Yesterday the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and the EU, during the first reading of the resolution on Poland requesting compensation for damage caused by Germany during the Second World War, decided to suspend the work of a majority of Platform senators.

The draft resolution was presented by the senators of the Law and Justice party, and it fully coincides with the text adopted in mid-September, by an overwhelming majority of the votes of the Sejm.

As Deputy Foreign Minister Paweł Jabłoński, who was present at this session of the Senate Committee and ready to answer all questions from the Platform senators, wrote on Twitter, “they are doing everything so that Germany avoids responsibility for his crimes”.

Diplomatic note on compensation

Recall that on October 3, Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, on the 32nd anniversary of German reunification, signed a diplomatic note on compensation for the Second World War, which will be immediately transferred to the Foreign Ministry of this country, after which it was handed over to the German government.

It expresses the conviction of the Polish Foreign Minister that the two countries must take immediate action aimed at a permanent, complete and definitive legal and material regulation of the consequences of the German aggression and occupation in 1939-1945.

According to Minister Rau, this settlement should include, among other things, the payment of compensation by Germany for the material and immaterial damage caused to the Polish State, compensation for the damage suffered by the victims and the members of their family, as well as a systemic solution for the stolen assets and liabilities of Polish public banks.

Furthermore, this settlement should also include the guarantee of appropriate cooperation in the commemoration of the Polish victims of the Second World War and, very importantly, the taking of effective measures by the German authorities to present to their own society a true picture of the Second World War and its aftermath, especially the damage and harm caused to Poland and the Poles.

Repair report

Recall also that on September 1, at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, a team of scientists led by Deputy for Law and Justice Arkadiusz Mularczyk presented a report on Germany’s reparations to Poland, which were a consequence of the attack on our country and occupation for nearly 6 years.

The report prepared by more than 30 specialists in various fields, allowing the estimation of all the losses suffered by Poland, despite the fact that it was based on very conservative (and therefore rather underestimated) assumptions, shows in total the sum of the damage at the level of more than 6,200 billion PLN, or 1,300 billion euros.

The announcement of the report on the day of the outbreak of the Second World War and the amount of compensation demanded by Poland from Germany generated enormous interest in the report, and all the world’s leading news agencies and leading media in Europe and the world quoted its conclusions and the amount of compensation established by Poland.

Immediately after the report was announced, leading opposition politicians (Donald Tusk, Szymon Hołownia) were highly critical of the report itself and claimed that demanding compensation from Germany would worsen relations between this country and Poland, but fortunately they quickly changed their minds.

However, in mid-September the Sejm, by an overwhelming majority (418 votes for, 4 against, 15 abstentions), passed a resolution supporting the government on Germany’s claim for World War II compensation, referring to a similar resolution adopted by the Sejm in 2004 (according to the text this resolution was voted by a majority of PO deputies).

It seemed then that the government had the full support of all parties sitting in the current Sejm to demand compensation for World War II, which was an important signal to Germany that they could not play this case politically. .

Furthermore, at the official launch of the compensation efforts on the occasion of the anniversary of German reunification, we would like to point out that this country already obtained more than 30 years ago the consent of the powers to lift the last sanctions imposed on it, and at the same time has not settled accounts with Poland, the country which suffered the most from German aggression more than 80 years ago.

Unfortunately, now the blocking by the senators of the Platform of the draft Senate resolution on this issue shows that the politicians of this party have decided to block the efforts of our country to obtain German compensation for the crimes and destruction committed in Poland during World War II.