At site of Nazi massacre, Tsipras urges gov’t to pursue Germany over reparations
SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras visited Distomo, the village where 218 Greeks were massacred by Nazi troops in the Second World War, on Monday and called for the government to pursue Germany for reparations in connection to the 1939-1945 conflict.
Tsipras said that Greece had a “historical obligation” to seek damages from the German government.
Berlin says it considers the matter closed but Athens has recently been investigating whether it has cause to seek compensation for the damages inflicted during the country’s occupation and for a loan the Bank of Greece was forced to provide to the Nazi regime.
Tsipras was visiting Distomo on the 69th anniversary of the WWII massacre and accused previous governments of lacking “courage” to pursue the matter.
“It can’t be that some people recognize the debt banks and bankers saddled on our people and not stake a claim to the debt that others owe to the Greek people,” said the SYRIZA leader.
