A great deal has been said regarding the forced loan that Nazi Germany took from Greek reserves during the German WW2 Occupation. The official figures and numbers, this translates to:

■ German occupation forces destroyed over 100 cities and villages around Greece

■ Nazis executed 56,225 innocent civilians

■ Over 105,000 hostages were taken by Nazis and put in concentration camps where only a few survived

■ Germans caused damages to over 1,770 Greek villages

■ Germans shot down and damaged and destroyed over 400,000 houses

■ Germans destroyed 70% of Greek port installations, the largest part of the road and rail network as well as bridges and tunnels

■ Germans dunked 75% of the Greek merchant fleet

■ Germans plundered 80% of the transport system and 51% of public and private enterprizes

■ Half of Greek families had victims as a result of the German occupation

■ 10% of the total population was maimed as a direct result of German activities

■ 75% of children had illnesses caused by the German occupation that continued to trouble them even after Greece’s liberataion

■ The total loss as a result of execution, hunger, illness and low birth rate during the Occupation is estimated at 1,106,000 people or 13.5% of the Greek population (the highest percentage rate in Europe)

■ Germans plundered Greek museums and archeological sites and it is estimated that 8,500 archeological treasures were taken to Germany from Greece causing the country’s bemusement regarding Berlin’s call for Moscow to return artworks taken by the Red Army in 1945 while refusing to discuss the return of its own stolen artefacts from Greece