After the cold reception of which it happened in Kantano, the German president was guided to the Holocaust Memorial Museum of the martyrdom area in , where he travelled today (31.10.2024). Frank-Walter Steinmeyer found, during his speech in Crete, that Greece and Germany have common responsibilities, avoided any mention of even the word “reparation”, but said in Greek that he is asking for forgiveness. “I feel horror and I am ashamed because the Kantano inscriptions document how ruthless Germany’s conquering war has been. I am visiting this part of German shame today. Kantanos is one of the first villages to be leveled by German soldiers in World War II. They burned down houses, killed residents. One day earlier they had already sown havoc in Kontomari and Alikian, Viannos and other villages followed. All the Jews of Crete were also displaced. There are such places throughout Europe. Some are more familiar, some are forgotten. That’s why it’s so important to be here today. The Germans reacted to resistance with indescribable cruelty. Kurt Studed was convicted, but not for the crimes he committed against the civilian Greek population. “I would like to ask for forgiveness today in the name of Germany,” the President of Germany said in Greek. “Without memory there is no future. I hope we find the power to take responsibility together. Build bridges. The Greek-German fund works on the common historical memory. Where else, if not in Greece, is the right place to mention European values. Democracy in EU countries is being questioned, even in my own country. And we will have a common future if we defend democratic values,” said Mr Steinmeyer. In his address Mayor Cantano-Celino Antonis Perrakis could not help but mention compensation and this he did: “Europe faces a multifaceted crisis that threatens its cohesion and existence. Fascism’s ghost wanders over Europe again, more modern and under another name today. Four days ago our country celebrated NO to Mussolini who led to the first victories against fascism. The resistance of the people of Crete was followed by executions and disasters. The sign placed in Cantano says it was destroyed so it would never be rebuilt. “Comparative martyr villages are about 120 across Greece. The martyr places of Crete are the resistance to the revision of history and the starting point to talk about peace again. I hope and hope that the wreath’s testimony will be reflected and in practice, so that the debate on German compensation will begin. A bilateral issue cannot end by a unilateral decision of one side. If Germany fully recognises its responsibilities for its Nazi past, it must do so.” The German president then departed for lunch, reports zarpannews.gr.
In Greek the apology Steinmeier in the martyr Kandan – Not a word about German compensation
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in Greece