Germany rejects Polish demand for WWII reparations
Government says Poland relinquished its right for further compensation in 1953 and the issue is now closed
The German government rejected a Polish demand for new talks on World War II reparations.
The German government says the issue was closed in 1953, when Poland relinquished its right to further compensation.
Several Polish politicians have disputed the 1953 accord, saying that it was made under pressure from the former Soviet Union, the Deutsch Welle German news service reported.
Germany paid “considerable reparations for overall war damages” to Poland, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Friday, according to the AFP news agency.
Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said Thursday that she believed her country had the right to demand more German reparations.
“In my opinion, Poland has the right to this and the Polish state has the right to ask for them,” she reportedly said in a radio interview.
Several Polish ministers have estimated that reparations should run as high as £758 billion ($1 trillion).
Six million Polish citizens, including about three million Jews, were killed while the country was under Nazi occupation from 1939 to 1945, and Warsaw was mostly destroyed.
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