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speaks on the financial crisis, the left, and the German reparations.Footages from an interview
Mr. Glezos gave to the journalist Pedro Brieger for the public television of Argentina
There is an argument that a second occupation is now taking place in Greece, not by
the force of tanks but through the banks. How would you comment it?
I answer your question in an unusual way. In February 1943, the “Big Three” Conference
took place in Yalta. Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill, seeing the end
of the war was near, decided how they wished to see the whole world.
E.g. No more colonies, democracy everywhere, human rights etc.
15 days later, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda, Josef Goebbels, published an article in the
newspaper "Das Reich" entitled: "The year 2000". The article is several pages
long but what is important is its conclusion. "Germany has won his enemies.
Europe is dominated by the German culture. ” That is National Socialism,
, Fuehrer rules everywhere; and other stuff.
It was a prophecy made by Hitler's Minister of Propaganda back in 1943
on what would happen in 2000. It didn't happen in 2000; it did in 2010.
his estimate which was only 10 years out creates some problems
for both Germany and the rest of Europe. What does Frau Merkel want?
Since Germany failed to conquer Europe by military means
does it now want to conquer it economically?
This is a problem not for me personally to answer; it is every European’s;
citizens, political parties, and leaders, and every social organization in Europe.
Every European has to ask himself this question:"Do we face now this situation
or not?" And Frau Merkel should answer. Is this her goal?
What they failed to achieve by military means, to achieve now economically?
What is unique in Germany’s relations with Greece?
The fact that while Germany has paid all its debts to all European
countries for the damages caused to their economy during World War II,
it has not paid what it owes to Greece. Germany owes to the Greek
State and the Greek people. These are two entirely different things.
As to its debts to the State: It has repaid all countries of Europe, all
of them, except Greece. What I mean is that in 1946, the Inter-Allied Reparation
Agency was established, consisting of nineteen countries, and determined
what exactly Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria were
owing to every country conquered; and it determined that Germany owed to Greece
$7.1 billion in 1938 value. And of the forced loan to Germany imposed on Greece,
it still owes $ 3.05 billion in 1938 value. These taken together
are 162 billion Euros in today’s money without interest.The issue
did not arise now. We are asking it for years. Let me give you a specific example.
In 1995, some German friends invited me and I went to Hanover.
I was invited to make a series of lectures on various topics, political, social,
philosophical, ecological, etc. But I said that we should also hold 43 00:06:12,847 --> 00:06.17,562 a meeting with the German public on the issue of Germany’s debt to Greece.
I spoke to the German public; they showed complete understanding, and when
I came back to my village, the newspaper Die Zeit asked me to write down
what I said in an article. I wrote the article, sent it to Die Zeit
and the German newspaper published it with the title: "An injustice that must be restored"
The title was theirs. Here is what I said there and what the article says:
Our goal is not to catch Germany by the throat. And to prove this
I will only define two ways on how to fix the injustice.
The first way: Any German company involved in building projects
in Greece should not be paid by the Greek state but by the German
state against the debt. Thus, the German state can make any agreement it wishes
with these companies; to pay them after three, five, or ten years, whatever.
And the second way, which is particularly important because it shows
shows we do not hate Germany: Any Greek who wants
study in Germany –in primary, middle, or higher education- and any
scientist who wants to do further training in Germany, should go there and
get his/her expenses covered by the state, against the German debt to Greece.
Why did Greece choose to take loans instead of claiming for the German reparations?
When you need money and you ask someone to give you, he says:
“Don’t ask me to pay back what I owe you. Do you need a loan?
I will give it to you at once.” The government, any government,
prefers the easy way of borrowing instead of claiming for the German debts to Greece.
And this is the good side. Now let’s see the bad side.
Just like during the Occupation there were traitors collaborating with the Germans,
today there are Quislings collaborating with the Germans at the expense
of the Greek people. There is a problem which now becomes very important;
the indignation, the rage of people, where will it be directed?
There are two roads. Either we go to bloodshed - and I won’t hide it,
I think we will, I‘m afraid we will. Either we do that, because people come
to me and say: "Manolis, I won’t let my child die. I'll go out and kill."
The issue is, will people’s rage be directed there, or to political action?
This is Greece’s problem today; it is an internal problem.
And here is the role of the Left. Will the Left be able to lead not
not to bloodshed but to civil action?
Camera, editing Kostas Pliakos