By Małgorzata Kaczorowska
22 September 2004

The Sejm resolution calling on the Polish government to act concerning the matter of war reparations has triggered a wave of declarations and statements both on the Polish and German sides of the border.

Reactions from the Germans were immediate. In a special open letter, 70 politicians, intellectuals and German citizens with families from the East renounced all property claims against Poland. Signatories include Bundestag President Wolfgang Thierse, born in Wrocław, SPD politician Peter Goltz, and descendants of the Silesian von Moltke family. "The future of Europe lies not in a mutual score settling but in an open dialogue," state the document's signatories.

"This declaration is a response to claims by Die Preussische Treuhand (Prussian Claims Society) concerning indemnity for property lost in the East," says journalist Helga Hirsch. "It is an attempt to stop the destructive spiral of mutual demands in Polish-German relations," adds Hirsch, who initiated the declaration. The declaration appeared Sept. 13, when temperatures in Polish-German relations reached boiling point. Sept. 10, the Sejm almost unanimously passed a resolution calling on the Polish government to negotiate reparations for war damage from Germany and the German government to recognize property claims by the German expelled as unfounded. The Sejm resolution caused indignation in Germany-some politicians and commentators even considered it to be a provocation.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder declared Aug. 1 in Warsaw that the government of Germany would oppose claims by the expelled in international courts. However, no signature from any leader of the Union of the Expelled (BdV) was obtained on the Hirsch declaration; most of them insist on their rights to "native lands," despite the fact that even lawyers sympathizing with Erika Steinbach's BdV admit that chances for obtaining indemnity are slim. Following the Sejm resolution, the German media voiced their position, stressing the fact that the Polish parliament's reaction was caused by the activity of the BdV. The media claim, however, that "nationalist Catholic rightist extremists," according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), are stirring up Polish nationalist sentiment. The newspaper also concludes that demanding reparations from Germany today is groundless in light of the 2 + 4 treaty of 1990. "Poland should have submitted reparation demands at that time," stresses FAZ. The 1990 treaty is in fact not a peace treaty in the strict sense of the word and includes no mention of reparations, but regulates the questions of WWII concerning Germany.

The Polish government, also taking a position on the Sejm resolution, has firmly recognized the matter of claims in Polish-German relations as closed once and for all. Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz said, "The Council of Ministers appreciates the concern of the Sejm. However, the government has to recognize that from the legal point of view, the issue of war reparation is closed." His main argument referred to agreements concluded at the Potsdam conference, which featured reparations for Poland in the form of incorporation of western and northern territories and the property located in those areas as well as a statement by the government of communist Poland in 1953 renouncing further reparations.

Prime Minister Belka and Cimoszewicz assert with one voice that the government of Poland rejects all German claims against Poles. "Legally speaking, we do not see any chances for vindication of German claims in any Polish courts," said Cimoszewicz.

However, the government intends to implement some of the postulates in the Sejm resolution. First and foremost, it will take steps to provide legal protection to Poles wronged by possible German claims, and a specially appointed inter-ministerial team will estimate the losses incurred by Poland as a result of WWII. "The intention behind this estimate has no connection with possible claims. It is to remind those who have forgotten of the outcome of this war," said Cimoszewicz. The government's current task is to improve Polish-German relations, recently weakened by the issue of indemnities and reparations. To that end it has proposed the establishment of an institution of representatives for mutual relations on both sides. "We are preparing a broad solution to these problems with German partners, but discussion on this matter is better conducted in the conference room than in an atmosphere of political uproar," said Belka.

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