Poland, which was invaded by both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany at the start of WW II, intends to present German President Frank Walter Steinmeier with its view that Germany should reopen the issue of compensation for Poles when he visits Poland in September, the Sun reported.
The German president will attend an official ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of Germany’s attack on Wielun, the first Polish town the Nazi Luftwaffe struck with air raids on September 1, 1939.
Polish MPs claim the unpaid bill could be as much as £777billion because of the sheer scale of the slaughter and destruction inflicted by Adolf Hitler on their nation.
It is estimated more than six million Poles perished during the 1939 to 1945 German occupation.
This amounted to 21 per cent of pre-war population, meaning Poland suffered the most war-related deaths per capita of any country during the worst ever conflict.
In the last stages of the war, with the Soviet Red Army closing in, the vengeful Nazis methodically destroyed up to 90 per cent of all buildings.
Cultural artefacts were either demolished or stolen while almost two thirds of the country’s industry and more than three quarters of its infrastructure lay in ruins.
Yet Warsaw only ever managed to claw back a small fraction of the damages.
The demand comes ahead of a visit by Germany President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who will attend a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the Nazi invasion on September 1 in Wielun, the first Polish town to be attacked.
The sum of £777bn has been calculated by Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party which has formed a parliamentary committee to do the sums.
According to Die Welt newspaper, Arkadiusz Mularczyk, the chairman, will demand the sum in a report to be published on the day Mr Steinmeier visits.
But Germany insists it owes nothing.
Up to 2018 Germany has paid £70 billion compensation to other countries afflicted by the Nazis murder, according to finance ministry figures.
In October Greece signalled it was reviving legal claims against Germany for almost £220 billion over Second World War atrocities.
German occupation from 1941 to 1944 claimed the lives of more than 300,000 civilians and caused major damage.
In April Greek MPs voted to put to put pressure on Germany to cough up. Part of the new compo drive is motivated by austerity measures imposed by Berlin in exchange for EU bailouts.
Then Most countries in the world can go back in History and start claiming compensation from any casualties and infrastructure losses for the end of times………………Why is it only Germany that is being singled out ? What about Russia that also invaded Poland and stole its riches for more than 50 years ?