“Poland can and should request the return of lost property,” said Prof. Mirosław Kłusek, director of the Institute of War Losses, when asked about the report on war reparations from Germany.
Mularczyk: It will be a longer process because today there is no awareness of what happened during WWII
-Relocation and allowances after the Second World War? This is how much the Germans “gave away”. However, has Poland received sufficient compensation?
Report on Poland’s war losses
On September 1, ie the 83rd anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War, the PiS president announced the presentation of the first part of the report on the losses suffered by Poland as a result of the Nazi attack on Germany in 1939 and during the years of German occupation.
The report tried to capture all the war damage Poland suffered as a result of the German attack in 1939, that is, during the war, but also during the German occupation, which in fact lasted until 1945. It will cover all areas related to economic, cultural and social life
– said Prof. Trot.
The scientist points out that the problem is that we don’t have an exact conversion from the 1939 zloty to the value of the current currency.
Along with other people, mainly Dr. Pońsko of the Warsaw School of Economics, we prepared several methods that would be able to accurately reflect the value of the zloty from 1939 to today
– to explain.
Asked about the funds collected by the Third Reich and discovered by the British in 1949, as well as the fact that these were funds from three different banks, the historian points out that “in the so-called areas belonging to the Reich, “The Germans liquidated all kinds of institutions that had the character of the Polish state”, so three Polish banks were liquidated.
The surpluses from the liquidation of these banks were transferred to an account at the Reichsbank, the Main Trust Office East
– underlined. As he adds, the Poles would not have known about it had it not been for the fact that the British turned to the authorities of the People’s Republic of Poland after discovering the funds.
We have started our efforts, but there are no documents that would unequivocally prove that we got the money back. My suspicion is that since the Cold War was on its way, this money has not been given to us for a very simple reason – we will not reinforce the enemy, that is, in the sense of the Soviet Union and their satellites
– indicates.
According to the director of the Institute of War Losses, with only valorization with the lowest index, we can talk about the amount of several billion modern zlotys.
Provided he is not an “expert in international law or international banking law”, he believes that the Bundesbank should be the legal successor.
If I somehow got started on it, I would first ask for a check with the account number where the money was at 49, to see what happened to that account and what happened to that money. One thing about banking is that regardless of whether a bank ceases to exist or there is another, there is always a successor to that bank’s assets and liabilities.
He explains, adding that this is a matter for the government.
“As scientists, we are open to scientific accusations”
The Polish radio interlocutor points out that the balance of war losses is still the opening balance.
The opening balance in the sense that it is open to this (…) If there are allegations, for example that there is an error somewhere or that there is, for example, a case that is presented incorrectly. We, as scientists, are as open as possible to scientific accusations, we can discuss and possibly improve
– judges.
I thus envision that the War Loss Institute, which I am pleased to run, will also conduct further research and make it available as soon as possible after new documents have been found, either in Moscow or elsewhere, but also for the eastern areas.
– he adds.
Unimaginable losses in the field of culture and art
Another problem is the goods of culture and art that Poland lost as a result of the aggression of Nazi Germany. In this case, the director of the Military Affairs Institute points out that the report’s drawback is “limited capacity in terms of volume”.
It would be impossible to put the whole list there and secondly not recommended. Such a list of things or works of art, objects and the like has been lost on the website of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, it is added successively
– ensure.
As he added, he has been working for years with the War Losses Department of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and now, also as director of the Institute, he will gradually help to replenish the list.
The Germans systematically destroyed the inventories, on the basis of which we could recreate what we had lost. This is one wire. Second – many collectors, especially Jewish collectors, had no inventories and they died, no one just had to say what we had lost
– indicates.
As he noted, the losses suffered by Poland during World War II in terms of culture and art are “unimaginable”.
aja / PR1
Source: wPolityce