Greece’s defence ministry on Monday revealed its study into formerly classified Whrmacht papers kept in the United States. Efi Paschalidou from the Greek army history department (DIS) told AFP that the papers lifted the veil on an “endless list” of atrocities, including looting, the number of Cretans to be executed for every dead German soldier (10:1) to advice on which brothel to use.

Weekly casualty reports were provided, referring to slain Greeks however these did not state whether those killed were women or children. The reports refer to tons of goods confiscated by Germans as Greece starved to death. One weekly dispatch states: “There must be no hesitation, even towards the families… suspects must be executed on the spot.” It was explained that hesitation would cost “German blood.”

Other findings show that the few Cretans who agreed to work for the German invaders were paid less than the cost of a loaf of bread. Meanwhile, in Thessaloniki special brothels were set up just for the German troops as it was stated that most local women had “venereal diseases.”

The recently revealed documents that come from Hitler’s forces cover the 4-year period from Greece’s invasion in 1941, the battle of Crete, occupation of Athens and efforts to oppress Greek resistance that continued until 1944. German-speaking Greek soldiers, supervised by experts, worked long hours to translate the material – in the form of 162 microfilms – whose handwriting was sometimes hard to decipher.

The microfilms were provided by the US National Archives from 2005 through to 2007. Greece now plans to use this information to push forth its claim for German reparations.