Berlin: no to Polish demand for reparations
During his inaugural visit to Berlin, the new Polish President Karol Nawrocki reiterated Poland's demand for compensation of 1.3 trillion euros for the period of German occupation during the Second World War. Both German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier rejected the demand, saying that in Germany's view the matter is closed from a legal perspective. Commentators take a closer look.
Enormous omissions
President Nawrocki is right to insist on the issue of reparations, Rzeczpospolita believes:
“Given the terrible losses Poland suffered at the hands of Germany during the Second World War, the question of reparations, compensation and restitution has enormous moral and emotional potential in German-Polish relations. The omissions on Germany's side in terms of its failure to make amends are enormous and obvious to everyone. It's also not true that German politicians are unaware of this. That is why they react so emotionally and nervously to the Polish demands, fearing above all their impact on their own image.”
What about reparations from Russia?
Why is Poland only demanding compensation from Germany, Český rozhlas wonders:
“Yes, the Nazis committed a multitude of crimes on Polish territory and against the Polish nation. ... On the other hand, in 1945 the Poles expelled ten million Germans from what is now Poland. ... However, Poland should be interested in compensation from a second occupier. It was the Soviet Union that occupied the eastern half of what was then Poland in 1939, and never gave it back. ... But demanding reparations from friendly Germany is clearly easier today than antagonising an already hostile Moscow. Whether it is wiser, however, is doubtful.”
Work together to deter Putin
The Süddeutsche Zeitung sees the need for strong signals:
“The demand for reparations may lack a legal basis, but a strong gesture, also for the few surviving victims of National Socialism, is overdue. And the plan for a German-Polish house in Berlin must not be allowed to fizzle out. However, the not entirely new idea of deriving a task for Germany for the present and the future from its historical responsibility is central. Germany must play a greater role than it has so far in protecting Poland from the threat from Russia. The damage caused by the Germans in Poland cannot be repaired. But what better lesson could be learnt from history than to work together to deter the aggressor Russia?”