Poland demands $1.3 trillion in war damages from Germany

WARSAW (AP): Poland’s foreign minister on Monday signed an official note to Germany requesting the payment of some $1.3 trillion in reparations for the damage incurred by occupying Nazi Germans during World War II.

Zbigniew Rau said the note will be handed to Germany’s Foreign Ministry. The signing comes on the eve of Rau’s meeting in Warsaw with Germany Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who is attending a security conference.

Rau said the note expresses his view that the two sides should take action “without delay” to address the effects of Germany’s 1939-45 occupation in a “lasting and complex, legally binding as well as material way.”

He said that would include German reparations as well as solving the issue of looted artworks and archives.

Poland’s right-wing government insists that Poland is owed reparations for extensive war damage, while Berlin says it has paid compensation to the affected countries, including Poland, and considers the matter closed.

On the war’s 83rd anniversary, Sept. 1, Poland’s government presented an extensive report on the damages, estimating it at the $1.3 trillion figure.