The Polish government has published details of a compensation claim it sent to Germany demanding EUR 1.32 trillion in compensation for the damage inflicted on Poland during the Second World War.
The note was sent in early October but its contents were not made public.
On Friday, the foreign ministry’s spokesman, Lukasz Jasina, published a press release concerning the note.
According to the release, Poland is demanding damages from Germany for tangible and intangible losses amounting to PLN 6,220,609,000,000, or EUR 1.32 trillion, as well as compensation for the losses and harm to Polish victims of the Nazi German invasion and occupation of Poland.
The note also demanded the return of cultural items looted from Poland which are now in Germany.
Poland has also called upon Germany to “fully rehabilitate the killed activists of the pre-war Polish minority in Germany and compensate for the losses suffered by Polish diaspora organisations in Germany.”
Additionally, Warsaw has demanded a systemic regulation of the status of Polish citizens and people of Polish origin living in Germany by restoring their status as a national minority.
Poland also seeks “proper cooperation” in commemorating the Polish victims of WWII and expects Germany to take efficient action to present to German society “the true image of the war and its consequences,” particularly the harm inflicted on Poland and Poles.
Following the Polish opposition’s criticism of the government for not using the word “reparations” in the note, Jasina said that Poland in fact had demanded a much broader form of compensation than that defined by the term reparations according to international law.
Germany has told Poland that it considers the case for reparations to be closed.