“Poland is increasing the pressure on Germany for war reparations” reports the ZDF network on the occasion of the two-day visit to Berlin (December 6 and 7) of the Polish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Commissioner for War Reparations, Arkadiusz Mularczyk. After all, he has recently taken over the international representation of the country for claiming compensation from Germany of 1.3 trillion euros, which were specified by a special committee of the Polish parliament and have already been handed over to the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The tension in the speeches rose on the Polish side even before the official start of the two-day visit and the meeting of Arkadiusz Mularczyk with the German vice president. of Foreign Affairs, responsible for European Affairs, Anna Luhrmann. The occasion was Mularchik’s statements to the German news agency dpa. “The issue of war reparations is fundamental for Poland,” he said, going a step further: “Germany now has only one choice: either to sit at the negotiating table with Poland or for Warsaw to raise the issue in all international fora: to the UN, the Council of Europe, the EU”.
Warsaw calls for an international conference
In fact, the following Polish proposal also causes a sensation: “In addition to the bilateral talks, an International Conference should also be held on the issue because it concerns many other countries.”
The fact is that, in addition to Poland, Greece also continuously claims war reparations from Germany, which, as all Greek governments maintain throughout time, remain active in their entirety. At the moment, however, there have been no Greek reactions to the statements of the Polish Vice President. Foreign.
Arkadys Mularczyk continues: “It is not possible that the German government will not take up the matter until the next federal elections. A dialogue must be held because, otherwise, the consequences would be negative for our neighborhood.” According to dpa already two weeks ago Poland sent an official diplomatic note to 51 countries of the EU, NATO and the Council of Europe communicating its positions on the issue and “asking for understanding”.
However, the Polish side does not seem willing to tone down. “Nothing under the carpet”, emphasized the Polish deputy minister, commenting on the fixed German position that the issue of war reparations ended with the 2 plus 4 agreement of 1990. Germany has been following since the 1950s the policy of “silence, limitation and oblivion” he says characteristically, speaking of “people in Poland who spent their whole lives looking for justice and did not find it” while pensions are being paid in Germany “to former Wehrmacht soldiers and members of the SS”.
Why now? The new level of assertion or pre-election weapon of PiS?
The Polish claims are now moving to a new level by officially putting the scenario of “internationalization” on the table. Warsaw, they estimate, is increasing the pressure on Germany using all the diplomatic, legal and political means at its disposal. However, these moves should be seen in the light of (and) the next crucial parliamentary elections, probably next fall. High on the agenda of the ultra-conservative PiS will be Poland’s €1.3 trillion claims against Germany, given that the majority of Poles consider their claim to be valid. At the same time, a large part of the electorate is governed by “anti-German” sentiments, which PiS seeks to exploit politically. It also remains to be seen what stance Greece will take on this issue, according to the same sources.
In Germany, they estimate that the amount of 1.3 trillion euros is objectively unrealistic under the current conditions. The question is also raised by some whether such a dialogue with countries like Poland or Greece is really “sincere” and not just an opportunistic vehicle for domestic political gains.
However, it is interesting to point out the historian and scholar of Polish (as well as Greek) claims for war reparations, Karl Heinz Roth, who, when asked to comment on the Polish claims for DW, characterizes the Polish parliamentary expert report as “solid” in terms of documentation and “excellent in the picture it gives of the total damage Poland suffered at the hands of the Nazis, having lost 40% of its GDP”. In fact, he characterizes the Greek claims (please read the analysis entitled “The German Compensation to Greece for the Nazi occupation during WWII“) as equally “compact”, despite their differences with the Polish ones in terms of their content, scope and methodology.
