A recent visit by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Greece on the anniversary of the Greek national holiday of October 28th marking Greece’s entry into World War II, astounding defeat of Mussolini’s forces, and world-inspiring resistance against the subsequent Nazi invasion was filled with plenty of lip service lamenting the destruction inflicted upon Greece during the Nazi occupation from 1941-1944. Sadly, these words were hollow, as President Steinmeier reiterated his predecessors’ position and quashed any talk about German reparations to Greece.
It’s important to remember that Greece scored the first victory against the Axis Powers in 1940, when it successfully repelled Mussolini’s offensive, ultimately requiring the Nazis to divert precious supplies and troops to Greece. Greece’s heroics were as important off the battlefield as they were on it, because their David vs. Goliath narrative inspired the world and gave the Allied forces the confidence that the Axis powers could be defeated.
Nonetheless, Greece paid a heavy toll for its valiant resistance. During the subsequent Nazi occupation, unspeakable atrocities were committed, while the nation’s infrastructure was destroyed and its treasures looted.
In recent years, Greece has called on Germany to provide reparations for its war crimes, but to no avail. Specifically, the Nazis compelled the puppet government they installed to take out a loan, whose funds were used to sustain the German occupying forces (sic)! Interest and fees aside, the loan totaled 568 million Deutschemarks in 1942, or roughly 6 billion euro today, as adjusted for inflation.
A separate claim involves reparations for the human casualties and material damages inflicted by the Nazis during this period. These include mass killings of Greek citizens across Greece as punishment for continued resistance.
Over 300,000 Greeks are believed to have died during the Nazi Occupation due to famine and hardships. More than 100 cities and villages across Greece were burned, while 56,225 innocent civilians were massacred by the Nazis. Approximately 105,000 people were taken into captivity, most of whom died in concentration camps – including the vast majority of Greek Jewry. A whopping ten percent of the population was left disabled, 75 percent of children suffered diseases, which continued to affect them years after Greece’s liberation, and one in two families mourned victims killed by Axis occupying forces. The total losses to human life sustained by Greece during the Occupation is estimated at 1,106,000 people, which translates to 13.5 percent of the entire population – the highest in all of Europe.
Extensive damages were caused to 1,770 villages, while 400,000 homes were burned by the Nazis. The Germans destroyed 70 percent of the nation’s ports, as well as the greater part of Greece’s roads, railways, bridges, and tunnels. Three-quarters of the Greek merchant fleet was sunk, while 81 percent of the transportation means and 51 percent of public and private businesses were seized. Over 8,500 ancient artifacts were looted from museums and archaeological sites and taken to Germany.
As early as 1946, the Paris Peace Conference had set an approximate figure for reparations due to Greece at around 7.5 billion dollars – equal to approximately 113 billion dollars today. The German publication Spiegel estimates the current cost of reparations at 162 billion euro (108 billion for the reconstruction of infrastructure and 54 for the compulsory loan). In April 2015, a multi-partisan committee of the Greek Parliament placed reparations at 278.7 billion euros – with the figure well exceeding 300 billion euros today due to inflation.
Germany has consistently tried to shirk its responsibility by arguing that this issue was definitively resolved via the Treaty of London in 1953, which merely postponed this obligation until a peace treaty could be signed following Germany’s reunification and economic recovery. This occurred in 1990 with the Two Plus Four Agreement, opening the way for Greece to officially demand war reparations.
Germany’s continued refusal to make good on its historical obligations keeps a tragic chapter from its Nazi past open today. Unfortunately, its unapologetic hegemonic tendencies are evident even today, both in the unreasonable demands it placed upon Greece during the economic crisis of the previous decade or its handling of the migration crisis today (i.e. unilateral suspension of the Shengen Agreement). Greece has suffered a great deal at the hands of German state officials both during WWII, as well as in recent years.
It must retain its resolve in demanding reparations and expose the double-standard evidenced by Germany’s mistreatment of its supposed allies. As the European Union is faced with a slew of challenges that threaten its very existence, one of its leading member-states, Germany, must either fundamentally change or risk allowing the entire European project to unravel. Its unfair treatment of Greece is merely a symptom of a deeper problem associated with its hegemonic mindset.
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