Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau signed documents on Monday demanding reparations for damage Germany caused in the country during World War II.
Poles need more than 6,200 billion zlotys or NOK 13,750 billion. By comparison, the Norwegian oil fund is now over NOK 12,100 billion.
Rao would take up this demand when he was Germany’s foreign minister Annalena
Berbach will visit Warsaw on Tuesday.
Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau
Photo: Mary Altafer / AP
6 million were killed
World War II began on 1 September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. Historians estimate that about 6 million Poles, half of them Jews, were killed by the Nazis, AP writes.
In addition, several million Jews, Roma and others were transported from other countries and later killed in Poland.
Nazi extermination camps such as Auschwitz, Treblinka, Majdanek, Pescek and Sobibor were all located in Poland.
Polish children in the ruins of Warsaw after the German bombing in September and October 1939.
Photo: US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Great destruction
In addition to the human suffering, large parts of Poland were destroyed during the war.
Among other things, large parts of Warsaw were destroyed first by bombing in 1939 and then by artillery in 1943-44. After the war, 85 percent of the city was destroyed.
Report made after the war The scale of destruction showed: 162,190 residential houses, 14,000 factories, 353,876 agricultural buildings and 199,751 shops were destroyed.
On September 1 this year, the 83rd anniversary of the German invasion, Poland submitted a report on what the Germans had cost the country. The claim of 6,200 billion zlotys comes from the report.
Germany believes it did not pay reparations
When Poland renounced its right to war reparations in 1953, Boleslaw Piroud was the general secretary and leader of the Communist Party.
On September 1 this year, the 83rd anniversary of the German invasion, Poland submitted a report on what the Germans had cost the country. He writes that the claim of 6,200 billion zlotys stems from that statement Reuters.
– The amount is the result of very conservative and restrictive methods. It would have been possible to raise it, ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said when presenting the figure.
The Polish government believes that Germany did not pay reparations for the destruction.
In 1953, Poland’s communist government renounced its right to reparations from Germany. This came after the Soviet Union put pressure on Poland because they didn’t want communist East Germany to pay reparations.
According to the current Polish regime, it was the Soviet Union that decided in 1953. Hence they believe that the declaration is not valid.
Germany refuses
The then German Chancellor visited Poland on 7 December 1970 and knelt at the memorial in Warsaw. But there was no promise of reparations on the reconciliation trip.
Photo: – / AFP
Although Germany will only formally receive the claim on Tuesday, the German Foreign Ministry commented on the matter in September.
– In 1953, Poland waived its right to further reparations and has confirmed this several times, the ministry emailed. AP.
– It is the basis of today’s European system. Germany stands behind its political and military responsibility for World War II, the ministry further wrote.
Germany believes that when Germany reunified in 1990, all demands for reparations were dropped as part of agreements that Poland also welcomed.
He has paid a huge amount
Germany also made great sacrifices for victims of Nazi atrocities.
Over the years, he writes, Germany has paid more than €80 billion, NOK 850 billion, to Holocaust survivors. nbcnews. Most of these come from Poland.
A few weeks ago, Germany agreed to provide more than NOK 12 billion by 2023 for the care and compensation of Holocaust survivors worldwide.
Since becoming a member of the European Union in 2004, Poland has also received around 200 billion dollars, which is more than 2100 billion kroner in remittances. Bloomberg He writes that Germany is precisely the most important contributor to the EU budget, where the money for Poland comes from.
Election next year
Jaroslaw Kaczynski is considered the Deputy Prime Minister and Poland’s strongest man.
Photo: Michał Ryniak/AGENCJA WYBORCZA / Reuters
An early September poll showed that the demand for reparations has strong support in Poland.
In a measurement done by Ibris for the website Onet 52 percent said Poland should seek reparations, while 34.5 percent said Poland had no legal claim.
Parliamentary elections will be held in Poland next autumn. Former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk says the reparations claim is an attempt to drum up support for the government ahead of elections. Guardian.
Also Greece
Poland is not the only country to seek reparations from Germany in recent years.
During the country’s debt crisis in Greece in 2015, the government demanded 278.7 billion euros in compensation, which is close to NOK 3,000 billion.
Last year, Germany concluded an agreement with Namibia, where German colonialists killed tens of thousands of Herero and Nama people between 1904 and 1908.
The deal will pay Namibia more than NOK 10 billion, writes The Guardian.
However, Germany was careful not to use the word reparations, but said the amount was a gesture of reconciliation. Germany wanted to avoid others making claims against them for past sins.
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