Greek Jewish community takes Germany to European court over Nazi ransom for slave laborers

THESSALONIKI, Greece – Greece's biggest Jewish community has taken Germany to Europe's top human rights court, seeking the return of a huge ransom paid to Nazi occupiers to free thousands of slave laborers more than 70 years ago.

The Jewish Community of Thessaloniki said Monday it also wants "moral vindication" in a lawsuit tabled last week at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

In 1942, thousands of Thessaloniki's Jewish men were press-ganged into construction projects across Greece. Brutal conditions led to more than 10 percent mortality.

Community leaders eventually struck a deal with a regional Nazi commander, paying him 1.9 billion drachmas — about 50 billion euros ($69 billion) nowadays — for their release. But soon after, the city's entire Jewish population was sent to German death camps, which few survived.