New memorial highlights Nazis' crimes in Greece

Germany's occupation of Greece from 1941 to 1945, and the issue of reparations forcrimes committed during this time, still burden German-Greek relations 75 years after the end of World War II. And while many Germans are well aware of the atrocities committed by the Nazis in Germany and elsewhere, little is known about the crimes committed in Greece.

That's why, between now and February 2021, an outdoor exhibition has been set up on the railings surrounding the Villa ten Hompel memorial museum in the western German city of Münster, which commemorates crimes committed by the police and the administrative authorities during the Nazi era.

"Contrary to what the majority of Greeks believe, very few people in Germany and Europe know anything about Greece's martyred villages and towns," said Babis C. Karpouchtsis, a political scientist and Ph.D student at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena. He told DW that the massacres of villagers, the mass shootings of innocent people and the deportation and murder of Greek Jews was still largely unknown in Germany.

The idea for an exhibition came about in September 2018 during a delegation exchange visit organized by the Working Group of Nazi Memorial Museums and Memorial Sites in North Rhine-Westphalia. The visit was planned by Villa ten Hompel director Christoph Spieker, working group director Alfons Kenkmann and Peter Römer, the working group's executive assistant. Together, they came up with the concept of the "Gallery Walk," consisting of intense and very emotional impressions of Greek memorial sites.

Migration creates a new focus

"The working group has always sought contact with international partners," said Römer, adding that trips in recent years have focused on Poland and Israel, which most Germans associate with the Holocaust. "But we are also conscious of the fact that we are living in a migration society. In North Rhine-Westphalia, in particular, there are a lot of people with Greek roots. And so Greece became a focus, because Germans committed a great many crimes there."

In the space of a week, the German delegation traveled all over Greece, learning about the whole dreadful spectrum of recent history: from the village of Kandanos on Crete that was burned to the ground during the battle for the island in 1941, to the mass shootings in Kaisariani and Kalavryta and the extermination of the Jewish community in Thessaloniki.

"I found it truly shameful how little was paid in reparations in the 1950s," said Kenkmann, a professor at the University of Leipzig. "When you've been to the Holocaust sites, and in the villages where the civilian population were murdered, or where mass shootings took place — I am very ashamed of the hubris of the Germans of the 1950s."

The return visit of their Greek counterparts was originally planned for this year, but has been postponed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For Kenkmann, though, the most important thing is that initial contact has been made — and that "through this, the Greeks will see that there may indeed be people in civil society in North Rhine-Westphalia who could represent their interests."

Communication to 'strengthen democracy'

With this initiative, Kenkmann is aiming to create a new channel of communication between Germany and Greece. He is particularly keen to promote exchange projects dealing with the notorious Pavlos Melas concentration camp in the northern city of Thessaloniki, drawing on the link between Thessaloniki and its sister city, Leipzig.

Karpouchtsis believes exchange projects like these are important for the joint academic study of Germany's wartime occupation of Greece. "Open dialogue with civil society and visits by research groups and academics promote our historical understanding and knowledge — and in doing so, they also strengthen democracy at local, national and European levels," he said.

This article has been translated from German.