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Monday, March 23, 2015

Bild: Germany May Have Moral Obligation to Compensate Distomo Victims’ Families

German newspaper Bild brings up the issue of compensation to victim’s families of the SS massacre in the village of Distomo in June 1944 and raises the question of Germany’s moral obligation. The article under the title “We survived the SS massacre at Distomo” deals with Greece’s claims for compensation to the families of victims of Nazi crimes. It notes that the Greek government has brought up the issue in the midst of its debt crisis. “Do you consider that paying reparations to the Greeks is absurd? Read the following story,” the lead urges readers. The article, written by Peter Tiede, includes testimonies of people who survived the massacre. “I saw my father’s head split in half with an axe,” is the chilling description of one survivor. The writer says that some of the testimonies brought tears to his eyes. “I couldn’t even walk to my car. I stopped in the middle of the street and started crying in shame. I recalled the official position of the German government: “The matter is closed for us legally,'” says Tiede. Since the German government considers that there is no legal obligation to Greece, Bild says, then there is the question of the moral obligation to compensate the families of victims.  


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com