Poland wants compensation for its losses in World War II.. How much did it ask? How did Germany respond?

Once again, the file of compensation for losses in World War II returned to the fore, as Poland asked Germany on Thursday to compensate it for the damages it sustained in that era.

The Polish government said that 5.2 million of its citizens were killed in this war, and that it incurred heavy losses in property and infrastructure.

On Thursday, the Polish government estimated the value of the losses incurred during the Second World War at 1,300 billion euros, declaring that it "will ask Germany to negotiate these compensations."

"It's a huge amount of 6.2 trillion zlotys" (1,300 billion euros), said Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, adding that the mechanism that will lead to Poland receiving these compensations will be "long and difficult".

He pointed out that "a large part of the amount is compensation for the deaths of more than 5.2 million Polish citizens."

Kaczynski made these statements during a press conference devoted to presenting a report on Poland's losses during World War II.

criminal occupation

Since coming to power in 2015, the Law and Justice Party has stressed the issue of compensation, and work on this began in 2017.

"We have not only prepared a report, which is an open document that will inevitably be completed, but we have also taken a decision regarding a subsequent move, and this move is to ask Germany to negotiate these compensations, and this is a decision that we will implement," Kaczynski said.

"The Germans occupied Poland and inflicted great damage on us. The occupation was criminal and brutal beyond imagination, and it left consequences that in many cases continue to this day."

closed case

For its part, the German government has rejected Poland's claim for World War II losses, saying the case is "closed".

A spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry said that "the position of the federal government has not changed, the issue of compensation is closed."

"Poland waived more reparations a long time ago in 1953, and it has repeatedly confirmed this renunciation," he added.

Agence France-Presse says that Germany used the same arguments when it demanded compensation from Greece.

The agency also quotes Polish opposition sources as saying that the report is mainly intended for internal political purposes, one year before the legislative elections.