Coalition of Polish Americans
Position Paper
Reparations from Germany to Poland for crimes committed during World War II
The Coalition of Polish Americans calls upon the government of Germany to immediately commit to signing the peace treaty with Poland, including issues of borders between the two countries and reparations for the damages inflicted by Germany during World War II.
We want to remind Germany and world powers that became victorious in this worldwide conflict that Poland was the first and the greatest victim of German military aggression during World War II, sustaining the highest losses of its population and the greatest material losses in proportion to all the other countries affected by the German occupation.
Furthermore, the mass extermination of the civilian population of Poland was planned by Germany long before World War II. It started in the first days following the invasion of Poland in September 1939 and lasted until the end of the war in 1945. This extermination goal served to fulfill the German doctrine of Lebensraum, the purpose of which was the expansion of German living space at the expense of Slavic nations, including the deliberate destruction of the Polish people.
In this context, we must recall that on August 22, 1939, chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler, ordered his commanders to murder “without pity or mercy, all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language.” On March 15, 1940, the leader of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, stated that “all Poles will disappear from this world. It is imperative that the great German volk consider the elimination of all Polish people as its chief task.”
The German state has not undertaken a comprehensive settlement of reparations and compensation for the deliberate destruction of the Polish state, the immense loss of life, and suffering endured by millions of Polish citizens. Poland is estimated to have lost at least 5.2 million of its citizens murdered by the Germans during World War II. By the end of the war, about 2.8 million Polish citizens had been deported to Germany for forced labor, about 2 million had been forcibly evicted from their homes, and about 1 million had been imprisoned in concentration camps and other detention facilities; and
It is also important to remember that during the first days of the heroic Polish Warsaw Uprising, the German army carried out a systemic, genocidal, and most brutal operation in the Wola district of Warsaw, which led to the murder of an estimated 50,000 civilians—men, women, and children. This murderous carnage, known as the Wola Massacre, was never punished through any judicial action. These atrocities carried out in Wola serve as a stark symbol of the heinous and brutal acts committed by German occupying forces, yet represent only one example of the widespread and systemic violence inflicted across occupied Polish territory between 1939 and 1945; and
We must be aware that Germany has provided compensation to nearly 70 countries, including an estimated $250 billion to Holocaust victims of World War II and, more recently, a $1.2 billion settlement with Namibia for colonial-era atrocities, but has effectively ignored Poland.
Regarding the aforementioned facts, the Coalition of Polish Americans would like to urge the government of the Federal Republic of Germany to immediately commit to a comprehensive program of reparations and compensation to Poland for the devastation and losses brought by the German occupation during World War II, including compensation for the families and heirs of the victims.
Germany should commit funds towards the creation of a memorial in Berlin honoring the Polish victims of the German occupation during World War II, and a memorial in Warsaw dedicated to the victims of the Wola Massacre that would serve as an international acknowledgment of the murder of approximately 50,000 civilians in Wola. These memorial projects shall receive the approval of the Presidents of both the Republic of Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany.
We call for the creation of a Joint Commission for the Return of Lost Art and Artifacts to assist Poland in recovering artworks and historical documentation looted during the German occupation from 1939 to 1945. The Commission should be funded by the German state and staffed by qualified experts designated by the Presidents of both countries. The Commission must affirm the principle that looted art can never lawfully become the property of the thief, nor be transferred through inheritance, and ensure that individuals or entities dealing in art looted during World War II should be prosecuted and face criminal penalties.
And finally, and most importantly, the Coalition of Polish Americans calls on Germany to sign a peace treaty with Poland, officially recognizing Poland’s western borders. The territories transferred to Poland after World War II were part of the finalized war settlement intended to compensate Poland for the loss of its eastern territories to the Soviet Union, a loss made possible by the Ribbentrop–Molotov pact that allied Germany with the Soviet Union and led to their joint invasion of Poland in September 1939. Therefore, these territory transfers cannot be construed as compensation for the destruction, atrocities, and material losses inflicted upon Poland and its people during the German occupation from 1939 to 1945.
