In a decisive move, the Greek parliament has voted to launch a diplomatic campaign to press Germany to pay billions of euros in damages for the Nazi occupation of Greece during World War Two. With his government’s national debt now standing at over 358 billion euros, much of which is owed to the Brussels EU as a result of the eurozone currency crisis, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has described obtaining these reparations as the “historic and moral duty” of his country. The call for payment of damages builds on a previous demand made by the government of Greece in 2015 and the publishing of proof by our Foundation that the historical roots of the Brussels EU lie in Nazi Germany.
The harsh austerity conditions imposed on Greece by its lenders have practically brought the country to its knees. The Greek unemployment rate now stands at 18.5 percent, with youth unemployment approaching 40 percent. With more than one-third of Greek people reported to be in danger of poverty and around 14 percent of children malnourished, fully three-quarters of the population now say the stringent loan terms set by the Brussels EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are harming the country.
In a keynote lecture given at a political event held in Athens in April 2012, Dr. Rath described how it was the role of Greece to help lead the people of Europe towards a better future. His speech, titled ‘Freedom or Slavery – Democracy or Dictatorship’, outlined the historical roots of the Brussels EU and the role played by German pharmaceutical and chemical companies in the perpetration of WW1 and WW2. Explaining that the goal of these companies, then and now, was the political and economic takeover of Europe, he stated that it was the responsibility of Greece – the birthplace of democracy – to help build a new Europe.
The evidence Dr. Rath presented at the event in 2012 was based on tens of thousands of historical documents obtained by our Foundation. Unearthed from international archives and published on our Profit Over Life website, the documents definitively prove that the key architects of the Brussels EU were recruited from among the same technocrats who had previously designed the plans for a post-WWII Europe under the control of the German Nazi party and the IG Farben Cartel. The most powerful pharmaceutical and chemical cartel during the first half of the twentieth century, IG Farben consisted of Bayer, BASF, Hoechst and other companies. Together, these companies had financed the rise of the Nazi party and were the economic driving force behind WWII. Following the war, the executives of IG Farben stood trial in Nuremberg for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The key post-WWII conference which examined the issue of German government debt took place in London in 1952. A treaty which became known as the ‘London Debt Agreement’ was subsequently signed in 1953. Representatives of 20 signatory states took part in the signing ceremony. These included Belgium, Ceylon, Denmark, France, Greece, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Canada, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Pakistan, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Several other states subsequently became parties to the agreement.
In a notable sign that the influence of IG Farben remained undiminished after WWII, the leader of the German delegation at the 1952 London conference was Hermann Abs. By then a member of the board of directors of Deutsche Bank, Abs had previously been on the board of IG Farben. Seen by some as the lynchpin of the continent-wide plunder that took place under the Nazis, Abs played a leading role in ensuring that the agreement signed in London essentially eliminated half of Germany’s debts and set up generous repayment conditions for the remainder. The contrast between this outcome and the way in which the people of Greece are being treated today could hardly be starker.
As awareness of it grows, the claim brought against Germany by the Greek government has the potential to correct the ongoing lie that WWII was primarily a racial war. The decades-long continuation of this lie has effectively allowed the successors of the real war criminals behind WWII to continue their business of putting profit over life. This time around, however, instead of conquering Europe and the world through a global war of aggression, their goals are being pursued through the use of patents.
Statistics published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) show that Germany is consistently one of the world’s most prolific patent-filing countries. Significantly, therefore, one of the German companies that is most active in applying for patents is BASF, the world’s largest chemical producer and a former member of IG Farben. The vast annual profits made by BASF and other German companies are a direct result of the patents they control.
The patent-based business model utilized by the drug and chemical industries is increasingly draining the economic life out of Greece. With the country’s healthcare system having been on the brink of collapse for several years now, it is clear that the goal of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras should not simply be to press Germany to pay damages for the Nazi occupation of his country during WWII, he should also seek to bring an end to the exploitation of Greece through patents. Should he fail to do so, not only will the economic devastation of his country continue unabated, his unfulfilled promise to reverse austerity, upon which he was elected in 2015, will inevitably lead to his downfall.