Arkadiusz Mularczyk, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), has submitted an urgent inquiry to the European Commission regarding its stance on funding for the preservation of former Nazi-German concentration camps. Mularczyk’s question focuses on whether the Commission will support Poland and other World War II victim nations in seeking financial contributions from the countries responsible for establishing these sites.
In his inquiry, Mularczyk directly asks if the European Commission “will support Poland and other World War II victim states in seeking funding to maintain former Nazi-German concentration camps from the states who established them.”
The debate over funding was recently highlighted by an article written by Wojciech Konończuk, Director of the Centre for Eastern Studies in Warsaw, and published in the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita. The piece revealed that Polish taxpayers are shouldering nearly all the costs associated with maintaining the concentration camps built by Nazi Germany on Polish soil during the Second World War.
Mularczyk expressed his concerns, stating, “It is clearly not morally correct for a victim state, essentially alone, to bear huge costs to upkeep these sites where horrific war crimes took place. Germany, as the offending state, has the responsibility to contribute significant sums to pay to maintain these sites of remembrance.”
He further pointed out that “international law is weak at forcing aggressors to pay compensation and pay for the preservation of sites of remembrance,” emphasizing the ongoing financial burden faced by Poland. He noted that while the European Parliament has passed resolutions calling for support, it is primarily “Poland and Poles that face the financial burden of keeping the memory of Polish Second World War victims alive.”
Mularczyk’s question draws attention to previous European Parliament resolutions, such as the one from 19 September 2019, which stressed the importance of European remembrance. Article 12 of that resolution called on the Commission to “provide effective support for projects of historic memory and remembrance in the Member States,” including allocating adequate financial resources for these projects under the “Europe for Citizens” program.
The urgency of Mularczyk’s question is amplified by recent reports suggesting that Germany has deliberately delayed the return of items looted during World War II, further complicating the ongoing dialogue over historical responsibility and financial accountability.