country and became involved with the resistance.
When she was arrested for the first time, her rich father managed to set her free.
A little before the withdrawal of the Germans, she participated in the blowing up of a train that was transporting ammunition, and she was arrested again, but this time no one could save her.
She was tortured for three weeks by the Nazis in order for her to tell them who else was behind the train blowing but she didn’t give in to them.
Iro was executed on September 5, 1944, at the Chaïdari camp, along with forty-nine other prisoners.
They shot her 17 times, symbolising her age and shown as an example by Germans, as to what will happen to others who would also resist.
Konstantopoulou's actions during the war were commemorated by a statue of a young girl in Terpsithea Square in Piraeus.
In 1981, her life was depicted in the Greek film '17 Bullets for an Angel: The True Story of Hero Konstantopoulou'.
Nelly’s passed away on this day, August 18, 1998 at the age of 99
