Presentation in Poland of reports on losses incurred as a result of World War II and the amount of Polish compensation from Germany did not change Germany’s position on the possibility of reparations. “The federal government has taken note of this publication. The government’s attitude towards demands for reparations, which we have discussed so many times here, has remained unchanged. According to the government, the case is closed, Christofer Burger, spokesman for the German government, said Friday (2 September 2022), when asked in a press conference about his reaction to the Polish report.

He informed that a formal request from Poland regarding reparations had not yet been received and that no new talks in this regard were planned by Germany.

– Of course, Germany’s responsibility for the crimes committed during World War II will never be closed. We have a clear moral and political position on this – and from this point of view this issue will never be resolved. Legally, the matter is closed, the spokesperson added.

Keep the memory of Germany’s mistakes alive

He recalled that a further reparations waiver was announced by Poland in 1953, and since then the Polish government has confirmed it several times, including “as part of the negotiations” on the PRL-FRG treaty of 7 December 1970 and in a Council of Ministers communication of 19 October 2004, Poland also unconditionally accepted the Two Plus Four Agreement as a final settlement against Germany under the Paris Charter on November 21, 1990 year, Burger argued.

He stressed that the German government “deeply sincerely” that the memory of Germany’s responsibility and guilt for “the unimaginable suffering caused in Germany’s name by Germany in Poland will live on in Germany.” He recalled that the purpose of a planned memorial site in Berlin dedicated to the victims of the war and the German occupation of Poland.