Heinz A. Richter (18 March 1939 – 7 March 2024) was a German historian, known for his work on the history of World War II in the Balkans, the

history of modern Greece The history of modern Greece covers the history of Greece from the recognition by the Great Powers — United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the United Kingdom, Kingdom of France, France and Russian Empire, Russia — of its Greek War of ...

and the

modern history of Cyprus Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

Biography

Heinz A. Richter was born on 18 March 1939, in

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. From the late Middle Ages on, it developed into an important trading centre. At the begi ...

, in northern

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He started reading

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

at a very young age and, in high school, his professor of History "excited his interest for classical Greek antiquity." Richter studied

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

at the

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

. He was professor of Greek and Cypriot modern history at the

University of Mannheim The University of Mannheim (German: ''Universität Mannheim''), abbreviated UMA, is a public university, public research university in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1967, the university has its origins in the ''Palatine Aca ...

from 1991 up to 2003. In his book ''Griechenland im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1941'', Richter provided a narrative account of the war in the Balkans from the Greek and Allied side, using published sources only. Richter also commented on the current state of the affairs of Greece, as well as Cyprus. Richter died on 7 March 2024, at the age of 84.

Controversy

In November 2014, the

University of Crete The University of Crete (UoC; Greek: Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης) is a multi-disciplinary, research-oriented institution in Crete, Greece, located in the cities of Rethymno (official seat) and Heraklion. There are 16 main undergraduate ...

awarded Richter an '' honoris''

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

for his historical work. The award provoked protests by some Greek historians and other academics who claimed that Richter, in his work, has "smeared" the reputation of

Cretan resistance The Cretan resistance (, ) was a resistance movement against the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy by the residents of the Greek island of Crete during World War II. Part of the larger Greek resistance, it lasted from 20 May 19 ...

and assigned "noble incentives" to the Nazi invaders. Additionally, in an interview Richter gave to the Greek newspaper ''

Kathimerini ( Greek: Η Καθημερινή, ; ) is a daily, political and financial morning newspaper published in Piraeus, Athens. Its first edition was printed on 15 September 1919. is considered a newspaper of record and the leading right-wing newspape ...

,'' he spoke of the destruction brought upon Greek islands and villages by "the Germans, the Italians, the communists and the nationalists", which some Greek commentators viewed as "

moral relativism Moral relativism or ethical relativism (often reformulated as relativist ethics or relativist morality) is used to describe several Philosophy, philosophical positions concerned with the differences in Morality, moral judgments across different p ...

," assigning equal weight to the actions of the occupation forces and the local Greek guerrillas."Richter earthquake in Crete"
'' Ethnos'' newspaper, 21 November 2014 (in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

) Richter rejected all the accusations against his work, stating that his duty as a historian is to relate what he "believe to be the historical truth,"The science of History in the defendant's stand
, ''

'', 5 December 2015 (in

) and defending the point he made that "until

Operation Mercury The Battle of Crete (, ), codenamed Operation Mercury (), was a major Axis Powers, Axis Airborne forces, airborne and amphibious assault, amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May ...

, World War Two had been a relatively 'clean' war, with both sides respecting the laws of war." The university's authorities initially declined the appeals made by Greek politicians and academics and rejected the claims of bias. Εventually, and after a formal, intra-university appeal, the university decided to remove his title in 2016.The ''honoris'' doctoral title to Richter has been removed
, ''

'', 27 May 2016 (in

) Richter stated that he feels "honored" to be only the second German academic to ever have his academic title removed, the first being, as he claimed,

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

by the Nazis.

Τrial

In November 2015, Athens' public prosecutor indicted Richter under Art. 2 of "anti-racist" and "hate speech" law 4285/2014, for "denying Nazi crimes against the people of Crete."German historian Heinz Richter innocent in the trial about the Battle of Crete book
, CNN Greece, 10 February 2016 (in Greek) On 10 February 2016, Richter, after being tried ''

in absentia ''In Absentia'' is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. The album marked several changes for the band, with it being the first with new drummer Gavin Harrison and the f ...

'', was found innocent of all charges.

Awards

In 2000, Richter was presented by the

Greek President The president of Greece, officially the president of the Hellenic Republic (), commonly referred to in Greek as the president of the Republic (, ΠτΔ), is the head of state of Greece. The president is elected by the Hellenic Parliament; the ...

Kostis Stephanopoulos Konstantinos "Kostis" Stephanopoulos (, 15 August 1926 – 20 November 2016) was a Greece, Greek conservative politician who served two consecutive terms as the president of Greece from 1995 to 2005. Life and career Stephanopoulos was born ...

, for his "exceptional acts, which raised the international prestige of Greece," with the Gold Cross of the Order of the Phoenix.Anti-racism law vs. Heinz Richter
by Mihalis Mitsos, ''

I Avgi ''I Avgi'' (, ) is a daily newspaper published in Athens, Greece. It is called the "Morning newspaper of the Left" and is politically affiliated with Syriza. It was first published in 1952. Manolis Glezos was for years its editor. During the sev ...

'', (in Greek)

Selected works

* ''Griechenland: zwischen Revolution und Konterrevolution 1936–1946'' (''Greece: Between revolution and counter-revolution 1936-1946''), Europäische Verlagsanstalt, Frankfurt, 1973; ''Δύo επαvαστάσεις και αvτεπαvαστάσεις στηv Eλλάδα 1936–1946'' (''Two revolutions and counter-revolutions in Greece 1936-1946''), Exantas, Athens, 1977 * ''British Intervention in Greece: From Varkiza to Civil War, February 1945 – August 1946'', Merlin Press, London, 1986; ''Η επέμβαση τωv Άγγλωv στηv Ελλάδα: Από τη Βάρκιζα στov Eμφύλιo Πόλεμo'', Hestia, Athens, 1997 * ''Griechenland im Zweiten Weltkrieg, August 1939 – Juni 1941'' (''Greece in the Second World War, August 1939 - June 1941'') Syndikat, Bodenheim, 1997; ''Η Ιταλο–γερμανική επίθεση εναντίον της Ελλάδος'' (''The Italian-German attack against Greece''), Govostis, Athens, 1998–1999 * ''Operation Merkur: Die Eroberung der Insel Kreta im Mai 1941'' (''Operation Mercury: The Conquest of Crete in May 1941''), Rutzen, Ruhpolding, 2011; ''Η μάχη της Κρήτης'' (''The battle of Crete''), Govostis, Athens, 2011

References

External links

Personal page at the University of Mannheim websiteBibliography
*
Some remarks on the political cultures of Greece, Cyprus and Turkey
: speech delivered at the

Goethe Institute The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

, Cyprus, 3 May 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Richter, Heinz A. 1939 births 2024 deaths Heidelberg University alumni Academic staff of the University of Mannheim German historians of World War II Gold Crosses of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece) Historians of modern Greece People from Heilbronn Anti-Greek sentiment