Greece, Poland and Greece corrections

On the occasion of Chancellor Merkel's recent visit to Warsaw, when the country's government again raised the issue of war compensation for Nazi war crimes in Poland at the forefront of bilateral issues she gave an interview to DW's Polish program. Karl Heidts Rot. It is one of the German specialists who for years has been deeply involved in the great chapter of the German war, especially in the cases of Greece and Poland.

Karl Heidz Rot is a doctor and historian. From an early age as a medical student, he had dealt with Nazi medical experiments and, as he himself stated, many post-war German professors of medicine also took part to similar experiences. Early on, he focused on Nazi crimes committed throughout Europe during the Second World War. In his investigations, he has treated in depth, in the case of Greece as well as Poland, two countries which are for him "reference examples" as regards the request for war corrections by the Republic Federal Republic of Germany. As she mentioned in DW, Greece has treated its demands "against a coincidence", he said during friendly talks in the hot phase of the Greek crisis of 2010-2011. "Although the case of Greece was of great interest to me and I wrote specifically about it, I quickly realized that it was a general problem. ", he said, adding that it was a topic that we met if not more. Poland and ultimately concerns all of Europe.

The uprooting of Poland and the unexpected resistance of Greece

But is the case of Greece and Poland similar? According to Karl Heidz Rot, these were different cases from the beginning: "We must say that the disasters in Poland, in terms of population losses related to demographic and economic figures, were generally larger. The disaster in Poland differs from Greece mainly because the Germans in Poland acted on the basis of systematic planning as part of the General Plan of East. They wanted to exterminate Poland by forcibly displacing the populations of the regions which annexed and judged the administration of the country. It was a systematic plan of extermination, which led to the radicalization of political terror and which can only be partly compared, in size, to Soviet territory and, to some extent, to Yugoslavia. Greece did not want Germany to rationalize it. They only wanted to create naval and air bases in Thessalonica and Crete. They were looking for some sort of cooperation with Greece. But they were confronted with a strong resistance to which they were not expecting. The capital of resistance is a common element between Greece and Poland. "Another common point made by Karl Heidt Roth between the two countries is that the two post-war countries" have known the fate of the so-called little allies. In other words, they were put on the sidelines (by: the big powers) of the compensation policy and this lasted until today. "

The claims of the Greek occupation against Germany and the 2010 crisis

In the years of crisis, many European economists have argued that, in particular, the Greek debt should be offset by Germany 's debt for Nazi crimes committed in Greece during the summer. occupation. Karl Heidz Rot, as he says at the beginning, shared this point of view, now sees this question differently. "Indeed, I thought so until I wrote my last book.I now think that these are two different problems.The war compensation is ultimately a moral issue.It is well heard financially and calculated on the basis of international law There is an internationally recognized claim for war reparation, as well as individual claims for damages, but this is an issue that should not be related to current economic problems " said the German expert, stressing that the issue of war reparations claims should not be "marketed". He believes that all parties should instead engage in a dialogue with open newspapers, honest and without tactics. "Because it's the last chance to solve the problem, and that's why it should be openly addressed by all parties," he notes.

But what is the height of the Greek and Polish claims according to the calculations of his research by Carl Heidz Rott? "The numbers are too high, they put the imagination and thus create defensive reflexes for many. (…) According to the Greek parliamentary committee, Greek claims would rise to 380 billion euros. (…) Poles demand about twice as much – Poland sometimes speaks for one trillion dollars, "he says. It notes, however, that while its own calculations in the case of Poland converge with formal requests, in the case of Greece, the amount in dispute is estimated to be lower (around 280,000).

To what extent is the demand for compensation realistic?

But what will happen if Greece or Poland are today in direct conflict with Germany to claim the payment of war reparations? And Germany fears to create a "precedent" that will lead other countries to similar claims, although the 1990 treaty "2 plus 4" between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Allied Powers who occupied Germany after the Second World War, in which the allies withdrew from all the rights they held in Germany – but from the requirement of war indemnities. According to Karl Heidz Roth, Treaty 2 worked "to the detriment of the states that had not signed it, but in this case, the treaty does not bind countries that have not yet signed. made clear from the point of view of international law, and the German government is also aware of this, "he said. Let us remember that neither Greece, nor Poland, nor other countries belonging to the "small allies" had any say in the treaty. "The German government fears nothing more than a common approach to so-called small allies, that is to say countries that have suffered from German occupation in eastern, central and eastern Europe. Southeast, "notes KH Rot. He even proposes that these countries resort to the OSCE Arbitration Committee, which also includes non-EU countries, to bring the issue of war remedies to the negotiation "in addition to the Treaty No. 2 plus 4 ".

However, Karl Heidt Roth sees Greece and Poland as "pioneers" on this issue and believes that the cooperation of the competent parliamentary committees of the two countries could contribute positively to a common demand. "Greece and Poland are the protagonists of this process, other countries have resigned, for example the Czech Republic has declared that it will not support Poland – about the visit of a senior German official in the country, "he said, noting that, despite differences in the political orientations adopted by the two governments, they could raise the issue of reparations. even atypical. "I believe that no single country, neither Greece nor Poland, can put pressure on the hegemonic power of Germany – because Germany is the hegemonic power of Europe – to reach agreement on such differences, so in a sense, it takes a concerted effort, only then will there be a chance, "says Carl Heidt Roth.