Poland asks Germany for £1.1TRILLION reparations for its World War II losses
- Jaroslaw Kaczynski announced the huge claim after release of report on costs
- Comes as the country marks 83 years since the start of World War II
- Berlin says the matter is closed and that compensation has already been paid
The Polish government will seek the equivalent of £1.1 trillion in reparations from Germany for the Nazis’ Second World War invasion and occupation, the country’s top politician has said.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the Law and Justice party, announced the claim at the release of a long-awaited report into the cost to the country of years of Nazi German occupation, as it marks 83 years since the start of the war.
‘We not only prepared the report but we have also taken the decision as to the further steps,’ Mr Kaczynski said, as the report was presented.
‘We will turn to Germany to open negotiations on the reparations,’ the party leader said, adding that it would be a ‘long and not an easy path’ but ‘one day will bring success’.
The leader has insisted that the move will serve ‘true Polish-German reconciliation’ which would be based on ‘truth.’
He claimed the German economy is capable of paying the bill.
The leader of the Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, announced the huge claim at the release of long-awaited report on the cost to the country of years of Nazi German occupation. Pictured: Mr Kaczynski at a wreath laying ceremony today
Poland’s right-wing government argues that the country, which was the war’s first victim, has not been fully compensated by neighbouring Germany, which is now one of its major partners within the European Union.
Germany argues that compensation was paid to East Bloc nations in the years after the war, while territories that Poland lost in the East as borders were redrawn were compensated with some of Germany’s pre-war lands. Berlin calls the matter closed.
‘Germany has never really accounted for its crimes against Poland,’ Kaczynski said, claiming that many Germans who committed war crimes lived in impunity in Germany after the war.
Berlin calls the matter closed, arguing that compensation was paid to East Bloc nations in the years after the war while territories that Poland lost in the East as borders were redrawn were compensated with some of Germany’s pre-war lands. Pictured: A Polish Army Veteran attends a wreath laying ceremony marking national observances of the anniversary of World War II in Warsaw, Poland
Top leaders including Kaczynski, who is Poland´s chief policy maker, and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki attended the ceremonial release of the report at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, rebuilt from wartime ruins.
The release of the report was the focus of national observances of the anniversary of the war that began September 1 1939, with Nazi Germany’s bombing and invasion of Poland and was followed by more than five years of occupation.
The head of the report team, lawmaker Arkadiusz Mularczyk, said it was impossible to place a financial value on the loss of some 5.2 million lives he blamed on the German occupation.
Poland’s right-wing government argues that the country which was the war´s first victim has not been fully compensated by neighboring Germany, which is now one of its major partners within the European Union. Pictured: A Polish Army Veteran attends a wreath laying ceremony marking national observances of the anniversary of World War II in Warsaw
He listed losses to the infrastructure, industry, farming, culture, deportations to Germany for forced labor and efforts to turn Polish children into Germans.
A team of more than 30 economists, historians and other experts worked on the report since 2017. The issue has created bilateral tensions.
The war was ‘one of the most terrible tragedies in our history,’ President Andrzej Duda said during early morning observances at the Westerplatte peninsula near Gdansk, one of the first places to be attacked in the Nazi invasion.
‘Not only because it took our freedom, not only because it took our state from us, but also because this war meant millions of victims among Poland´s citizens and irreparable losses to our homeland and our nation,’ Duda said.
In Germany, the government´s official for German-Polish cooperation, Dietmar Nietan, said in a statement that Sept. 1 ‘remains a day of guilt and shame for Germany that reminds us time and again not to forget the crimes carried out by Germany’ that are the ‘darkest chapter in our history’ and still affect bilateral relations.
Top leaders including Kaczynski, who is Poland´s chief policy maker, and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki attended the ceremonial release of the report at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, rebuilt from wartime ruins. Pictured: A Polish soldier at a ceremony marking the anniversary of World War II
Poland´s government rejects a 1953 declaration by the country´s then-communist leaders, under pressure from the Soviet Union, agreeing not to make any further claims on Germany. Pictured: Mr Kaczynski at a ceremony marking the beginning of World War II today
Reconciliation offered by people in Poland is ‘the basis on which we can look toward the future together in a united Europe,’ Nietan said.
Poland´s government rejects a 1953 declaration by the country´s then-communist leaders, under pressure from the Soviet Union, agreeing not to make any further claims on Germany.
An opposition lawmaker, Grzegorz Schetyna, says the report is just a ‘game in the internal politics’ and insists Poland needs to build good relations with Berlin.
Some 6 million of Poland´s citizens, including 3 million Jews, were killed in the war. Some of them were victims of the Soviet Red Army that invaded from the east.
An opposition lawmaker, Grzegorz Schetyna, says the report is just a ‘game in the internal politics’ and insists Poland needs to build good relations with Berlin. Pictured: Poland’s army veterans at a wreath laying ceremony today
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