Germany owes Greece nearly 279 billion euros (7.6 trillion crowns) in damages for the Nazi occupation of World War II. This was stated by Deputy Finance Minister of Greece Dimitris Mardas before a parliamentary commission created by the government of the current Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, which was supposed to take care of German reparations.
Emotional campaigns for war reparations have been waged in Greece for decades by governments and citizens alike. But Athens has not been able to calculate the total claims.
Tsipras blamed Germany for the suffering the Greeks had to endure after negotiations between Greece and its international creditors over debt repayments.
parliamentary committee made few days ago also dealing with the issue of repaying the so-called occupation loans, which Nazi Germany obtained without interest from the Greek central bank. According to Mardas, its current value is 10.3 billion euros (282.7 billion crowns).
Germany rejected all attempts at compensation, saying it had fulfilled its past obligations. For example, in 1960 he paid 115 million German marks (now 60 million euros) to Athens. According to the German government, Athens’ request was simply an attempt to divert attention from the serious financial problems facing the country.
