The danger of Nazi atrocities is not over, and European democracies must never allow such ideologies to determine the future again, Greek President Prokopios Pavlopoulos said on Thursday.
He appeared at the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the town of Kalavryta’s destruction by the German army.
On December 13, 1943, the Nazis killed nearly all male citizens over 12 years of age and burned every single structure in the town. The town’s women and children, who had been herded into the elementary school, managed to escape after German soldiers set the building on fire.
Greeks honor the memory of the victims of “the greatest and most abominable war crime in Greece during World War II,” Pavlopoulos said, by sending the message that “we will not forget. Never again.”
Pavlopoulos noted that “we must not overlook that the danger of this Nazi atrocity is not over. Europe is seeing today the rise of entities which are fundamentally and unfortunately continuing this atrocity and inhuman ideology.”
Pavlopoulos called for the continued defense of humanitarianism and European culture.
The President also spoke about Greek demands concerning the loan the nation was forced to give Germany during World War II, as well as possible reparations for the years of German occupation.
Pavlopoulos said that both demands are “legally active and legally pursuable”.
With information from A.M.N.A.
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