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Poland Ambassador to Berlin: Germany must pay for Nazi era damages

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
10 Dec 2022 22:46

Poland's newly assigned ambassador to Germany says that case of World War 2 damage compensation to Warsaw not dropped.

Dariusz Pawlos, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland, is accredited by Germany's Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Bellevue Palace (DPA)

Poland does not consider the case of German compensation to Poland for World War II damage closed said Warsaw's newly assigned ambassador to Germany Dariusz Pawlos on Saturday.

"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.

"it would be imprudent to assume that the problem will simply disappear after the 2023 elections," the ambassador said, referring to speculations that a newly elected state parliament would change the current position regarding the issue.

"Don't forget that this demand has a lot of public support. The largest opposition party is now also in favor of reparations and has supported a decision on this issue in the Polish Sejm [the lower chamber of parliament]," he added.

Pawlos also highlighted that Poland was confused by the fact that countries with more financial capabilities did not grant Ukraine more assistance, however Warsaw is pleased with Berlin's new efforts.

Germany, "has missed out on the opportunity to act at an early stage" but currently "is doing its best to catch up," the ambassador continued.

Earlier in September, the lower chamber of Poland's parliament voted to demand Germany pay $1.3 trillion in reparations for damages sustained during the Nazi era.

By a majority vote of 418 to 4, the reparations law was adopted by both the opposition and Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.

Since PiS came to office in 2015, the party has demanded reparations from Germany. A 2019 estimate indicated the apparent cost of the Nazi occupation at $850 billion, but research commissioned by the party and released earlier this month 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.