Memory politics
After Tusk’s government came to power, it dropped the demands of the previous PiS government that Germany pay €1.3 trillion in reparations — a figure Nawrocki continues to back.
The Tusk government, while believing there is a moral case for reparations, maintains they are legally a non-starter and argues that pursuing them undermines Poland’s ties with Germany, its largest export market.
Instead, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has suggested that the German government give a “visible sign” that Germany acknowledges the damage Poland suffered during the war, such as “a documentation center, a center for dialogue that recognizes the suffering of the Poles and is also a memorial.”
In April, a temporary memorial involving a 30-ton boulder was erected in Berlin to commemorate the Polish victims of Nazi Germany. There are plans to erect a permanent memorial, though the German Bundestag must first pass a resolution.
But such gestures are unlikely to satisfy demands by PiS politicians for reparations, given how many Polish voters back the party’s stance. A survey by SW Research for news portal Onet found that 54 percent of respondents backed reparations while some 27 percent opposed the idea.
Given that fact, Nawrocki is unlikely to back down from the demand, despite the fact that it may raise tensions between NATO allies at a time of war, critics say.
“One of course might want to use this issue to make a name for oneself in domestic politics. Fair enough, that happens everywhere,” said Rolf Nikel of the German Council on Foreign Relations and Germany’s former ambassador to Poland. “But the point is that we currently have a situation of war on our external borders, and that’s why we must do everything we can to ensure that Germany, Poland and the other Europeans stand together.”
“Anything that stands in the way of that only plays into Mr. Putin’s hands,” Nikel added. “When Mr. Nawrocki comes, he has to decide which tune he wants to play.”