Poland wants to ramp up pressure on Germany for World War II reparations French ex-president Sarkozy fights prison sentence

“The issue of reparations is of fundamental importance for Poland. This is not just a political issue, it is about Poland’s dignity,” said Polish Deputy Foreign Minister and Reparations Commissioner Arkadiusz Mularczyk of the German Press Agency at the start of his two-day inaugural visit to Berlin. “Now Germany has a choice: either it will sit at the negotiating table with Poland, or we will raise the issue in all international fora – in the UN, in the Council of Europe and in the European Union.”

Mularczyk stressed that the Polish government had only just started its activities. In addition to bilateral talks, an international conference on this topic should be held, as other countries are also affected. In addition to Poland, Greece has also been demanding reparations from Germany for some time.

“The federal government cannot wait this matter out until the next election,” Mularczyk said. “There needs to be a dialogue on this issue, otherwise it would be very bad for our neighborhood.” Two weeks ago, Poland sent an official note to 51 EU, NATO and Council of Europe states, asking them to understand their demands.

Mularczyk, as chairman of a parliamentary committee, commissioned a report on the war damage Nazi Germany had inflicted on Poland in World War II, which was presented in September. The damage is estimated at 1.3 trillion euros. At the end of October, Mularczyk was appointed deputy foreign minister and reparations commissioner of the Polish government. In these positions, he will hold talks in Berlin on Tuesday and Wednesday, including with the Foreign Ministry’s Minister of State for Europe, Anna Lührmann.

The federal government considers the reparations issue closed and refers to the two-plus-four treaty on the foreign policy implications of German unity, to which Poland, however, was not a party. “No matters between Germany and Poland should be swept under the rug,” Mularczyk stressed. He accused Germany of pursuing a policy of “silence, statute of limitations and forgetting” since the 1950s.

“I personally know older people who were seriously injured in the war and have been physically disabled ever since. They have searched all their lives for justice and have not found it. The Germans do not see these people and pretend that these people do not exist,” said the deputy foreign minister. “At the same time, old-age pensions are paid to former Wehrmacht soldiers and members of the SS. This policy of Germany must be shown to the world .” Mularczyk spoke of a “great historical injustice”. (sda/dpa)