PM says it is Poland's duty to claim damages for "German crimes" of WWII
The Polish prime minister has said that it is the country’s duty to claim losses for the "monstrous German crimes" and "enormous losses" suffered by Poland during World War II.
Mateusz Morawiecki made the claim in an interview published on Thursday on the portal of the Super Express newspaper. His words reflect concerns in the ruling Law and Justice party that Germany has failed to financially atone for its wartime crimes against Poland.
"Literally in the last few days, I have signed the ordinance on the establishment of the Institute for War Losses. We want all analyses that have been carried out so far thanks to the work of the Parliamentary Team, to bring the appropriate effect over the coming months," Morawiecki said.
The prime minister added that with the help of the institute's report, Poland will want to claim damages from Germany, and the amount may reach up to a trillion dollars.
"The truth is that as a result of the war, Poland suffered enormous losses due to the monstrous German crimes," he said. "Poland and Poles were plundered of unimaginably great fortunes. It is our duty to claim back these losses, to claim this lost property."
At the same time, he said that Poland had lost not only property.
"We have lost six million people. The sea of tears of our mothers, the sea of blood of our fathers. We lost our freedom, we lost our independence, we lost our chance for normal economic development. A free and independent Poland cannot pass over such a hecatomb," Morawiecki added.
