The German government has formally rejected Warsaw’s request to negotiate compensation for damages suffered by Poland during the Second World War, the Polish Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday (January 3rd).
“According to the German government, the case of reparations and compensation for war damage remains closed and the German government has no intention of opening negotiations on this matter”says a press release from the ministry, published after receiving an official response from Berlin.
The press service of the German Foreign Ministry confirmed to Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the federal government had “responded to Poland’s note verbale of 3 October 2022”while recalling that he did not publicly broadcast “the different contents of diplomatic correspondence”.
Poland is claiming compensation from Germany in an amount estimated by Warsaw at 1,300 billion euros. On Tuesday, Polish diplomacy took the matter to the United Nations, asking its senior representatives to “cooperation and support so that Poland can receive compensation for the damage caused by German aggression and occupation in the years 1939-1945”.
2.1 million Polish citizens deported to Nazi Germany
According to Germany, Poland waived war reparations in 1953 and repeatedly confirmed this waiver. Berlin has opposed the same arguments to the claims for reparations raised in the past by Greece. During her visit to Warsaw at the beginning of October, the German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, had already pointed out that, “from the federal government’s point of view, the question of reparations was closed”assuring that his country assumed “its historical responsibility, without “if” or “but””. Polish nationalist conservatives in power dispute the validity of the 1953 agreement, saying that Warsaw acted at the time under pressure from the Soviet Union.
According to a report on Polish casualties in World War II presented at the beginning of September, some 2.1 million Polish citizens were deported for work in Nazi Germany, each person having worked there for an average of two years and nine months. As a result of the war, pseudo-medical experiments and detention in concentration camps, 590,000 Polish citizens were disabled. In the years 1939-1945, Poland lost 50% of lawyers, 40% of doctors and 35% of university professors.
On the other hand, the material losses were estimated at 800 billion zlotys (170 billion euros). Losses related to cultural and artistic assets were assessed at 19 billion zlotys (4 billion euros). Those of the banking sector were estimated at 89.3 billion zlotys (18.9 billion euros) and those of the insurance sector at 34.8 billion zlotys (7.3 billion euros).
Since coming to power in Poland in 2015, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has often championed the issue of war reparations, insisting that Germany has a “moral duty” in the matter.