Greece demands 279bn(Euros) from Germany in Nazi War Reparations

UK Telegraph ^ | 4-7-2015 | Mehreen Khan

[tcrlaf]

Greece has demanded nearly €279bn in reparations from Germany, more than the value of its current bail-out, as the cash-strapped country continues to pursue compensation for crimes carried out by the Third Reich.

A parliamentary committee established by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras put an official number on the claim, which includes the cost of a forced Nazi loan made by the Bank of Greece and the return of archaeological treasures.

Greece suffered a brutal occupation at the hands of the Third Reich in 1941, with over 40,000 people starving to death in Athens alone.

SNIP---

Berlin moved to quickly to reject the fresh claims. Vice chancellor Sigmar Gabriel described the proposal as "dumb" and said it risked conflating Greece's current debt problems with historical grievances.

“If you bring two areas that have nothing to do with one another, both heavily burdened issues politically, into a single context, then you make it damned easy for those from whom you want something simply to exit the debate and say ‘you can’t do that’,” said Mr Gabriel.

[wolf78]

Both before and after the war my family was there in US State department roles.

As what? Communist spies? Progagandists for Stalin?

The thing is: Your emphasis might differ, but you simply can't argue the facts.

A. You claimed there were NO reparations. Yet there were SOME reparations. Whether they were appropriate, sufficient or just, that's a different story.

B. It's also true that France stuck with a policy of dismantling German factories at a time when the US and the UK already shifted towards Marshall plan thinking.

C. You say that the US RECONSTRUCTED Europe. Yet it's also a fact that simply giving money doesn't equal success. The UK got the Marshall Fund money as a gift, and look what happened: Before Thatcher England was in horrible shape economically.

D. Any economist will agree that trade opportunities, access to credit and patent treaties played a much more vital role than just money alone.

E. One should also not forget the psychological aspect of U.S. support during the Berlin blockade and the normalization of diplomatic relations with the West (UN membership etc.)

[Regulator]

Ha ha you’re hilarious Wolfie.

On the contrary, Grandad was good friends with Jan and Tomas Masryk which of course is one of the foundations of our family’s long opposition to Soviet Communism.

At the time Jan was murdered by the KGB (er, “fell” from the window), Grandad was busy running DP camps all over Northern Europe. Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians and even Germans from the DDR were sent West by him. He ended up married to an Estonian, who is step Grandma.

So stick your smarmy comment where the sun don’t shine.

PS: Mom actually got to see Der Fuhrer, part of the fun of being a kid in Prague then. Said he was a shrimpy guy with two SS guards who stood in front of him as he stood on a balcony. Real fearless leader, huh? Scared of a bunch of schoolkids.

Of course the Czechs did get Heydrich. Guess he was right to be concerned.

[wolf78]

Which was less in size than the land that the Soviets stole from Poland.

So go ask Russia... after all, the attacked Poland as well. (Only difference is that the Red Fascists got away with their quest for Lebensraum.)

Sarcasm aside, I really hope you see what I'm getting at with my remarks. History is a can of worms. In the real world (i.e. not in Greek La-La-Land) it's often simply not feasible to open it up.

Take Poland: Today the Polish economy profits from trade with its western neighbor to a degree that the Polish and German economies are more and more integrated. Poland's economy is growing at 4% a year. For Poland trade with the Eurozone is 40% of it's GDP and one third of that is with Germany alone. And both sides are better off for it. That's why talking reparations makes as little sense as returning Silesia and Pomerania.

[the scotsman]

Hells bells, you mean someone here at FR thinks we did something right?. LOL

[the scotsman]

‘The UK got the Marshall Fund money as a gift, and look what happened: Before Thatcher England was in horrible shape economically.’

Rubbish. Britain had bad periods 1945-1979, but also periods of great growth.