The Establishment of the Great War Lottery (December 1940)
This document records the immediate economic readjustment of the state apparatus following the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War.
It concerns the establishment of the “Great War Lottery,” which replaced the pre-war “National Lottery of Successive Draws.” The purpose of its issuance was to raise funds for the medical care of the wounded and the financing of soup kitchens for the destitute. The printed document explicitly clarifies that this new institution is not to be confused with the historical “Fleet Lottery.” The latter, priced at 10 drachmas, continued to circulate independently and in parallel, intended exclusively for the support of the Hellenic Navy.
According to the first article of the ministerial decision, the War Lottery comprised 12 draws annually (meaning it was issued and drawn on a monthly basis) with the first draw scheduled for December 31, 1940. The exact dates of the draws were determined by the Managing Committee of State Lotteries.
The price of the War Lottery was set at 200 drachmas for a whole ticket and 50 drachmas for a quarter ticket, with the first prize winning 2,500,000 drachmas. In order to assess the true economic value of this amount, one must consult historical sources and studies regarding the economy of the era. It should be noted, therefore, that based on historical data from late 1940, shortly before the surge of the devastating hyperinflation of the German Occupation, the regulated price of bread was approximately 8 drachmas per oka, while the average daily wage was around 70 drachmas for male workers and 40 for women.
Drawing upon these comparative figures, it emerges that a whole ticket was equivalent to 25 okas of bread or almost three daily wages for a male worker. Thus, it becomes evident that its purchase amidst military mobilization was not merely a nominal contribution; rather, it represented a significant financial sacrifice and a profound act of solidarity by the citizens in support of the combatant soldiers, the wounded, and the destitute.
