The Great Famine was a period of mass starvation during the occupation of Greece by the Nazis in World War II. The local population suffered greatly thanks to the large-scale plundering of the country and the situation remained grim until the end of the German occupation. There was widespread suffering throughout the period, and the loss crushed many families.

Decades later, Greeks of the diaspora are urged to look at whether they can claim compensation. Lawyer Angela Panagiotopoulou on the board of directors of the Greek Lawyers Association sent a letter to Neos Kosmos to inform the public of their rights. Specifically, she states that the compensation claims of private parties (eg. war orphans, etc) should not be confused with the war reparations that Greece is demanding from the German state.

Ms Panagiotopoulou referred to data in a report of the Greek inter-party committee dated 27 July 2016. According to the study of German atrocities in Greece, it was found that 19.7 per cent of the population was directly affected with 588,000 deaths and 850,000 injuries. The statistics do not take into account the number of people who were sent to concentration camps, put in forced labour camps or had their property damaged. Specifically, there were 3,700 cities and villages left damaged with 408,000 houses destroyed and more than a million people left either homeless or living in squalid conditions.

READ MORE: Der Spiegel: Greece may confiscate German property if Berlin does not pay war reparations

There was legal action taken against Germany in 1995, and the Greek Lawyers Association and lawyers of Achaia have already objected to the fact that the war reparations demanded by the Greek state do not take into account private victims and their families.

Greeks of the diaspora who were victims of the German Occupation can get in touch with Harilaos Ermidis (President of the Union of Holocaust Victims of Kalavryta) on +306946175853 or Vasilis Kyriazis (Lawyers Union of Relatives of Victims) on +306936546580.