Abstract
The World War II-era occupation of Greece by the German Wehrmacht still influences the German-Greek relationship to this day. Kateřina Králová takes a fresh look at the history of the two countries' bilateral relations.
Her book offers a foundation for an objective discussion, far removed from all clichés and the conflict in Greek and German memories of the occupation. In Greece, the events of World War II are still vivid and painful, but in Germany the atrocities of Nazi occupiers tend to be forgotten.
The asymmetry in the way each country is dealing with the past influences the modern relationship between the two countries. Lack of knowledge about the occupation has led to polarization, and has repeatedly affected political reporting.
As an expert in German occupation policy and the direct consequences of the occupation for Greece and its population, Kateřina Králová has been following German-Greek relations after 1940. Her interests include the postwar restoration of Greek sovereignty, the resumption of bilateral Greek-German economic relations, the prosecution of Nazi war criminals, and the debate about reparations, in the context of postwar East-West conflict, the reunification of Germany and the even more recent past.
This book offers a comprehensible presentation of history up to the present day. The facts and relationships she presents facilitate a clearer vision of the past, contributing to a sustainable understanding of both history and the current relationship in both countries.