How much reparations does Poland want for the Second World War?

How much reparations is Poland claiming for the Second World War?

 

The Polish State is claiming reparations of PLN 6,220,609,000,000 or 6 trillion, 220 billion, 609 million Polish zloty from Germany as of 31 December 2021.

For comparison with other currencies, the claim for reparations is: $1,532,170,000,000 or 1 trillion, 532 billion, 170 million US dollars or €1,352,483,000,000 or 1 trillion, 352 billion, 483 million euro.

This total equates to about 125% of the entire European Union budget for 2021-2027.

 

How was this figure calculated?

The figure of 6.2 trillion Polish zloty is the sum of damages that were estimated in the War Report across several areas:

  • Human losses: PLN 4,786,965 million,
  • Material losses: PLN 797,398 million,
  • Losses of cultural heritage and arts: PLN 19,310 million,
  • Losses in banking: PLN 89,231 million,
  • Losses in insurance: PLN 34,804 million, and
  • State Treasury losses: PLN 492,811 million.

 

What land was used as the basis for this calculation?

The area of Poland chosen as a basis for calculating the amount of reparations was conservatively chosen, i.e. land that belonged to Poland both before and after the Second World War. These are referred to in the War Report as the “Core Lands” and can be seen below.

Poland's core territories

This pragmatic approach was chosen as the experts and researchers who drafted the War Report only accessed the pre- and post-War data for the core lands. Therefore, by the nature of the research methodology, the amount of losses summarised above is conservative. It would be impossible to attempt to arrive at a figure for land that Poland either did not control or was forced to relinquish.

 

Are the figures concerning the amount of reparations reliable?

Before the War Report was published, it was subject to several rounds of peer review among experts in their fields.

Since the War Report was published on 1 September 2022, there have been no challenges to either the figures or the methodology and modelling used to arrive at the figure of PLN 6.2 trillion.

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