Germany and unpaid war damages, a Polish MEP takes the issue to the EU Parliament

Brussels – Territorial loss amounting to some 76,000 square kilometres, total economic damage of more than $1.5 trillion, with losses of $22 billion in the banking and insurance sectors alone. These are the Polish accounts of the German occupation and the damage it caused between 1939 and 1945, as presented in an exhibition brought to the European Parliament, a symbolic place of reconciliation, reminding us that the painful past cannot always be overcome. 

“The Legacy of War” is the initiative promoted by Arkadiusz Murlancik and Emmanouil Fragkos, conservative MEPs (ECR), the former Polish and the latter Greek, who wanted not only to remember the atrocities perpetrated by Nazi Germany in the two countries, but also to recall how Berlin has never compensated a penny for the damage of the war. Polish claims are not new; they are only being brought into the European Parliament. 

For the occasion, a brochure, produced by the Polish government, was made available to the curious and interested, containing all the calculations of the damage suffered by Poland, complete with an official request for payment, the subject of a resolution of the council of ministers of the previous extreme right-wing government (Resolution 51, of 18 April 2023), in which together with damages of over $1.5 trillion, compensation for the families of the victims is demanded, return of cultural property belonging to Poland and brought to Germany, recognition of the Polish minority in Germany with teaching of the language in schools. 

“No to silence, no to prescription, no to forgetfulness,” is the message contained in the Polish demands, which clash with the EU project. The exhibition brought to Brussels runs the risk of missing the objective of memory and rekindling, on the contrary, grudges and tensions contrary to the integration project, born from the will to turn pages, move forward, and start again. It is the history of Europe that returns, with all its facets. 

Germany has never paid all war damages. Initially, the victorious powers stipulated that this could only be achieved by an existing, unified German state. The first condition only occurred in 1949, when France, the United Kingdom, and the United States returned their occupation zones to the Germans, and the Federal Republic of Germany was established, but excluding the East, which remained under Soviet control. The second condition did not occur until 1990, as Poland was unable to express itself until then due to its continued Soviet influence, and the victorious powers of the Second World War had not imposed reparations. Historical courses against which Poland still tries to make appeals.