Year after year, more victims of World War II pass away—people who never received any compensation for the criminal German invasion. “Hurry up if you truly want to make such a gesture,” Donald Tusk said to Friedrich Merz. He did not rule out that support for the victims of German crimes may ultimately be provided… by the Polish taxpayer. How did the chancellor respond?
Just before the start of the intergovernmental consultations, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Chancellor Friedrich Merz held a joint press conference. Both politicians addressed the prepared topics.
The Polish prime minister referred to the issue of compensation for the harm inflicted on Poland by Germany during World War II.
“Poland’s position here is clear. Germany adheres to that formal diplomatic act from the 1950s, but, as you well know—those of you who know history—in the 1950s Poland in fact had nothing to say on the matter, and that renunciation of reparations by the Poles at the time is not recognized as an act consistent with the will of the Polish nation, because the Polish nation had no voice in that matter back then,” Prime Minister Tusk said.
“If you’re asking what the state of affairs is—nothing has changed. In Poland, we believe—and essentially everyone agrees—that Poland has not received compensation for the losses and crimes of World War II. And we know the German position, which sticks to that formal provision from the 1950s,” he continued.
“We’ll see what the future holds, but from the Polish point of view, nothing will change,” he added.
He also addressed payments for surviving WWII victims:
“Let me point out an obvious, sad fact: according to estimates from the Polish–German Reconciliation Foundation, there are currently (…) around 50,000 of them.”
He added that when he discussed compensation in recent years with former chancellor Olaf Scholz, the number was around 60,000 people.
“Hurry up if you truly want to make such a gesture,” he urged the German side.
He indicated that if there is no quick and unequivocal declaration from Germany, next year he will consider a decision for Poland to meet this need using its own funds.
“I don’t want to say anything more about this,” he concluded.
On this specific issue, the German politician also announced firmness. And he either chose his words poorly—or rejected the Polish demands in a brutally direct way.
“Matters related to remembrance, confronting the past, and working through the past are processes that will never be completed. We conduct our talks in this spirit,” Merz assured.
It is not entirely clear what exactly he meant, as he quickly cut off the topic.
The agenda for Monday’s consultations contains no mention of reparations or amounts even remotely approaching the estimates made by Arkadiusz Mularczyk’s team (over 6 trillion złoty). The discussion is to concern compensation solely for living Polish victims. As the Polish Press Agency reported over the weekend, “Warsaw maintains that it could accept an amount of €10,000 per year for each surviving victim.”