On 5 and 6 October, the Collegium Intermarium University, together with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Poland, the International Law Quarterly, the European Policy Research Center, and the National School of Public Administration, organised an international scientific conference entitled “Liability for war damage in Europe”.
Participants of the conference exchanged their views in the search for an answer to the question of whether there is a model of transitional justice in the field of war reparations for war damage in general, and especially when it comes to social expectations regarding the settlement of the war of aggression of Russia on Ukraine.
Nearly 80 years passed since the end of WWII, yet the issue of war reparations, which is the source of heated debates between Poles and Germans, remains far from being resolved. The Polish and German visions are colliding. Warsaw argues that payment of reparations would allow for the strengthening of bilateral relations. On the other hand, Berlin estimates that the matter was closed long ago.
The last panel of the two-day-long conference was titled “Ways of seeking reparations. Challenges for lawyers, diplomacy, and the Polish diaspora”.
The panel’s moderator was adv. Jerzy Kwaśniewski, President of the board of the Ordo Iuris Institute. The panellists were Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice Sebastian Kaleta, journalist and economic commentator Rafał Ziemkiewicz, the deputy editor-in-chief of the „Rzeczpospolita” daily, solicitor Beata Komarnick-Nowak and Jacek Marczyński, representative of the Polish community in the United States.
Mrs Komarnicka-Nowak explained that the Polish-German agreement of 1953, via which Warsaw allegedly gave up its claims for reparations, has no legal value. She also drew attention to the lack of goodwill from the German side on the issue of reparations, illustrating her claim by the fact that not only did the German newspaper Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung publish an article quickly after Poland formally made its claim for reparations in September 2022 – explaining why the Polish arguments are to be dismissed – but also denied her the publication of an article defending these very arguments, despite the fact that her paper was published by the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita.
Jacek Maczyński stressed the key role played by the Polish diaspora when it comes to the issue of war reparations. He stated that the latter could become a common goal toward which the Polish state could strive hand in hand with the Polonia from around the globe. He insisted that the Polish diaspora, in general, lacks money and that success can be achieved in the field of reparations via close collaboration with Jewish organisations based in the US.
Minister Sebastian Kaleta emphasised the importance of the Polish narrative abroad. He stated that success will be achieved by those who manage to convince the world of their view. He stressed that purely legal means would not be enough for a positive outcome of Polish claims. He also drew attention to the important role of the Polish diaspora, whose presence outside of the Polish territory was often a direct consequence of WWII, which is yet another reason why the Polonia should actively enhance the efforts of the Polish state on the reparations issue.
Redactor Rafał Ziemkiewicz reminded that what seems obvious to many Poles – the fact that the Germans attacked and brutally occupied Poland – is not part of the common language in most of the world. He underlined how Germany efficiently built its own narrative regarding WWII by turning itself into the victim of “nazism”. He insisted that a shift of mentality among Poles was necessary in order to achieve a similar level of efficiency in building Poland’s soft power.
Government Plenipotentiary for compensation for damage caused by German aggression and occupation in 1939-1945 Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk gave an exclusive comment to British Poles during the conference. When asked about his take on Warsaw’s diplomatic efforts in obtaining war reparations, Mularczyk stressed that things are going in the right direction.
“For the past year or so, we can observe an increase in the awareness of the international community when it comes to our [Polish] situation when it comes to the issue of reparations” the Minister explained. “Germany has an unsettled debt toward us. We do have a political, moral, and legal right to obtain reparations from Berlin” – he emphasised.
“We are on the right track. Poland is making its voice heard among international organisations and sooner or later Germany will have its reputation harmed if it continues to ignore our claims. Poland is the country that suffered the most during WWII, yet it is virtually the only one that received no war compensation whatsoever. If we [Law and Justice, editor’s note] win the elections on 15 October, Warsaw will develop the proper instruments to force the Germans to discuss this issue with us. If they persist in dismissing our arguments, the world will see the Germans for what they are – saying one thing yet doing another.” – Minister Mularczyk concluded.
On 1 September 2022, “The report on the losses suffered by Poland due to the German aggression and occupation during the Second World War, 1939-1945” was published. The latter was prepared by the Parliamentary Team for Estimating the Amount of Compensation Due to Poland from Germany for Damages Caused During World War II, led by Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk. A group of 30 scientists, including historians, economists, property appraisers, and reviewers, contributed to the large document. The abridged version of The War Report in English is available here.
Cover photo: gov.pl
Images: British Poles
Author: Sébastien Meuwissen
