Heinz A. Richter (born 18 March 1939) is a German

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

, 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 — Britain, France and Russia — of its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1828 to the present day. Background The Byzantine Empire had ...

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 Phil ...

Biography

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

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Middle Ages, it developed into an important trading centre. A ...

, in northern

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a 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 inhabitants across a ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. He started reading

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of ...

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

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

and

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

at the

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

. 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 research university in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1967, the university has its origins in the ''Palatine Academy of Sciences'', ...

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 has commented also on the current state of the affairs of Greece, as well as Cyprus.

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, and one of the country's most aca ...

awarded Richter with an '' honoris''

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

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 ( el, Κρητική Αντίσταση) 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 Gre ...

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

Kathimerini ''Kathimerini'' (Greek: Η Καθημερινή, pronounced kaθimeriˈni meaning ''The Daily'') is a daily, political and financial morning newspaper published in Athens. Its first edition was printed on September 15, 1919. and it is considered ...

,'' 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 philosophical positions concerned with the differences in moral judgments across different peoples and cultures. ...

," assigning equal weight to the actions of the occupation forces and the local Greek guerrillas."Richter earthquake in Crete"
''

Ethnos Ethnos (from el, ἔθνος, link=no, lit=nation) may refer to: *Ethnic group * ''Ethnos'' (newspaper), Greek weekly *''Ethnos'', fantasy strategy board game by CMON Limited CMON Limited, formerly known as CoolMiniOrNot is a publicly listed mini ...

'' newspaper, 21 November 2014 (in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

) 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 (german: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta, el, Μάχη της Κρήτης), codenamed Operation Mercury (german: Unternehmen Merkur), was a major Axis airborne and amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island o ...

, 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 novella ...

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 is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in abse ...

'', 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 ( el, Πρόεδρος της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Próedros tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), commonly referred to in Greek as the President of the Rep ...

Kostis Stephanopoulos Konstantinos "Kostis" Stephanopoulos ( el, Κωνσταντίνος (Κωστής) Στεφανόπουλος, 15 August 1926 – 20 November 2016) was a Greek conservative politician who served two consecutive terms as the president of Gree ...

, 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'' ( el, Η Αυγή, lit="The Dawn", ) 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 y ...

'', (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, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange an ...

, Nicosia, Cyprus, 3 May 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Richter, Heinz A. 1939 births Heidelberg University alumni Academic staff of the University of Mannheim Historians of World War II Living people Gold Crosses of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece) Historians of modern Greece