Poland upholds WWII reparation claims from Germany - DPA

Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, has confirmed in an interview with the German news agency DPA that Poland continues to seek war reparations from Germany.

Morawiecki told DPA that he had signed a document that establishes the Institute for War Losses, adding that the reparations issue "is not beyond discussion, because Poland has been badly treated by not receiving reparations."

The new institute is to provide backing for Poland's WWII damages claims against Germany as well as carry out claims proceedings.

The Polish government said that a 1954 settlement with Eastern Germany, signed by the then Polish communist government under pressure from Moscow, was in fact illegal.

A Polish parliamentary commission on war losses, set up in 2017, will complete its work in February next year, according to Morawiecki.

"The decision when and what we are going to do with the report hasn't been made yet," the Polish prime minister said. "But we're preparing everything to show the report to the world."

According to DPA, for the German government war reparations are a closed matter from both a legal and political point of view.

Poland was invaded by Germany in 1939 and was occupied until the end of the war in 1945. Due to the Nazi regime's brutal actions, Poland lost up to six million of its citizens, including most of the country's Jewish population.

After the war, Polish cities and infrastructure were left devastated, and the country's capital Warsaw was nearly razed to the ground. Poland also lost an incredible amount of moveable property, including works of art.

Poland's 1946 estimates, plus interest, put the cost of the damages at EUR 800 billion.