No less than … 278.7 billion euros is the sum cited by the Greek finance ministry in calculating war reparations dating to the German occupation of Greece during WWII (April 1941-October 1944).

Alternate FinMin Dimitris Mardas cited the figure a statement to a recently established Parliamentary committee of inquiry established to examine the country’s external debt.

Of that figure, 10.3 billion euros is the figure calculated for the forced occupation “loan” taken by the Axis from the Greek state’s coffers in 1942. The rest of the figure deals with compensation to the relatives of victims or for damages to the country’s infrastructure during the occupation.

“Based on our calculations, the debt linked with German war reparations totals 278.7 billion euros, of which 10.3 billion is the so-called ‘forced loan’ … at the Paris (peace treaty) conference of 1946 (1947) this figure had been set at 341.2 billion dollars at the time,” Mardas said.