Germany Owes Greece €185 Billion In WWII Reparations, Say German Researchers

Does Germany owe Greeks billions of euros in World War II reparations for the damages and the enforced loan during the occupation of the country by the Nazis? So far, Berlin has vehemently rejected any Greek claims.

However, as Keep Talking Greece reports, two German researchers, who dug into the documents of the dispute, have discovered and calculated that the German state owes Greece 185 billion euros.

Of this not even a 1% has been paid to Greece.

In their book “Reparation debt. Mortgages of German occupation in Greece and Europe” publishers Karl Heinz Roth, a historian,  and Hartmut Rübner, a researcher, unfold the documents of the dispute and come to the conclusion that the reparations issue was not solved in 1960, as Berlin has been claiming.

According to the book review published in German conservative daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Roth and Rübner have researched German documents only and came to the conclusion that:

US allies and “the power elites of West Germany” have systematically ignored Greece’s demands for WWII reparations.

In SZ article “Athens – Berlin: Open Bill, Open Wounds” it is said among others that:

At the Paris Reparations Conference in 1946, the Greek government presented a damage record of $ 7.2 billion – eventually earning a share of $ 25 million.

The leitmotiv of the book is that an alliance between the US and the “West German power elite” has systematically ignored Greek demands for decades.

“Undeniable, however, is the diplomatic arrogance with which the Federal Republic rejected the Greek demands for decades. If you do not believe it, you are welcome to make your own impression in Hartmut Rübner’s carefully edited extensive documentary appendix,” SZ notes.

In the first part of the book, Roth analyzes the decades-long efforts of Athens to receive reparations.  

When the Wehrmacht withdrew from Greece in October 1944 after three and a half years of occupation, it literally left behind “scorched land”: the economy, currency and infrastructure were completely destroyed.

The health of the surviving population was catastrophic – by the end of the war about 140,000 people had died as a result of malnutrition. And finally, the Germans had sown the seed for the civil war between communist and monarchist-conservative groups, which became bloody after the liberation.

However, the selection of the documents Roth/Rübner used is almost exclusively limited to German documents, so that no insight can be gained into the interior of Greek diplomacy and its share in the failed reparations policy. For a long time, the Greek government relied on a special relationship with the Federal Republic, which, however, was based on asymmetric power relations.

On this bilateral route, Athens only achieved failures, except for a total compensation of 115 million marks in 1960, based on London Treaty of 1953. However, the compensation came about through a joint action with other West European former war opponents of Germany.

The authors make a special reference to former Chancellor Helmut Kohl who managed to avoid reparation payments when the two German states were reunified in 1990 and the 2+4 Treaty.

Before the reunification, Kohl was claiming that reparation demands were premature. After the reunification, he claimed they were too late.

Roth and Rübner now plea for the recognition of the German “reparations debt” towards Greece.

So far, Greece has tabled two proposals: one referred to 287billion euros, and one, the official one to 162 billion euros.

Perhaps Germany allowing Greece to write off its TARGET2 net claims would be a good start...

More on Greece-Germany dispute on WWII reparations here.

Polish Foreign Minister Demands Germany Pay $1 Trillion In Reparations

Poland has escalated its demands for World War II reparations from Germany from "billions" a month ago, to "about $1 trillion" today as Poland’s foreign minister demanded "serious talks" were needed with Germany.

Relations between Berlin and Warsaw have been on edge recently over issues including Germany’s push to share responsibility for refugees across Europe - which Poland has rejected - to the European Commission’s infringement procedure against PiS plans to have more control over the judiciary. Last month the EU sued Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, forcing them to accept refugees even as the rest of Europe turns a blind eye to the 100 thousand refugees that have made landfall in recent months in Italy.

But, as The Independent now reports, the rhetoric is heating up.

Poland’s foreign minister Witold Waszczykowski told local radio station RMF that “serious talks” were needed with Germany to "find a way to deal with the fact that German-Polish relations are overshadowed by the German aggression of 1939 and unresolved post-war issues."

He said Poland’s material losses were about $1 trillion, or higher.

Polish defense minister Antoni Macierewicz also accused European critics of trying to “erase” the fate of the Poles at German hands during the war “from the historical memory of Europe”.

The country’s right-wing government has dismissed a 1953 resolution by Poland’s former communist government which dropped any claim to reparations from Germany, and are instead claiming that Germany is “shirking” its moral responsibility.

Around six million Polish citizens, including about three million Jews, were killed during the war and much of Warsaw was destroyed.

Interstingly, an independent Ibris poll found that 51 per cent of Polish people objected to repatriation claims against Germany, while 24 per cent were in favour. Critics of the government say they are talking about reparations to divert attention from their nationalistic agenda.

As Cannabis Becomes Legal, Oakland Now Giving ‘Reparations’ to Ex-Cons Arrested for Selling Weed

Oakland, CA – Oakland is beginning an experiment that can be considered both laudable and questionable. As cannabis businesses are set to spring up across the city, following California’s legalization of recreational cannabis, Oakland is providing reparations to victims of the drug war.

They’re not doling out money, though. They’ll be doing it through the normally mundane permitting process, in accordance with ordinances passed in March.

“The ordinances require the city to give at least half of all available cannabis permits to individuals who were convicted of a marijuana-related offense in Oakland and earn an income less than 80 percent of the city average. “Equity applicants” can also qualify if they lived in an Oakland neighborhood for 10 of the last 20 years that saw a disproportionately high number of cannabis arrests.”

Since permitting began in May, 72 applications have been received, and, somewhat surprisingly, almost half of them (31) are equity applicants.

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There was plenty of doubt and controversy about the program, with many saying it wouldn’t work and others calling it unfair government overreach. And now, some would-be equity applicants are finding it impossible to sign up due to what they call unrealistic qualification requirements.

Another part of this strategy involves incentivizing “general applicants” to help out “equity applicants,” which is certainly strange in that a business owner would be providing a large benefit to his or her competitor.

“Someone who doesn’t qualify under either definition — a “general applicant” — can move up in line by giving an equity applicant at least 1,000 square feet of free rent through an “incubator” relationship.”

The motives of Oakland lawmakers and their constituents who supported the move are certainly noble, and a welcome sign that governments can recognize the injustice of the drug war.

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For decades, individuals and families have suffered under government’s senseless prohibition crusade. The drug war was not started to aid humanity, but was spawned of racism, suppression of dissent, and political corruption.

Only the police state and corporate entities such as the prison-industrial complex, the alcohol industry and Big Pharma benefit from locking people in cages for using “illicit” substances. Cannabis prohibition is particularly cruel and unjust, as it denies people the miraculous healing power of this medicinal plant.

The brunt of prohibition’s injustice has fallen on minority communities. Even though cannabis use is about the same among white and black ethnicities, blacks are almost four times more likely to be arrested for possession.

Recognizing this, Oakland intends to give an advantage to those who’ve been victimized for decades. But even with its noble motivations, do drug war reparations amount to government overreach? Is it rationing, or unfair denial of business opportunity to “general applicants”?

The plan will surely be tested, including when applicants must apply for state licenses.

“The city permit is only the first step in legally operating a pot business in California. Starting next year, pot businesses that have local permits must apply annually for state licensing. It’s unclear whether equity applicants with criminal backgrounds will be approved for state licenses. State law authorizes agencies to deny licenses to some applicants with criminal backgrounds.”

Equity program or not, there is a “labyrinth of regulations” in Oakland for those seeking to get into the cannabis business in Oakland. However, the city is very appealing because “it’s one of the few places in California that allow every type of operation — from laboratory testing and cultivation to delivery and dispensary.”

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Even though Oakland’s foray into drug war reparations could amount to overreach, it is a symbol of the dramatic turnaround that has taken root with respect to the war on drugs.