FAQ: How justified is the Greek claims?

Greece Has still claims to financial compensation from the German side for war crimes? What calls upon the government of Tsipras, exactly? And what legal opportunities you would have?

By Kolja Schwartz and Frank Bräutigam, ARD-right-editorial

Since the change of government in January 2015, in Greece, the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has repeatedly pointed out that the German debt from the Second world war was not yet settled. Greece have claims to reparations. The Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas called even a total: 278,7 billion euros is Germany Greece supposedly still guilty, for the reparation of war damages, for a crew credit for the compensation of Victims of national socialism.

to approach the legal questions, it is important that the different points apart. In the 280-billion-claim, and also in the debates to the reparation payments is often mixed a lot of things.

For one, it's the claims between Greece and Germany, between the States. Including demands for reparations fall on one side, generally, because of the war crimes of Germany in Greece in the Second world war, on the other hand, it is a so-called Forced loan, to be paid to the occupied Greece between 1942 and 1944, under pressure of the Nazis. Height: 476 Million Reichsmarks. How much is it today, is not entirely clear. Estimates, will amount to eight to eleven billion euros (including interest).

on The other hand, the claims of Survivors and descendants of the victims of the Nazi regime, so the Greek citizens against Germany. In this context, there is also the threat of the Greek justice Minister Nikos is Paraskevopoulos, to seize German property in Greece, such as, for example, the Goethe-Institut.

In Distimo murdered SS soldiers in 1944, more than 200 villagers - the Amateur photograph shows German soldiers in the place.

In the spring of 1941 began, the German Wehrmacht with fierce bombing in the North of Greece. After they occupied the mainland of Greece and the major Greek Islands in the Mediterranean sea. In the following years it came to a war against the partisans of the Greek resistance groups against the German occupation regime. The occupation of the Nazis in Greece, was marked by acts of barbarism against civilians, and massacres. Overall, the German Wehrmacht destroyed during their occupation period around 1700 Greek villages.

Between 1942 and 1944, the Greek national Bank gave a bond in the amount of 476 million Reichsmarks to the German Reich. Under the Nazi occupation Greece was forced to cut its foreign exchange reserves in the Form of this Forced loan to the German Reich. The Nazis used the money, among other things, to Finance the North Africa campaign, Erwin Rommel's. Germany has not paid the money until today.