BEIJING, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- On the occasion of the 83rd anniversary of Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland, a report led by Polish lawmaker Muraltszyk was released on September 1. The report assessed the invasion and occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany during World War II, which cost the equivalent of $1.3 trillion, and Kaczynski, the chairman of Poland's ruling party, said he would propose to germany to start negotiations on reparations.
Germany is Poland's largest trading partner, both of which are members of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The German Foreign Office said in a statement on the 1st that the issue of war reparations has long been resolved.
On December 7, 1970, Federal Chancellor Brandt knelt in front of the Monument to the Jewish Martyrs in Warsaw, Poland, to ask for forgiveness from the victims of the war on behalf of Germany. Xinhua News Agency
The Polish side is interested in making a claim
The launch ceremony of the above-mentioned report was held in Warsaw, the polish capital, on the 1st, and was attended by Prime Minister Mateus Molawiecki and the chairman of the ruling Law and Justice Party, Jarosław Kaczynski.
Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, and subsequently occupied Poland for more than five years.
Kaczynski said that the invasion of Nazi Germany caused great losses to Poland, and some of the consequences continue even to this day, "Germany has never really been responsible for the crimes it committed against Poland."
This is a relief of the words "1941-1945" from the beginning and end of the Soviet-German War taken on May 8, 2020 at the Soviet Martyrs' Cemetery in Trepteau, the capital of Germany. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Zhang Ping)
Kaczynski said the $1.3 trillion loss was mostly estimated based on "compensation for more than 5.2 million Polish victims." He said he would propose to the German side to start negotiations on compensation, a process that would be "lengthy and not easy ... But one day there will be results."
According to the German news agency, the report is in 3 volumes, and the first volume has more than 500 pages. The Polish side began to prepare the report in 2017, and more than 30 people, including economists and historians, formed a panel of experts to participate in the preparation. Arkadiusz Mulalchik, a Polish parliamentarian who led the project to compile the report, said the losses estimated in the report ranged from infrastructure, industry, agriculture and culture.
This is a photograph of concentration camp detainees on display in the World War II exhibition hall of the Krakow City History Museum in Poland, taken on April 6, 2015. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Magdalena)
Germany's position remains unchanged
Regarding the relevant movements of the Polish side in assessing the losses of World War II, a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry said on the 1st that the German government's position on the issue of compensation for World War II has "not changed", that is, "the issue of compensation has been resolved".
The German Foreign Office said in a statement: "Poland has renounced further claims for war reparations as early as 1953 and has repeatedly confirmed (this position) ... This is an important foundation of today's European order. Germany maintains its political and moral responsibility for the Second World War. ”
According to the German side, Poland signed an agreement with the GDR, or East Germany, in 1953 to renounce claims for World War II reparations; When East Germany was reunified with the Federal Republic of Germany or West Germany in 1990, this was confirmed by an agreement negotiated and signed between the two Germanys with the Soviet Union, the United States, Great Britain, and France.
At 24:00 on May 8, 1945, representatives of the headquarters of the fascist German army officially signed the unconditional surrender of the German army in Berlin, and the European anti-fascist war in World War II ended in victory. Xinhua News Agency
According to Reuters, Poland's Law and Justice Party has repeatedly called for World War II reparations since it came to power in 2015, but has never formally made a demand to the German side. Commenting on the report released on the 1st, the Polish opposition party said that the ruling party issued the World War II loss report more out of domestic political considerations.
According to the Associated Press, citing the results of a recent poll, the proportion of Polish people who support and do not support Germany whether to ask Germany for World War II reparations is similar.
Dietmar Nietan, the German government's official in charge of cooperation with Poland, said September 1 was still a day of "sin and shame" for Germany, reminding everyone not to forget "the crimes committed by Germany" and "the darkest chapters in German history", which still affect German-Polish bilateral relations. (Liu Xiuling)