Guardian: Greece to continue its pursuit for WW2 damages from Germany

Athens says destruction played a major part in delaying Greece’s development as a modern state

British Guardian reports that the Greek government will continue to push for World War 2 damages from Germany for the Nazi occupation. In an article entitled ” Greece reiterates claim of €288bn for damages under Nazi occupation”, the piece says the leftists-led government will pursue with a renewed vigour its quest for WW2 damages and repayment of a loan forcibly extracted by the occupying forces, despite Germany openly rejecting the claims.

Athens vowed to move forward with its campaign only two weeks after Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier formally apologised during a state visit to Greece about his forefathers’ atrocities.
“This is an issue that psychologically still rankles, and as a government we are absolutely determined to raise it,” said Costas Douzinas, who heads the Greek parliament’s defence and foreign relations committee.
The leftist-led government is expected to press ahead with the claims after MPs debate what has been described as the first all-inclusive parliamentary inquiry into the damage wrought under Nazi occupation.
The report, compiled by a cross-party committee over several years, estimates that compensation of €288bn (£256bn) remains outstanding for the destruction Greece sustained between 1941 and 1944, the years the country was subject to Third Reich rule. It also calculates that a further €11bn is owed for a 476m Reichsmark loan Hitler’s forces seized from the Greek central bank in 1943.

more at theguardian.com