The resolution, drafted by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, was approved in a 418-4 vote, with 15 abstentions, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Earlier, lawmakers amended the text of the document, substituting the word “reparations” with “atonement.”
Germany urged to assume responsibility for effects of starting WWII
The resolution states: “The Sejm of the Republic of Poland calls on the government of the German Federal Republic to explicitly assume political, historical, legal and financial responsibility for all the consequences caused in the Republic of Poland and to the citizens of the Republic of Poland as a result of the German Third Reich starting World War II.”
The document adds: “The German aggression, the occupation of Poland by Germany and the systemic genocide caused enormous harm, suffering, as well as material and non-material losses. The cruelty inflicted on people by the German occupation took various forms: subjugation, forced labour, child abduction, the maiming, rape and killing of children, women and men - citizens of the Republic of Poland. In addition, evidence of genocide and war crimes was destroyed.”
The resolution also stressed that Poland had never received compensation for the human and material losses caused by the German state, nor atonement for the enormous harm done to Polish citizens, the PAP news agency reported.
The resolution goes on to say: “The Sejm of the Republic of Poland states that the appropriately represented Polish State has never renounced its claims directed at the German State.”
“The assertion that these claims have been lawfully withdrawn or have become invalid through lapse of time is without any foundation whatsoever, either moral or legal,” the document adds.
"The harm done to millions of Polish people will scream until it has been remedied in a just manner,” MPs state.
Passage about compensation for Soviet aggression
Earlier, the Sejm foreign-affairs committee amended the resolution to include a passage proposed by the Law and Justice MP Arkadiusz Mularczyk: “The Sejm of the Republic of Poland states that Poland has not yet received appropriate financial compensation and atonement for the losses suffered by the Polish State during World War II as a result of aggression by the Soviet Union.”
Mularczyk’s passage concludes: “[T]hese losses require the preparation and presentation of a necessary estimate that will form the basis for appropriate action to be taken in relation to the Russian Federation.”
Poland to demand WWII reparations from Germany
The Polish government has said it will send a formal diplomatic note to Germany, demanding reparations for the damage inflicted on Poland during World War II.
Last Thursday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told the niezalezna.pl website that the submission of the diplomatic note to Berlin “will happen soon.”
The PM also said: “I am convinced that we will receive reparations from Germany, although it won’t happen quickly. Even the most difficult journey begins with the first step.”
Poland estimates its WWII losses caused by Germany at EUR 1.3 trillion
On September 1, Poland published a report estimating the country’s World War II losses caused by German aggression at EUR 1.3 trillion.
The leader of Poland's ruling conservatives Law and Justice, Jarosław Kaczyński, said that a decision had been made to raise the issue of World War II reparations with Berlin.
Kaczyński added: “It’s about securing compensation, maybe through a long and arduous process, for everything that Germany, the German state, the German nation, did to Poland between 1939 and 1945.”
(pm)
Source: PAP, tvpparlament.pl
Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Michał Owczarek.