The Greek government points out that it had to help bail out Germany after World War II, and it's time that Germany pay its own debts as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras heads to Berlin.
The Nazis deported Greek Jews to death camps in Poland back in 1943, even forcing the Jews to pay for their train fare, and now leaders in Greece say it’s time for Germany to pay that bill.
The new government in Athens is trying to deal with a massive debt crisis that has gripped the nation, and the nation is attempting to lay a guilt trip on Germany’s World War II actions ahead of a visit on Monday by Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to Berlin, according to an Associated Press report.
Greek governments have demanded war reparations before, but Tsipras is a radical leftist who plans to make the issue front and center of bailout negotiations with Germany, attempting to shame the German government into making up for atrocities committed seven decades ago. Germany, meanwhile, dismisses the demands as something that was settled many years ago in post-war accords.
Greece has already benefited from billions of euros in rescue loans from the European Union after the country was near declaring bankruptcy in 2010. Germany has been the largest contributor, and has pressured Greece to accept austerity measures as a condition for receiving more money.
But Greeks counter that Germany received a massive bailout themselves after World War II despite destroying much of Europe, and Greece was one of the countries that had to reach into its coffers to deal with Germany’s tremendous debt in 1953.
Collecting on Nazi war crimes from Germany hasn’t been easy. In 2011, the European Court of Human Rights threw out a lawsuit that was brought by survivors of the Distomo massacre, with the judges concluding that states can’t be sued by individuals. However, the state of Greece may have better luck, especially considering a 1942 loan that Greece feels need to be repaid, which the Nazis actually paid back installments of before their occupation of the country ended, indicating they felt they owed the money. That debt would be equivalent to a whopping 6 billion euros today.
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