During today’s press conference in the Sejm, Arkadiusz Mularczyk, former Foreign Minister and PiS MP, shared his expectations regarding the visit of the current head of Polish diplomacy, Radosław Sikorski, to Berlin. The PiS parliamentarian recalled the scandalous situation with the place dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. “There is a great misunderstanding in the world, especially in Germany, because erroneous memory codes have already been created when it comes to World War II. For many residents of Western Europe and also Germany, the Second World War is primarily a holocaust in occupied Poland, but there is a noticeable total lack of knowledge about the consequences of this occupation and what consequences it had for Poland and Poland,” said Mularczyk.
Tomorrow, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski will hold a meeting in Berlin with the Foreign Minister of Germany, Mrs. Annalena Baerbock. This is an extremely important visit, so I would like to emphasize what we expect from the Minister in terms of issues that he needs to pay attention to.
– said Law and Justice MP Arkadiusz Mularczyk during a briefing in the Sejm.
The politician indicated that he meant, among other things: statement of the European Commission, a place published yesterday dedicated to the commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust, where “Oświęcim and Auschwitz-Birkenau were unfortunately described as being places in Poland.”
However, nowhere in this place was it mentioned who committed these crimes during World War II, and that the places where Jews, as well as citizens of other European countries, were murdered were German concentration camps in occupied Poland. This video was corrected under pressure from the media and social media
– recalls the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
I mention this because there is a big misunderstanding in the world, especially in Germany, because erroneous memory codes have already been created when it comes to World War II. For many residents of Western Europe and also Germany, the Second World War is primarily a holocaust in occupied Poland, but there is a noticeable total lack of knowledge about the consequences of this occupation and what consequences it had for Poland and the losses that Poland suffered.
– noted Mularczyk.
Therefore, these bilateral relations are burdened with historical issues that have not been resolved to this day
– said the politician.
Resolution on reparations
The former Deputy Foreign Minister also recalled the issue of reparations.
In the last term of the Sejm, on September 14, 2022, an almost unanimous resolution was adopted in which the Sejm called on Germany to settle all historical, political, economic and financial consequences of the German state towards Poland.
– he emphasized.
Moreover, and importantly, Germany was called upon to pay benefits resulting from the destruction wrought in Poland during the Second World War. Therefore, we expect that this issue will continue in Polish-German relations. We expect that Minister Baerbock will be presented with a report on the war losses, in which the material and human losses are described in a very comprehensive manner, but also quantified.
– added.
Taking into account the extent of ignorance, disinformation and often deliberate omissions and distortions, we believe that Poland’s raison d’être is for subsequent governments to continue our historic policies. We demand truth and justice for the surviving victims, but we also demand education, information and memorial projects.
– noted Arkadiusz Mularczyk.
Places of remembrance
Since the end of the Second World War, no monument has been built in Berlin to commemorate the Polish victims. There is a monument commemorating the murdered Jews, monuments commemorating the Holocaust, a monument commemorating the extermination of Sinti, commemorating the LGBT community, but to this day there is no monument commemorating the Polish victims of the Second World War
– continued the PiS MP.
Not so long ago, Minister of Culture Claudia Roth emphasized the desire to build a Polish-German house, but to this day it is only a project in the field of discussions and analyzes and despite so many years since the end of the war, it has not been implemented.
– said Mularczyk.
We expect that, with the active participation of the Polish side, the commemoration will take place in Berlin, the construction of a monument, the construction of a memorial site to commemorate the Polish victims of the Second World War. This is an extremely important element of Poland’s raison d’être and should be represented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Minister Radosław Sikorski.
– added.
The Polish minority in Germany was dissolved by Göring’s decree in 1938. Property was seized in many cities and to this day the Germans have not returned it. There are many important historical issues that we have raised very strongly during our administration
– recalls the former deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
““We demand a treaty, a serious agreement.”
Not so long ago, the German side suggested that they might be able to contribute to the reconstruction of the Saxon palace. Such ideas have already been presented to us during our governments
– recalled Mularczyk.
We did not agree that such large losses suffered by Poland during the Second World War, estimated in the report at 1.5 trillion dollars, should be exchanged for a small subsidy for the reconstruction of the Saxon Palace or for a few small benefits for the surviving group of the world’s population. Victims of the Second World War.
– added.
We demand a treaty, a serious agreement that will finally put an end to these historical issues in Polish-German relations. There is absolutely no permission for half-measures, whereby Poland, in return for a small benefit, will get rid of claims that are absolute priority, the implementation of which is part of Poland’s raison d’être.
– emphasized the PiS politician.
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Source: wPolityce