– This is very important for Germany as well, because it can favor a real Polish-German reconciliation. Relations were cruelly destroyed during the Second World War, says Mateusz Morawiecki, the Prime Minister of Poland.
And Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party, states that it is Poland’s “obligation” to seek compensation for the damage inflicted on his country by the German Nazi occupation.
30 experts have worked on the requirement
According to the Polish government, the country – the first to be invaded by Hitler’s forces – has not been adequately compensated for the five years Poland was under German occupation.
Since 2017, around 30 economists, historians and other experts have worked on the report on compensation that was released today.
Germany does not want to pay more
The issue has created tensions between Poland and Germany, which are now allies in both the EU and NATO. Germany believes that sufficient compensation was already paid out in the years after the end of the war and that the matter is thus settled.
Around six million Poles, including three million Polish Jews, were killed in World War II. Poland’s industries and infrastructure suffered heavy economic losses. The damage is estimated by Poland at 6.2 trillion zlotys,
However, the head of the report team, Arkadiusz Mularczyk, emphasizes that it was impossible to put an economic value on the loss of all those killed during the German occupation.
– Without the truth, without compensation, there can be no normal relations between people, between countries, says Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister of Poland.