Status: 01.09.2022 4:58 p.m
Poland wants to demand reparations from Germany. A new report estimates the damage caused by the Second World War at 1.3 trillion euros, said PiS boss Kaczynski. The federal government rejects the demands.
According to an expert report, Poland estimates the damage caused by Nazi Germany in World War II to be more than 1.3 trillion euros. The chairman of the national-conservative ruling party PiS, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, announced demands for reparations when the report was presented. One wants to negotiate with Berlin about compensation in the estimated volume, he said.
“Today the decision will be made in Warsaw’s Royal Castle and it will be finally announced that Poland will apply for war reparations, reparations for everything that the Germans did in Poland in 1939-1945,” said Kaczynski. However, until Poland receives reparations, it will have to go through a “long and difficult” process.
“A good half of Poles are in favor of reparation payments”, Kristin Joachim, ARD Berlin, on the Polish report on the damage caused by the Second World War
tagesschau24 2:00 p.m., 1.9.2022
Federal government rejects reparation claims
Germany does not have to pay the reparations all at once, but over decades, Kaczynski added. The sum does not represent an excessive burden for the German economy. Dozens of countries around the world have received compensation from Germany. “There is no reason why Poland should be exempt from this rule.”
The federal government rejects any claims for reparations. For them, the question of the two-plus-four treaty on the foreign policy aspects of German unity is closed. “The position of the federal government is unchanged, the question of reparations has been clarified,” wrote a spokesman for the Foreign Office in an email obtained by the Reuters news agency.
“A long time ago, in 1953, Poland waived further reparations and has confirmed this waiver several times. This is a cornerstone of today’s European order. Germany stands by its political and moral responsibility for the Second World War,” the email continues .
Opinion on the initiative of the PiS
Representatives of the national-conservative PiS party, which has governed Poland since 2015, have repeatedly raised the issue of reparation demands. In 2017, on the initiative of the PiS, a parliamentary commission was set up to draw up a report on the estimated amount of war damage. The publication of this report was announced several times, but repeatedly delayed. Now it was presented in Warsaw on the 83rd anniversary of the German invasion of Poland. It is the basis of the claims.
Kaczynski spoke of “enormous damage” to this day. “The Germans invaded Poland and caused us enormous damage. The occupation was incredibly criminal, incredibly cruel and had repercussions that in many cases continue to this day,” he said. “We cannot go back to business as usual just because it seems to someone that Poland is in a special, radically lower position than other countries.”
Tusk: Government backs anti-German campaign
Before the report was presented, however, the Polish opposition leader and former EU Council President Donald Tusk had criticized the project. The national-conservative governing party PiS is not concerned with reparations payments from Germany, but with a domestic political campaign, he said at an appearance in Pomerania. “PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski makes no secret of the fact that he wants to build support for the ruling party with this anti-German campaign.”
The PiS government has recently tightened its rhetoric towards Germany. Poland’s Environment Minister Anna Moskwa recently warned against false reports (“fake news”) from Germany in connection with the fish kill in the Oder. This caused considerable irritation in Berlin.