Greece, Germany, and the Complex Issue of War Reparations

The problem of war reparations for the destruction the German armies inflicted on Greece during World War II has come up again, with justified urgency. Aside from the economic crisis Greece faces today, the German government insists on refusing to meet its obligations. This essay discusses the hitherto unacknowledged issue of reparations regarding the heart of the occupation: the irreversible damages to the physiognomy of the people by setting forth conditions that have led to the de?Hellenization of the Greeks, causing the replacement of cultural traits, traceable back to Hellenic heritage, with modern European ways.