In total, over 20, armed individuals served in numerous battalions. After the war, especially from , all surviving security battalion members, as well as Nazi ideologues, were tried. However, it quickly became clear that the Greek state didn't really intend to punish collaborators. Even when serious sentences were handed down, they were repealed by royal decree or parole boards after a short amount of time. That's how starting in the early s former supporters of Nazism were incorporated into the anti-communist state, if they hadn't already been so by fighting in the Hellenic Army during the Greek Civil War [that pitted communist forces against the Greek army from When it comes to punishing Nazi collaborators, Greece is no exception in comparison to other European countries.
Armed cooperation with German occupying forces was a European-wide phenomenon that societies wanted to erase from memory following the end of the war. Greece is different when it comes to the low number of people who finally received sentences — though it should not be forgotten that the country experienced a bloody civil war after occupation ended. It was nearly impossible for me as a journalist to find descendants of collaborators who were willing to speak about their family histories.
As in other European countries, it was considered taboo for decades to research Greek collaboration. Greek historiography painted a misleading and subjective picture that put off professional historians.
Ideological polarization from the civil war-era was an obstacle to systematic and objective analytical research on the topic. In order for this to take place, first and foremost a certain amount of time had to pass from when the collaboration took place because it had threatened national cohesion. In addition, many Greeks who had collaborated with the enemy in a "traitorous" manner then worked within the state apparatus during the civil war.
The topic sparks energetic debate even today, while the myth of a unified national resistance, instead of a polarized past, dominates politics and culture. The past 15 years of public and academic debate about the s have had consequences. Many questions that were once considered taboo surfaced and were looked scientifically and objectively, under challenging conditions and not without controversy.
More universities are now offering courses focusing on the German occupation and the subsequent civil war. Many international conferences have taken place, giving rise to numerous related academic papers. New questions became relevant, and old questions were researched using archives that had previously been closed.
This newly awakened interest also spread beyond the academic field into the area of public history. Greece owes Germany billions of euros. Or is it the other way around? The history of modern Greece has been marked by political instability. Here are some of the most important events since the founding of the state in the 19th century to this day.
Simply enter your email address below to start receiving our monthly email newsletter. To find out more about how we collect, store and use your personal information, read our Privacy Policy. National Army Museum 10am - 5. Toggle navigation. View this object. Greek and British soldiers man an anti-aircraft gun, Map of the Balkans, British vehicles pass through a Greek column, Commonwealth troops in Greece, Expeditionary Force By 17 April a divided Yugoslavia had capitulated after Belgrade and other major cities were bombed.
The Germans had meanwhile pushed into northern Greece from Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Raising the swastika at the Acropolis, Athens, April Commonwealth troops evacuate Greece, Airborne attack Following the occupation of the Greek mainland, the Germans invaded Crete on 20 May in a massive airborne assault.
German mountain troops embark for the invasion of Crete, German paratroops descend from aircraft, Crete, 20 May Resistance In the remote mountain regions of Greece and Yugoslavia resistance forces gradually emerged in the aftermath of defeat. Yugoslav partisans with British commandos, Korcula, Partisan or Chetnik?
British commandos share a brew with a partisan, British Commandos at Komiza on the island of Vis, Germany occupied western Macedonia including Salonika , eastern Thrace along the Greco-Turkish border, the environs of Athens, western Crete, and the Greek islands in the north Aegean Sea close to Turkey. Bulgaria occupied western Thrace.
Italy took the remainder of the Greek mainland, eastern Crete, and the Greek islands in the south Aegean, the eastern Mediterranean, the Ionian, and the Adriatic Seas. Germany and Italy jointly occupied Athens, the Greek capital. At the time of the Axis occupation in , nearly 72, Jews lived in Greece. The differing priorities of Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria with regard to the Jews impacted their fate. Despite its alliance with Germany, Italian military occupation officials generally ignored German demands to implement the mass murder of Jews, and even protected Jews.
Thousands of Jews residing in the German-occupied zone fled to the relative safety of the Italian occupation zone. Only after Italy surrendered to the Allies on September 8, , did the Germans take control in the Italian occupation zones in Greece and implement the "Final Solution" in all of Greece.
The largest prewar Greek Jewish community was in Salonika, located in northern Greece and later in the German occupation zone. At the time of the German occupation, around 43, Jews resided in Salonika. In July , German military authorities deployed 2, male Jews on forced-labor projects in Salonika. They chose the former. Food prices soared and profiteers emerged to exploit the situation. Large retailers hoarded food in basements and sold it secretly at inflated prices. Heroic shipments of food by Greeks who had escaped and aid from nominally neutral countries like Turkey and Sweden were greatly appreciated, but made little difference.
Nor did the efforts of the collaborationist government to secure food for the citizenry. After the war the new Greek and West German regimes allied against communism and Greece was soon busy with its civil war.
There was little effort or time to lobby for reparations and so Greece received little payment for lost property or war crimes committed during the Axis occupation. In the Greek government accepted million Deutschmarks as compensation for Nazi atrocities and crimes. Successive Greek governments have considered this relatively tiny amount to be only a downpayment.
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