In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki renewed his claim for German war reparations (the European Conservative reported) by drawing a parallel to the current war between Russia and Ukraine.
In his plea, directed specifically at young Germans, Morawiecki argued that if Germans want Russia brought to justice for its war in Ukraine, and to have Russia pay reparations for the crimes it committed in Ukraine, then Germans would have to “take responsibility for the crimes and mass murder of Poles, that their country committed during World War II.”
“If you as descendants do not stand by this responsibility,” said Morawiecki, “then Russia can never be held accountable for the crimes Putin’s troops are now committing in Ukraine.”
In early September, the Polish government presented a report that estimated the damage caused in Poland by German occupation during World War II at around €1.3 trillion. The ruling PiS party had then announced plans to demand reparations from Germany, but German officials, including the German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock (Greens), brushed these claims aside by insisting that all reparations had been settled long ago.
While Polish opposition parties first accused PiS of using these claims to play a “game in internal politics,” they came around a few weeks later and started supporting the claims, expanding them from Germany to Russia as well. A recent poll by CBOS revealed that 57% of Poles support, while 33% reject the claim. 10% indicated having no opinion on the matter.
