Last week, Poland appealed to the UN agency for education, arts, sciences, and culture (UNESCO) to ask for support in its efforts to recover numerous pieces of art that Germany looted during WWII. 

Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk was in Berlin earlier this month to discuss the matter with his German counterparts. On his official Twitter account, he informed he had written a letter to UNESCO’s director general “with a request to establish cooperation in the return of cultural goods taken from Poland”.

Mularczyk oversees Poland’s efforts to obtain war reparations from its German neighbour for the massive destruction and looting caused by the latter on Polish soil between 1939 and 1945. In a recent interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP), he explained that Polish cultural and intellectual heritage was destroyed by Germany “with particular ferocity and with the intention of its complete annihilation.”

Poland’s Culture Minister Piotr Gliński commented on the matter in a recent press conference by stating that “the extremely extensive and heavy losses caused by the German invasion and occupation […] greatly affected the entire country, but […] also the sphere of culture, art, science, and education.”

https://twitter.com/arekmularczyk/status/1603023754245832708?s=20&t=dlhgC39_FlWNdqmtghj_zg

On 1 September, an official report on losses suffered by Poland during the war was prepared by the Parliamentary Team for Estimating the Amount of Compensation Due to Poland from Germany for Damages Caused During World War II. The report estimates Poland’s WWI losses caused by Germany at €1.3 trillion. 

Shortly after, Warsaw sent a diplomatic note to Berlin outlining its position, but the latter did not receive a formal answer so far. More recently, Poland also sent diplomatic to member states of the Council of Europe, NATO, and the EU on the matter, in an effort to create a platform of international support for its cause.

In a recent interview with British Poles, the Deputy Foreign Minister criticised Germany’s stance toward Warsaw regarding bilateral cooperation efforts. He accused Berlin of “doing everything to postpone the topic of war reparations for Poland”. 

Image: Wiki/Bundesarchiv

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen