MAINZ, Germany — Archival video footage highlighting Nazi atrocities in Greece is being shown to commuters on the Athens subway as part of a campaign demanding war reparations from Germany.
Seven decades after the end of World War II, the 50-second video is being shown at metro stations across the Greek capital to highlight the fallout of German occupation after 1941.
A compilation of images accompanied by dramatic music, the film starts off with the words: “We save the memory, we do not forget.” It also features the tagline: “We claim what Germany owes to us.”
It coincides with a government campaign seeking $300 billion in compensation from Germany and the return of “national treasures," which comes amid growing tensions between Athens and Berlin over the Greek financial crisis.
“There are many open questions between our two countries, many open wounds that need to be closed," Greece’s Deputy Defense Minister Kostas Isichos told NBC News. Isichos’ ministry is one of the institutions involved in the campaign.
Among the still images included in the video is a picture of German Wehrmacht soldiers pointing their weapons with the caption “40,000 executed.”
A disturbing picture of bodies on the back of a truck is paired with the words “300,000 dead from starvation.”
The video was first introduced at an event in Athens on April 27 marking the 74th anniversary of Hitler’s invasion of the Greek capital.
It is being broadcast at 36 subway stations and at more than 20 railway stops on screens normally used to display transit messages and weather information.
“The campaign will run until the end of May and the video will soon also be shown in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian for the international community,” Anastasia Pliagou, an official at the Greek Embassy in Berlin, told NBC News.
The short video ends with the words: “It is still an open case.” It alleges that Germany owes “war reparations,” “a repayment of the occupation loan,” “compensation to the victims” and “the return of archaeological treasure.”
Isichos added that a new batch of historical documents provided by the Russian government are being used to “present the facts” to Europeans and the world community.
“Our initiative is in line with the government’s policies,” Isichos said, stating that the left-wing Syriza party-led government hoped to find solutions “which will help Germany and Greece to unite” in this matter.
The German government has repeatedly claimed that the issue over reparation payments was settled back in 1960 when West Germany paid about $67 million to Athens in compensation. Berlin insists the case was closed in 1990 with a final settlement after German reunification.
For over three months, Greece and its creditors have been trying to agree on a list of reforms and budget measures to get a bailout loan — worth 7.2 billion euro ($8 billion) — that will help it pay upcoming debts as well as meet its day-to-day obligations on things like wages and pensions.
If the bailout talks fail, the country could default on its debts, have to put limits on the free flow of money and eventually even exit the euro.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
