The German debt to Greece

Today is the 84th anniversary of that fateful day, 6 April 1941. Today marks the 84th anniversary of that fateful day of 6 April 1941. It was a Sunday, like today, when the super-heavy Nazi boot stormed our homeland at dawn. And then, for 1,625 days, the Greeks were martyred under a peculiar genocidal regime of unimaginable barbarity.

The human losses during the Nazi occupation are estimated at 330,000, or 4.8% of the Greek population at the time, who were martyred, slaughtered, burned alive or even starved to death in the frozen streets of the winter of 1941-42. The tragedy was completed with the granting of the occupation loan to Germany in 1944. The staple food of the Greeks during the occupation was curly kale, while galloping inflation completed the biblical catastrophe.

100 villages were razed to the ground and 640,000 people were made homeless. By the end of the Nazi occupation, most children were suffering from adenopathy or other diseases caused by the unspeakable hardships.

The infrastructure of the economy was literally destroyed, trade collapsed with the confiscation of the merchant fleet, and as the Nazis left the country they trampled on what was left so that their opponents would not find it.

The Nazi nightmare ended on 12 October 1944, with bells ringing in despair and Greeks pouring into the streets with tears of joy in their eyes. The country was devastated, but with liberation and, of course, the expected German reparations, the Greeks were eager to heal their wounds and lead their country into development.

Unfortunately, development was not what they expected, as the German debt was never paid. At first we were told to wait for the unification of the two Germanies, and we thought that was a reasonable request. That reunification took place in October 1990, 35 years from today.

What has happened in these 35 years? What happened is unbelievable and belongs in novels of sick fantasy and horror.

In particular, the German debt has never been paid, despite the unification of the two Germanies. And in 2009, when Greece was facing liquidity problems, which frightened German and French banks because they were loaded with Greek paper, the EU turned to us for help, including a request for IMF assistance.

So let us see what this help consists of.

Greece’s debt in 2009, when it entered the 1st Memorandum, was estimated at 270 billion euros. The total debt of the country that joined the eurozone in 2009 was 270 billion euros. Germany’s occupational debt to Greece is estimated at around 1 trillion, with interest over decades, which is a multiple of ours. But instead of Germany, as the de facto head of the EU, finally paying off its enormous debt to Greece, we were given a loan of 300 billion euros, condemning Greece to an austerity programme that completely excludes growth. In other words, it was a second catastrophe.

The EU proudly proclaims that never in economic history has such a large loan been given to an indebted country to help it out. But it fails to mention that this country, Greece, owed a huge debt to Germany, which, if it had paid it off, Greece would not have needed the EU loan of 300 billion euros.

And there is more. In order to completely protect itself, apparently, from any demands by Greece for repayment of the occupation debt, Germany inadvertently forced us to sign a clause in the 2nd Memorandum of Understanding on the non-negotiation of debts. Outrageous indeed. And let me add that such a condition would certainly not be accepted even by the last and totally impoverished country in the world. But it was accepted by Greece, a European country of the 21st century and a member of the eurozone.

Thus, for the second time, Greece has been plunged into a long and total disaster by Germany, which did not want to pay its debts. I think it is clear that Greece would never have signed the three criminal agreements if Germany, which is now preparing to rearm, had paid its debts as it should have done.

The explanation for the non-payment of the German debt to Greece rests on two pillars. Whenever there is a discussion about its debt to Greece, Germany either remains silent or claims that the issue has been settled. Everyone knows that these are war crimes and that Greece’s claims are legally active and enforceable. And on the part of Greece, unfortunately, its claims are expressed in a lukewarm and timid manner so as not to offend Germany and thus maintain a friendly atmosphere between the two countries. In other words, a friendly atmosphere at the cost of the destruction of our country and the impoverishment of our people.

It is clear, however, that the demand for German reparations does not fall into the category of compliments to Germany. On the contrary, the thousands of martyred victims of the Nazis and the Greek people, who are bleeding and starving to pay the instalments of a loan and a debt that is not actually owed to them, but to them, are demanding justice.

So let us realise that we have been a great victim for many decades.  Let us unite and support our leaders in demanding the German debt in a way that befits an independent state, not a vassal state. To shake up the world with our perfectly justified demand. And to remind the Germans that good accounts are the condition of equal friendship. was a Sunday, like any other Sunday.