Analysis of the Political Discourse in the Extreme Right-wing Greek Press: The Case of the Newspaper Golden Dawn (December 2013 – December 2014)

by Andreas Baltas (Panteion University, Athens)

The key question of tis essay concerns the way in which Greek-German relations are presented by the Greek right-wing press during the economic crisis in Greece in the last five years. The Golden Dawn newspaper is the official publication of the neo-Nazi party with the same name and expresses the political space of the extreme right. Many members of this neo-Nazi organization have been brought to justice and are now being tried, facing heavy charges of committing homicide, formation and membership in a criminal organisation etc. Weiterlesen

The NPD and its Connections to the Greek Party Golden Dawn

by Maja-Aleksandra Lisov (University of Regensburg)

When addressing a topic such as right-wing extremism in Germany, many may ask themselves how such tendencies in the political spectrum are even possible in this country after World War II. It is a widespread belief that all people, even the following generations that had nothing to do with the war, should learn from the mistakes of the past in order to make a rebirth of extreme right-wing policies in Germany impossible. However, when one examines the political happenings in Germany today, especially with regard to the right-wing of the spectrum, there is one party that stands out the most: the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD).1 The most frequently asked questions regarding this party are simple ones: how and why? How was it possible for the party to gain even an ounce of popularity and why do people vote for it? Weiterlesen

  1.  German: NPD = Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands.

The Greek Neo-Nazi Party “Golden Dawn” and the Representations of the Greek-German Past

by Yannis Antonopoulos (Panteion University, Athens)

Τhe electoral success of the Golden Dawn Party (in Greek: Chrissi Avgi) in 2012 took place during a period of financial crisis which was characterised by the exacerbation of anti-German feelings in a part of Greek society and the opposition press. An openly expressed neo-Νazi organisation with extremist and marginal actions for more than two decades managed to enter the Greek Parliament ensuring about half a million votes, matching 7% of the voting population. The utilisation and embezzlement of the historical past as it was expressed by a part of the public media did not leave the organisation’s public discourse unswayed. Golden Dawn took advantage of the circumstance in order to be self-promoted as a patriotic political party which participates in the unanimous national struggle for the assertion of the German indemnities and the occupation loan, unleashing vituperative speech against the “German loan sharks” etc. Weiterlesen

The Memory of Occupation and the Political Usage of Memory Sites in Greece

by Kyriaki Papathanasopoulou (Panteion University, Athens)

My essay seeks to explore the memory of the Second World War in Greece. To this end, it focuses on memory sites in order to reveal the way in which political elites have attempted to historicize the past and to construct a collective national memory. Here I conceptualize places of atrocities dedicated to the occupation period as topographies of pain and traumatic past, so as to stress their usage in the construction of collective memory or multiple memories and the difficulties that the study of Second World War memory entails. Weiterlesen

The Massacres of Distomo and Kalavryta

by Lucas Ostendorf (University of Regensburg)

If one explains to ordinary German citizens that the German Wehrmacht fought and defeated Greece during the Second World War, many would be astonished to hear such a fact. The reason for this is more or less geographical: Greece seems too far away from the other war crimes of the National Socialists. It is possible to turn on the TV in Germany and watch documentaries practically every day about the Third Reich’s occupation of Poland and France, the capitulation of Stalingrad, or the industrial killing of the Jews in concentration camps such as Auschwitz. However, the occupation of Greece is hardly present in the German media. Weiterlesen

Economic Exploitation and Social Consequences of the Axis Occupation of Greece 1941–1944

by Eleni Stefanaki (Panteion University, Athens)

This essay aims to introduce and emphasise the main issues arising in Greece after the tripartite occupation and especially the German occupation. We will try to focus on the social and economical condition of Greek society. What was the state of society after the occupation by the Third Reich? How did the Greek community react? How did the occupation influence the economy of the country? Weiterlesen