Instead of accepting financial reparations, a proposal emerged to channel support toward rebuilding the Saxon Palace. The idea was floated in Newsweek and discussed by the German historian Peter Oliver Loem. In Poland, Minister of Culture and National Heritage Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz called the vote a matter of significance, while former minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk warned that accepting such a “payment” from Germany should be treated as high treason.
On Friday, Sienkiewicz indicated that the Saxon Palace reconstruction issue was poised to become a widely discussed topic and advised waiting for additional information before taking firm steps.
The statement spread quickly. With the help of an Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting of Pałac Saski, Sienkiewicz dismissed the three-person board of directors, including president Jan Edmund Kowalski, finance vice president Robert Cicirko, and board member Robert Bernisz. A new, single-person board led by President Jan Zajączkowski replaced them.
READ ALSO: The Pałac Saski board has been dismissed, and Sienkiewicz has installed his appointees.
Today the question of Saxon Palace restoration remains active. In an interview with Newsweek, German historian Peter Oliver Loem described a potential gesture from Germany toward Poland as a visible sign of willingness to assist in rebuilding the Saxon Palace.
Loem noted that Germany would need to respond to Polish expectations, including material considerations. He emphasized that the discussion was not about trillions of dollars, but about a meaningful gesture. One example he gave was support for reconstructing the Saxon Palace, as mentioned in the interview with Newsweek.
Mularczyk against Sienkiewicz for ‘high treason’
Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk, who oversees the reparations case against Germany, offered sharp commentary on the matter. The German proposal to participate in rebuilding the Saxon Palace has been suggested by German diplomats for years. Accepting such a “payment” in place of reparations estimated at 1.5 trillion dollars, according to the Report on War Losses, was described by Mularczyk as an act of high treason on social media platform X.
Mularczyk also responded to the arrival of legal adviser Janusz Piotr Kolczyński, who recalled that the compensation case “will not end.” He stressed the necessity of renewing an application to the Constitutional Court to determine the jurisdiction of Polish courts in reparations cases against German courts, which historically rejected these lawsuits. He argued that Germans should be protected by immunities enshrined in international law, which restricts summoning a foreign state to the court of another country. A 2017 request to the Constitutional Tribunal, filed by a group of United Right MPs, sought to grant jurisdiction to the courts of the countries where German soldiers or officers harmed Polish civilians in war crimes cases.
The former deputy minister confirmed that the application to the Constitutional Court would be extended, addressing the shutdown and ensuring continued legal avenues.
READ ALSO:
– Sienkiewicz announced that more discussions would follow regarding the Saxon Palace, and a few days later a German historian’s interview appeared in Newsweek.
– Questions arise about the War Loss Institute and the involvement of German actors in its funding and decoration.
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Source: wPolityce