“Today, Germany is paying Namibia for the genocide between 1904 and 1908. If it is possible to pay after 120 years, then we will surely be paid, too. It will be a long road. Let no one count on this money being quick. They have both material and moral value”, said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in an interview.

The head of the Polish government expressed hope that after the initial shock in Germany, reflection would come. He confirmed that there was no Polish-German agreement in 1953 in which Poland renounced reparations.

“The Germans now invoke such an agreement, but in fact there was only a press note on the subject in the paper „Trybuna Ludu”. If someone now invokes a press release from 70 years ago, I wish them luck. In my opinion, we have strong arguments not only historically, but also legally, which we will use”, Prime Minister Morawiecki added.

According to Mateusz Morawiecki, the war loss report is a move to restore justice, as Poland was the country most destroyed by Germany and lost the largest population.

“The gigantic bloodshed, the monstrous destruction – all this caused Poland to be unable to develop normally”, the Prime Minister recalled.

In an interview with Wednesday’s (7 September) Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected demands for reparations for the damage caused by Germany to Poland during the Second World War, adding that “the issue has been finally settled in international law”.

Meanwhile, Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, referring to the German chancellor’s words, said that “there is no document that would justify the thesis that the reparations issue has in any way been closed” and pointed out that “there is no trace of any meeting of the Council of Ministers of Bolesław Bierut’s government on reparations”.

Adrian Andrzejewski