“Welt”: Poland has internationalized the reparations consultation
Warsaw demands 1.3 billion euros from Berlin for crimes committed by Germans in Poland during World War II. Arkadiusz Mularczyk, during his first visit to Berlin, pointed out the next accusation against the upcoming federal one – analyzes the first day of the stay of the deputy head of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital of Germany, columnist of the “Welt” daily Philipp Fritz.
Like the honorable Fritz, during Tuesday’s conference, “Arkadiusz Mularczyk spoke calmly about Germany as a +friend+”. This could be strange, because “The mason’s work is for the +german+ and the one who is to win the reflex of the federal unimaginable 1.3 trillion euros” – wrote the publicist.
The effective silence of Berlin resulted from a certain calculation – the statement “Welt”, reminding that the provision of Polish shares “razed cities, stolen bank funds, looted works of art.” Above all, however, during the German occupation, over 5 million Polish children performed, including the Jewish community in Europe at that time. During the German occupation, “three units of Polish Jews were murdered,” emphasizes Welt.
The Polish report, presented to us in the next few weeks – after the preparation of the German version – will be handed over to ministers and decision-makers in Germany. This was preceded by the handing of a diplomatic note to the federal government on October 3, the day of German reunification, which “German diplomatic circles of the office felt as an affront,” noted Welt.
Mularczyk, who was promoted to the position of deputy minister of the perpetrator, stayed in Berlin on Tuesday and Wednesday.
An occasion to hang a topping out at the new Polish embassy, but also a visit to an important day of compensation for the Polish Fritz notes.
During his visit to Berlin, Mularczyk is planning a meeting with the Minister of Construction Klara Geywitz, as well as with representatives of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including French Minister of State for Anna Luehrmann.
Demands for employee compensation were also the subject of a press conference, at which Mularczyk sat next to Dariusz Pawłoś – the newly appointed Polish ambassador in Berlin. Pawłoś is an experienced diplomat with a good network of contacts in Germany, he is considered a reasonable person. Then it was decided to end says Fritz.
Mularczyk during the conference that dealing with reparations “is also in Germany’s interest.”
Like a similar “Welt”, the Polish deputy minister immediately sent a note on this matter to over 50 countries and various international organizations.
In this way, it was taken into account that there is a problem that has not been solved – concluded Fritz, noting that the government of Olaf Scholz was a regular cabinet of his predecessor Angela Merkel: “Germany has a moral responsibility towards Poland, but the issue of reparations is legally covered.”
Most experts see no chance for Poland to win justice before an international tribunal. Meanwhile, the Polish government states that war crimes are not subject to the statute of limitations – emphasizes Fritz and the realization that Poland is “internationalizing” the issue of reparations due to the influence on Germany’s actions.
How to send the author, Mularczyk’s visit to Berlin coincides with a scandal about the Berlin auction house. A watercolor by Kandinsky, which was stolen from the National Museum in Warsaw in 1984, was put up for sale in a specific week.
Although this case is not about art looted during World War II, “for many Poles, the case is an expression of the Germans’ heartless attitude to Polish affairs, especially since the Polish embassy also protested before the auction in Berlin,” wrote Fritz.
The sale of the painting, according to the Grisebach auction house, has been suspended, and the matter is to be subjected to legal review. Culture Minister Piotr Gliński accused the Berlin auction house of selling “stolen goods”.
Polish-German relations remain tense. Opportunities do not run out – summed up the columnist of “Welt”.
PAP/RO