Polish government slams German rejection of Warsaw’s WWII reparations claim

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) - Berlin’s claim that Germany’s World War II reparations to Poland is a closed subject is morally and legally unfounded, said a Polish government spokesperson on Wednesday.

"This is an unfounded claim, both in the moral and legal sphere, because Poland has never given up on war reparations in any way," Piotr Muller told the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

In a newspaper interview also published Wednesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected Polish demands for reparations.

"Like all previous federal governments, I can point out that this issue has been finally settled under international law," Scholz told German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

On Sept. 1, a report on the losses suffered by Poland due to German aggression and occupation during the war was presented in Warsaw, estimating the total amount of Polish losses at over $1.3 trillion.

"It is known that the German side has been claiming for many years that the subject of reparations has been over," Muller said.

Muller added that the alleged renunciation of reparations from Germany in 1953 was invalid, even under the law of communist-era Poland, because at that time there was no sovereign government in Poland, only a de facto government imposed by the Soviet Union. "Poland was not sovereign. And only a sovereign state can make such decisions. There can be no effective renunciation of reparations," he said.

"We hope that in such a long-term process, it will end positively for Poland – as well as the difficult talks that are now being finalized, which concern reparations for Namibia. Until recently, no one expected that Germany would admit to its colonial crimes from 100 years ago and offer financial resources. It was a long process," he added.

During World War II, Poland suffered relatively the largest losses and demographic damage of any country.