Poland Demands 1.3 Trillion In War Reparations From Germany World News

Polish leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski attends a World War II wreath-laying ceremony in Warsaw, Thursday. Poland’s top politician said Thursday the government will seek about $1.3 trillion in reparations from Germany for the Nazi invasion and occupation of his country in World War II. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the Law and Justice party, announced the huge demand as he published a long-awaited report on the cost to the country of years of Nazi German occupation as it marks 83 years since the start of World War II. “Not only did we prepare the report, but we also made the decision on further steps,” Kaczynski said at the presentation of the report. “We will turn to Germany to start negotiations on reparations,” Kaczynski said, adding that it would be a “long and not easy road” but “one day it will bring success.” He insisted the move would serve “genuine Polish-German reconciliation” based on “truth”. He argued that the German economy is capable of footing the bill. Germany maintains that reparations were paid to Eastern Bloc nations in the years after the war, while territory lost to Poland in the East as borders were redrawn was compensated with some of Germany’s pre-war territory. Berlin describes the issue as closed. Poland’s right-wing government argues that the country that was the first casualty of the war has not been fully compensated by neighboring Germany, which is now one of its most important partners within the European Union. “Germany has never really been held accountable for its crimes against Poland,” Kaczynski said, arguing that many Germans who committed war crimes lived with impunity in Germany after the war. Top leaders, including Kaczynski, who is Poland’s chief policymaker, and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki attended the ceremonial unveiling of the exhibition at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, rebuilt from wartime ruins. The launch of the three-volume exhibition was the centerpiece of national commemorations of the war that began on September 1, 1939, with the bombing and invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany that followed more than five years of violent occupation. The head of the petition group, lawmaker Arkadiusz Mularczyk, said it was impossible to put an economic value on the loss of some 5.2 million lives he blamed on the German occupation. It listed losses in infrastructure, industry, agriculture, culture, deportations to Germany for forced labor, and attempts to convert Polish children into Germans. A team of more than 30 economists, historians and other experts have been working on the report since 2017. The issue has created bilateral tensions. The war was “one of the most terrible tragedies in our history,” President Andrzej Duda said during ceremonies on the Westerplatte peninsula near Gdansk, one of the first places to be attacked in the Nazi invasion. “Not only because it took away our freedom, not only because it took away our state, but also because this war meant millions of victims to the citizens of Poland and irreparable losses to our homeland and nation,” Duda said. In Germany, the government’s official for German-Polish cooperation, Dietmar Nietan, said in a statement that September 1 “remains a day of guilt and shame for Germany which reminds us again and again not to forget the crimes committed by Germany” that constitute the “darkest chapter of our history” and continue to affect bilateral relations. The reconciliation offered by the people in Poland is “the basis on which we can look to the future together in a united Europe,” Nietan said. Poland’s government rejects a 1953 declaration by the country’s then-communist leaders, under pressure from the Soviet Union, agreeing not to make further claims to Germany. An opposition lawmaker, Grzegorz Schetina, says the report is just a “game in domestic politics” and insists Poland must build good relations with Berlin. About 6 million Polish citizens, including 3 million Jews, were killed in the war. Some of them were victims of the Soviet Red Army invading from the east.

title: “Poland Demands 1.3 Trillion In War Reparations From Germany World News Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-20” author: “Ofelia Tabor”

Polish leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski attends a World War II wreath-laying ceremony in Warsaw, Thursday. Poland’s top politician said Thursday the government will seek about $1.3 trillion in reparations from Germany for the Nazi invasion and occupation of his country in World War II. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the Law and Justice party, announced the huge demand as he published a long-awaited report on the cost to the country of years of Nazi German occupation as it marks 83 years since the start of World War II. “Not only did we prepare the report, but we also made the decision on further steps,” Kaczynski said at the presentation of the report. “We will turn to Germany to start negotiations on reparations,” Kaczynski said, adding that it would be a “long and not easy road” but “one day it will bring success.” He insisted the move would serve “genuine Polish-German reconciliation” based on “truth”. He argued that the German economy is capable of footing the bill. Germany maintains that reparations were paid to Eastern Bloc nations in the years after the war, while territory lost to Poland in the East as borders were redrawn was compensated with some of Germany’s pre-war territory. Berlin describes the issue as closed. Poland’s right-wing government argues that the country that was the first casualty of the war has not been fully compensated by neighboring Germany, which is now one of its most important partners within the European Union. “Germany has never really been held accountable for its crimes against Poland,” Kaczynski said, arguing that many Germans who committed war crimes lived with impunity in Germany after the war. Top leaders, including Kaczynski, who is Poland’s chief policymaker, and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki attended the ceremonial unveiling of the exhibition at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, rebuilt from wartime ruins. The launch of the three-volume exhibition was the centerpiece of national commemorations of the war that began on September 1, 1939, with the bombing and invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany that followed more than five years of violent occupation. The head of the petition group, lawmaker Arkadiusz Mularczyk, said it was impossible to put an economic value on the loss of some 5.2 million lives he blamed on the German occupation. It listed losses in infrastructure, industry, agriculture, culture, deportations to Germany for forced labor, and attempts to convert Polish children into Germans. A team of more than 30 economists, historians and other experts have been working on the report since 2017. The issue has created bilateral tensions. The war was “one of the most terrible tragedies in our history,” President Andrzej Duda said during ceremonies on the Westerplatte peninsula near Gdansk, one of the first places to be attacked in the Nazi invasion. “Not only because it took away our freedom, not only because it took away our state, but also because this war meant millions of victims to the citizens of Poland and irreparable losses to our homeland and nation,” Duda said. In Germany, the government’s official for German-Polish cooperation, Dietmar Nietan, said in a statement that September 1 “remains a day of guilt and shame for Germany which reminds us again and again not to forget the crimes committed by Germany” that constitute the “darkest chapter of our history” and continue to affect bilateral relations. The reconciliation offered by the people in Poland is “the basis on which we can look to the future together in a united Europe,” Nietan said. Poland’s government rejects a 1953 declaration by the country’s then-communist leaders, under pressure from the Soviet Union, agreeing not to make further claims to Germany. An opposition lawmaker, Grzegorz Schetina, says the report is just a “game in domestic politics” and insists Poland must build good relations with Berlin. About 6 million Polish citizens, including 3 million Jews, were killed in the war. Some of them were victims of the Soviet Red Army invading from the east.

title: “Poland Demands 1.3 Trillion In War Reparations From Germany World News Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-18” author: “Joseph Oliver”

Polish leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski attends a World War II wreath-laying ceremony in Warsaw, Thursday. Poland’s top politician said Thursday the government will seek about $1.3 trillion in reparations from Germany for the Nazi invasion and occupation of his country in World War II. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the Law and Justice party, announced the huge demand as he published a long-awaited report on the cost to the country of years of Nazi German occupation as it marks 83 years since the start of World War II. “Not only did we prepare the report, but we also made the decision on further steps,” Kaczynski said at the presentation of the report. “We will turn to Germany to start negotiations on reparations,” Kaczynski said, adding that it would be a “long and not easy road” but “one day it will bring success.” He insisted the move would serve “genuine Polish-German reconciliation” based on “truth”. He argued that the German economy is capable of footing the bill. Germany maintains that reparations were paid to Eastern Bloc nations in the years after the war, while territory lost to Poland in the East as borders were redrawn was compensated with some of Germany’s pre-war territory. Berlin describes the issue as closed. Poland’s right-wing government argues that the country that was the first casualty of the war has not been fully compensated by neighboring Germany, which is now one of its most important partners within the European Union. “Germany has never really been held accountable for its crimes against Poland,” Kaczynski said, arguing that many Germans who committed war crimes lived with impunity in Germany after the war. Top leaders, including Kaczynski, who is Poland’s chief policymaker, and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki attended the ceremonial unveiling of the exhibition at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, rebuilt from wartime ruins. The launch of the three-volume exhibition was the centerpiece of national commemorations of the war that began on September 1, 1939, with the bombing and invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany that followed more than five years of violent occupation. The head of the petition group, lawmaker Arkadiusz Mularczyk, said it was impossible to put an economic value on the loss of some 5.2 million lives he blamed on the German occupation. It listed losses in infrastructure, industry, agriculture, culture, deportations to Germany for forced labor, and attempts to convert Polish children into Germans. A team of more than 30 economists, historians and other experts have been working on the report since 2017. The issue has created bilateral tensions. The war was “one of the most terrible tragedies in our history,” President Andrzej Duda said during ceremonies on the Westerplatte peninsula near Gdansk, one of the first places to be attacked in the Nazi invasion. “Not only because it took away our freedom, not only because it took away our state, but also because this war meant millions of victims to the citizens of Poland and irreparable losses to our homeland and nation,” Duda said. In Germany, the government’s official for German-Polish cooperation, Dietmar Nietan, said in a statement that September 1 “remains a day of guilt and shame for Germany which reminds us again and again not to forget the crimes committed by Germany” that constitute the “darkest chapter of our history” and continue to affect bilateral relations. The reconciliation offered by the people in Poland is “the basis on which we can look to the future together in a united Europe,” Nietan said. Poland’s government rejects a 1953 declaration by the country’s then-communist leaders, under pressure from the Soviet Union, agreeing not to make further claims to Germany. An opposition lawmaker, Grzegorz Schetina, says the report is just a “game in domestic politics” and insists Poland must build good relations with Berlin. About 6 million Polish citizens, including 3 million Jews, were killed in the war. Some of them were victims of the Soviet Red Army invading from the east.

title: “Poland Demands 1.3 Trillion In War Reparations From Germany World News Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-08” author: “Valeria Wilson”

Polish leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski attends a World War II wreath-laying ceremony in Warsaw, Thursday. Poland’s top politician said Thursday the government will seek about $1.3 trillion in reparations from Germany for the Nazi invasion and occupation of his country in World War II. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the Law and Justice party, announced the huge demand as he published a long-awaited report on the cost to the country of years of Nazi German occupation as it marks 83 years since the start of World War II. “Not only did we prepare the report, but we also made the decision on further steps,” Kaczynski said at the presentation of the report. “We will turn to Germany to start negotiations on reparations,” Kaczynski said, adding that it would be a “long and not easy road” but “one day it will bring success.” He insisted the move would serve “genuine Polish-German reconciliation” based on “truth”. He argued that the German economy is capable of footing the bill. Germany maintains that reparations were paid to Eastern Bloc nations in the years after the war, while territory lost to Poland in the East as borders were redrawn was compensated with some of Germany’s pre-war territory. Berlin describes the issue as closed. Poland’s right-wing government argues that the country that was the first casualty of the war has not been fully compensated by neighboring Germany, which is now one of its most important partners within the European Union. “Germany has never really been held accountable for its crimes against Poland,” Kaczynski said, arguing that many Germans who committed war crimes lived with impunity in Germany after the war. Top leaders, including Kaczynski, who is Poland’s chief policymaker, and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki attended the ceremonial unveiling of the exhibition at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, rebuilt from wartime ruins. The launch of the three-volume exhibition was the centerpiece of national commemorations of the war that began on September 1, 1939, with the bombing and invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany that followed more than five years of violent occupation. The head of the petition group, lawmaker Arkadiusz Mularczyk, said it was impossible to put an economic value on the loss of some 5.2 million lives he blamed on the German occupation. It listed losses in infrastructure, industry, agriculture, culture, deportations to Germany for forced labor, and attempts to convert Polish children into Germans. A team of more than 30 economists, historians and other experts have been working on the report since 2017. The issue has created bilateral tensions. The war was “one of the most terrible tragedies in our history,” President Andrzej Duda said during ceremonies on the Westerplatte peninsula near Gdansk, one of the first places to be attacked in the Nazi invasion. “Not only because it took away our freedom, not only because it took away our state, but also because this war meant millions of victims to the citizens of Poland and irreparable losses to our homeland and nation,” Duda said. In Germany, the government’s official for German-Polish cooperation, Dietmar Nietan, said in a statement that September 1 “remains a day of guilt and shame for Germany which reminds us again and again not to forget the crimes committed by Germany” that constitute the “darkest chapter of our history” and continue to affect bilateral relations. The reconciliation offered by the people in Poland is “the basis on which we can look to the future together in a united Europe,” Nietan said. Poland’s government rejects a 1953 declaration by the country’s then-communist leaders, under pressure from the Soviet Union, agreeing not to make further claims to Germany. An opposition lawmaker, Grzegorz Schetina, says the report is just a “game in domestic politics” and insists Poland must build good relations with Berlin. About 6 million Polish citizens, including 3 million Jews, were killed in the war. Some of them were victims of the Soviet Red Army invading from the east.