Select a language
A reader, Veritas, recommends a comment from Hagen Fleischer from British daily The Guardian.
Fleischer details the notorious 'Besatzungsanleihe' – the monthly 'loans' the Greeks were forced to make to the German government to pay for the privilege of paying for the occupation of their territory by German troops in 1942-44. As the article mentions, this loan (acknowledged as such by the then German government) made by Greece to the Germans, was 456 million Reichmarks; that's about €10 billion in today's money – and that figure presumably excludes the interest that would have accrued in the 70 years that the debt has remained unpaid.
Fleischer suggests that this debt
could – and should – form the basis for talks about the foundation of a “future fund”, a foundation dedicated to a joint rehabilitation of a “shared” history and the financing of a symbolic infrastructure project.
Receive the best of European journalism straight to your inbox every Thursday
Was this article useful? If so we are delighted!
It is freely available because we believe that the right to free and independent information is essential for democracy. But this right is not guaranteed forever, and independence comes at a cost. We need your support in order to continue publishing independent, multilingual news for all Europeans.
Discover our subscription offers and their exclusive benefits and become a member of our community now!
