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Greece has launched an extraordinary attack on Germany over its debt crisis, accusing the nation of failing to offer compensation for the economic impact of the Nazi occupation.

Deputy prime minister Theodoros Pangalos said the largest EU nation had no right to criticise Greece's finances, especially when the World War II occupation had wrecked its economy and slaughtered thousands.

A German state finance minister said Greece had to help itself out of its precarious fiscal situation and could not expect Germany or the European Union to bail it out

Chancellor Angela Merkel has so far deflected appeals to promise aid to the heavily-indebted country, despite fears that failure to help could threaten the euro.

But an outraged Mr Pangalos lashed back, saying: 'They took away the Greek gold that was at the Bank of Greece, they took away the Greek money and they never gave it back.

'I don't say they have to give back the money necessarily but they have at least to say "thanks".

'And they shouldn't complain so much about stealing and not being very specific about economic dealings,' he said.
SO WHAT DID HAPPEN TO GREECE DURING THE WAR?

Every year on October 28, Greeks celebrate Ohi Day.
It marks the anniversary of Mussolini’s 1940 ultimatum demanding Axis forces be allowed to occupy 'strategic locations' in the country or face war.
Greece’s prime minister Ioannis Metaxas is said to have answered with a single Greek word: ohi, meaning ‘no’.
Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Drama: Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Within hours Italian troops stationed in Albania, then an Italian protectorate, attacked the Greek border. But the invaders were pushed the invaders back deep into Albania, forced Germany to intervene on its fascist ally’s behalf on April 6, 1941.
Helped also by neighbouring Bulgaria, the Nazis overwhelmed Greek, British and Commonwealth forces in a rapid Blitzkrieg operation.
The occupation was divided between Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria, with a collaborationist government installed by the invaders.
The period brought about terrible hardships for the civilian population.
More than 300,000 died from starvation, thousands more through reprisals, and the country's economy was ruined, which is what Greece is complaining of today.
Greek resistance

Brave: Greek resistance fighters

As well as raw materials and foodstuffs being requisitioned, the collaborationist government was forced to pay the cost of the occupation and grant a "war loan" to the German Reich.
At the same time Greek Resistance launched guerrilla attacks against the occupying powers and set up large espionage networks.
They helped successful raids by Allied special forces.
Classic films such as The Guns of Navarone, Escape to Athena and They Who Dare dramatise wartime events. The Greek islands are a particular focus of movies.
The Guns of Navarone

Epic: The Guns of Navarone movie

The more recent Captain Corelli's Mandolin documents the Italian occupation of Cephalonia.
By late 1944 German forces began withdrawing from the Greek mainland as Soviet forces advanced into south-eastern Europe and threatened to cut them off.
When liberation came in October 1944, Greece was in a state of crisis, which soon led to the outbreak of civil war between rival partisans.

More than 300,000 Greek civilians died from starvation during Nazi occupation, while thousands more were killed in reprisals.

The economy was crippled, as foreign trade was suspended, agricultural output ground to a halt, and the treasury had to loan Germany money.

The EU has asked Greece to explain reports that it engaged in derivatives trades with U.S. investment banks that may have allowed it to mask the size of its debt and deficit from authorities ahead of its entry into the euro zone.

But Mr Pangalos said Italy did more than Greece to mask the state of its finances to secure euro zone entry.

Greece must prove to Brussels by mid-March that it can meet its ambitious targets to cut the budget shortfall by 4 per cent of gross domestic product this year to 8.7 per cent.

Mr Pangalos said the Greek situation would not have reached this point if there had been stronger leadership within the EU.

'The quality of leadership today in the Union is very, very poor indeed,' he said, adding that it had been better in the 1980s when Jacques Delors headed the European Commission and Helmut Kohl, Francois Mitterrand and Margaret Thatcher were in power in Germany, France and Britain.

Mr Pangalos' attack on Germany comes as Greece was paralysed by a second general strike in just two weeks.

Police fired tear gas at demonstrators in Athens during a large protest march against government austerity measures designed to tame Greece's massive debt.

Violence erupted as protesters hurled rocks and plastic bottles near parliament.

An estimated two million Greeks joined the strikes, crippling almost all activity in the country, with with schools, government offices and airports closed.

The 24-hour walkout is the first joint strike called by public and private unions, representing half of Greece's workforce of five million, since the Socialist government won elections in October.