Germany rejects Polish demands for WWII compensation: Polish FM
The Polish Foreign Ministry says that Germany rejected Poland's World War II damage compensation, and the latter calls on the United Nations for back up.
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A man walks by posters demanding that Germany pay reparations to Poland for crimes committed by the Nazis during World War II, in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday Dec. 10, 2021 (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Germany has officially rejected Poland's World War II compensation claim estimated to be 1.3 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion), the Polish Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
Poland's governing Law and Justice (PiS) party has championed the issue and evoked Berlin's "moral duty", since coming to power in 2015.
A 2019 estimate indicated the apparent cost of the Nazi occupation at $850 billion, but research commissioned by the party and released in September increased the figure to 6.2 trillion zlotys ($1.32 trillion).
Germany has contended that Poland relinquished its right to reparations in agreements signed with East Germany in 1953 by its communist government and in agreements reached with the USSR, US, UK, and France in 1990 by East and West Germany. Poland responded by claiming that the 1953 pact was made under Soviet pressure and that it was not a party to the 1990 negotiations.
"According to the German government, the issue of reparations and compensation for wartime losses remains closed and it does not intend to enter into negotiations," the Polish foreign ministry said in a statement.
The German foreign ministry confirmed that it had "responded to a verbal note from Poland dated October 3" but did not give any details.
During a visit to Warsaw in October, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock rejected the demand, saying it was a closed chapter for Berlin.
Poland does not consider the case closed, said Warsaw's newly assigned ambassador to Germany Dariusz Pawlos last month.
"Indeed, the federal government considers the issue to be legally closed. We do not think so," Pawlos told Geman newspaper Welt, adding that no agreement was reached to offer compensation after he war ended.
Read: Poland Ambassador to Berlin: Germany must pay for Nazi era damages
Meanwhile, the Polish foreign ministry said it "will further continue to seek compensation for German aggression and occupation in 1939-1945".
On Tuesday, Poland said it had called on the United Nations for back up in working on receiving war reparations.
Polish conservatives argue their country was forced to sign the 1953 accord by the Soviet Union.
