German legal experts say Poland has no right to WW2 reparations - report

[webfact]

German legal experts say Poland has no right to WW2 reparations - report

 

Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo speaks during a news conference in Warsaw, Poland August 24, 2017. Picture taken August 24, 2017. Agencja Gazeta/Slawomir Kaminski via REUTERS

 

BERLIN (Reuters) - German parliamentary legal experts, reacting to calls by some Polish politicians, have ruled that Warsaw has no right to demand Berlin pay reparations for World War Two, according to a document obtained by a German newspaper.

 

The experts found any claims related to German crimes had become unfeasible at latest in 1990 when a treaty was signed by East and West Germany, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States ahead of German reunification, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).

 

The experts, who provide independent advice to the German parliament, said EU partner Poland "had, during the treaty negotiations, at least implicitly waived their right to assert them", FAZ cited the report as saying.

 

They said it was agreed back then that this treaty "blocks any reparation demands against Germany to the present day", FAZ reported.

 

In recent weeks, Polish politicians and officials have stepped up calls for compensation, but the government has yet to officially demand any reparations.

 

Johannes Singhammer, the vice-president of the Bundestag lower house and a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU) - the Bavarian sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), had commissioned the report.

 

He told FAZ: "The Polish demand for reparations, which does not stand a chance from a legal point of view, is contrary to the joint future project between Germany and Poland and could instead have dangerous effects."

 

On Thursday, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said that by seeking reparations, Poland would be asking for justice. "We are the victims of World War Two, the damages have not been repaid in any way, quite to the contrary," Szydlo said.

 

Several Polish government sources told Reuters that it is unlikely Poland will officially ask for repayments, but it also could not be completely ruled out.

 

(Reporting by Michelle Martin in Berlin and Lidia Kelly in Warsaw)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-09-01

[johna]

I agree that these claims should be thrown out, not because of a treaty signed in 1990 but simply because there would be no end to such claims. WW2 ended 72 years ago.  No one who fought in WW2 has clean hands.

[petermik]

7 hours ago, johna said:

  No one who fought in WW2 has clean hands.

Who,s hands are the dirtiest then......let me guess

[johna]

6 minutes ago, petermik said:

Who,s hands are the dirtiest then......let me guess

Let's hope Dresden doesn't sue the UK.  

[ezzra]

Let the Polish people compensate the 3 million polish Jews

it helped sending to the concentration camps and ultimately to their

death, those Jews left untold riches in properties, art work and other

worldly possessions that have been taken by the Poles and Germans

before having the audacity to ask the Germans for compensations.....

[impulse]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

German parliamentary legal experts, reacting to calls by some Polish politicians, have ruled that Warsaw has no right to demand Berlin pay reparations for World War Two, according to a document obtained by a German newspaper.

 

Polish parliamentary legal experts, not surprisingly,  disagree.

 

[Baerboxer]

4 hours ago, johna said:

I agree that these claims should be thrown out, not because of a treaty signed in 1990 but simply because there would be no end to such claims. WW2 ended 72 years ago.  No one who fought in WW2 has clean hands.

 

Yeah, but some hands were much, much dirtier than others.

[Baerboxer]

4 hours ago, johna said:

Let's hope Dresden doesn't sue the UK.  

 

And the UK counter sue - starting with the Zeppelin raids on deliberately targeted civilians, unrestricted submarine warfare, followed a couple of decades by the Luftwaffe blitz and increased targeting of civilians.

 

Probably joined by Belgium as their population enjoyed the German idea of occupation twice.

[Baerboxer]

 

Gee whiz - so Turkeys don't vote for Chistmas. No shit Sherlock.

 

 

[johna]

2 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Gee whiz - so Turkeys don't vote for Chistmas. No shit Sherlock.

 

 

Could you please expand upon this bizarre post????

 

9 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

And the UK counter sue - starting with the Zeppelin raids on deliberately targeted civilians, unrestricted submarine warfare, followed a couple of decades by the Luftwaffe blitz and increased targeting of civilians.

 

Probably joined by Belgium as their population enjoyed the German idea of occupation twice.

Yeah, WW1 looks like a good starting point for compensation. 

[yardrunner]

6 hours ago, johna said:

Let's hope Dresden doesn't sue the UK.  

or Coventry sue Germany

[Rv Hawee]

Ok so let's back directly to the pre-modern era.... I have feeling that long before XVII century we, Europeans, were already having pretty dirthy hands.... Since the 50's with French-German economical cooperation we tried to get ride from these bullshit.

We have 72 years of peace in Western Europe ! Is that too much for some ?

[goldenbrwn1]

If there was a mass world war 20 th century suing binge, I'm pretty sure Germany and Japan are going to come off completely skint. Go back another century or two and countries like the UK will be paying it all back out....

 

[jesimps]

7 hours ago, johna said:

Let's hope Dresden doesn't sue the UK.  

So in wartime nations don't have the right to fight back? Even against warmongers who started WW1, lost, then came back for another go.

 

The German people idolised AH until he started to lose, the allies had every right to bomb Dresdon.

[johna]

1 hour ago, yardrunner said:

or Coventry sue Germany

Allied bombing of Dresden in February 1945 is considered a war crime as it had no military significance, the death toll is estimated at 250000. Coventry was a legitimate military target

[ilostmypassword]

2 hours ago, johna said:

Could you please expand upon this bizarre post????

 

Yeah, WW1 looks like a good starting point for compensation. 

Actually, after WW1 Germany was forced to pay massive compensation. A big factor leading to WW2.

[BuaBS]

Poland is right , but a bit late . It should have demanded it right after the iron curtain fell.  That said , Germany should give them a couple of hundred ton of their gold , in a few years it will be islamic state of germany who will have it all , so giving it to a "pure" country is better.  Why aren't the Czechs & Slovacians not demanding repatriations ?

[ilostmypassword]

13 minutes ago, BuaBS said:

Poland is right , but a bit late . It should have demanded it right after the iron curtain fell.

That said , Germany should give them a couple of hundred ton of their gold , in a few years it will be islamic state of germany who will have it all , so giving it to a "pure" country is better.

Why aren't the Czechs & Slovacians not demanding repatriations ?

Another mathematically challenged poster.

[gamini]

9 hours ago, petermik said:

Who,s hands are the dirtiest then......let me guess

The russians by far

[Lokie]

2 hours ago, johna said:

Allied bombing of Dresden in February 1945 is considered a war crime as it had no military significance, the death toll is estimated at 250000. Coventry was a legitimate military target

Poppycock! The day the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London (all be it apparently against Adolf's explicit orders) was the day as Air Chief Marshall Bomber Harris said "they have sowed the wind and now they will reap the whirlwind"

 

Maybe the unopposed saturation bombing of Guernica in 1937 by the Condor legion (Luftwaffe) could also have had a part to play - Karma?  

 

If we gonna talk war crimes then I think the axis forces would be onto a loser on that score also...

[lungbing]

11 hours ago, johna said:

Let's hope Dresden doesn't sue the UK.  

And let us hope  Coventry, Plymouth, Portsmouth etc not to mention the east end of London doesn't sue Germany.

[GOLDBUGGY]

10 hours ago, ezzra said:

Let the Polish people compensate the 3 million polish Jews

it helped sending to the concentration camps and ultimately to their

death, those Jews left untold riches in properties, art work and other

worldly possessions that have been taken by the Poles and Germans

before having the audacity to ask the Germans for compensations.....

You need to do more history reading I think.

 

The Poles were not partners with the Germans on anything nor did they round up Jews, unless they were forced to. They didn't team up with the Germans but rather had there country occupied by the Germans. No less than France later. 

 

It may be of interest for you to know that one of the first major cities occupied by German Forces was Gdansk Poland (know as Danzig at that time). That city had an unusual high population of German Citizens, so no big surprise that the citizens of that city cheered as the German Troops marched in the city. 

 

One of the first things the Germans did was collect all the Polish Intellects and talented Polish Persons, like University Professors, Authors, Teachers, and such, line them up against a wall, and shoot them down like dogs. A Memorial sits there today to mark this spot. The Cheering also stopped. 

 

Of all the European Countries, Poland recieved the most damage. There Capital City, Warsaw, was in total ruins, as was Gdansk and many other Polish Cities. Even the Malborough Castle, which was a famous tourist destination for the Germans was shattered to small peices. All caused by the German Invasion! 

 

Is it really so unfare for Poland to want compensation for this? 

[metisdead]

A troll post has been removed as well as a reply.  This topic has nothing to do with Trump. 

[champers]

4 hours ago, johna said:

Allied bombing of Dresden in February 1945 is considered a war crime as it had no military significance, the death toll is estimated at 250000. Coventry was a legitimate military target

David Irving is a holocaust denier, avowed racist and anti-semite. You would be as well sticking up a photo of Mein Kampf to support your argument.

[johna]

2 hours ago, Lokie said:

Poppycock! The day the Luftwaffe dropped bombs on London (all be it apparently against Adolf's explicit orders) was the day as Air Chief Marshall Bomber Harris said "they have sowed the wind and now they will reap the whirlwind"

 

Maybe the unopposed saturation bombing of Guernica in 1937 by the Condor legion (Luftwaffe) could also have had a part to play - Karma?  

 

If we gonna talk war crimes then I think the axis forces would be onto a loser on that score also...

Hardly a good reason for bombing Dresden, my parents fought through WW2 and I never heard them complain about the Germans as much as you people do!!!!

[johna]

55 minutes ago, champers said:

David Irving is a holocaust denier, avowed racist and anti-semite. You would be as well sticking up a photo of Mein Kampf to support your argument.

A really great book, meticulously researched and absolutely nothing to do with Holocaust. Try reading it before you churned out all this garbage.

[ilostmypassword]

34 minutes ago, johna said:

A really great book, meticulously researched and absolutely nothing to do with Holocaust. Try reading it before you churned out all this garbage.

You should read about the libel lawsuit David Irving brought against Deborah Lipstadt for calling him a liar in her book Denying The Holocaust. It turns out Irving's allegedly meticulously researched books were full of lies and omissions and mistranslations .Irving lost his lawsuit.  You can read about the trial from the historian who made mincemeat out of Irving's contentions. His name is Richard Evans and his book about the trial is called Lying About Hitler.

I'm not defending the bombing of Dresden but you should find yourself an unbigoted and reputable source to back you up.

[johna]

13 hours ago, ilostmypassword said:

You should read about the libel lawsuit David Irving brought against Deborah Lipstadt for calling him a liar in her book Denying The Holocaust. It turns out Irving's allegedly meticulously researched books were full of lies and omissions and mistranslations .Irving lost his lawsuit.  You can read about the trial from the historian who made mincemeat out of Irving's contentions. His name is Richard Evans and his book about the trial is called Lying About Hitler.

I'm not defending the bombing of Dresden but you should find yourself an unbigoted and reputable source to back you up.

David Irving was stitched up, WW2 greatest historian, we will never agree about this but the books you quote are just anti Irving rubbish. 

[ilostmypassword]

2 minutes ago, johna said:

David Irving was stitched up, WW2 greatest historian, we will never agree about this but the books you quote are just anti Irving rubbish. 

Explicit evidence was shown again and again how he lied. But if you think Irving is a great historian that means you also think that the German slaughter of 6 million Jews was a hoax. And we know what that makes you.

[yardrunner]

18 hours ago, johna said:

Allied bombing of Dresden in February 1945 is considered a war crime as it had no military significance, the death toll is estimated at 250000. Coventry was a legitimate military target

the attack on Coventry was one of the Baedecker raids where the Germans took a list of cities from a tourist guide and bombed civilians and yes Coventry was a manufacturing center but not all the targets were legitimate war  targets, and if you want you can go further back to the shelling of Hartlepool Scarborough and Whitby by the imperial German Navy and the large number of civilian casualties