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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team<\/a> and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Germany\u2019s federal parliament, the Bundestag, has passed a motion calling on the government to establish a permanent memorial in Berlin to Polish victims of the German-Nazi occupation.<\/p>\n The idea has been discussed for years, and was previously approved by the Bundestag<\/a> in 2020. In June, a temporary memorial<\/a> was erected. But some in Poland criticised the form that it took \u2013 a simple stone boulder \u2013 saying that it was underwhelming and undignified given the scale of Polish suffering in the war.<\/p>\n A temporary memorial to Polish victims of the Nazi-German occupation of World War Two has been unveiled in Berlin in the form of a large boulder.<\/p>\n It has been criticised by opposition PiS politicians as a “blunder” and “grotesque”.https:\/\/t.co\/P3MvC1qAYp<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Notes from Poland \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf1 (@notesfrompoland) June 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Today\u2019s resolution, which was proposed by Germany\u2019s two ruling groups, the CDU\/CSU and SPD, obliges the federal government to launch a competition to design the permanent memorial with the involvement of Polish experts, reports the Onet news website.<\/p>\n It also identifies the location of the temporary memorial \u2013 which sits at the former site of the former Kroll Opera House \u2013 as the most appropriate place for the permanent one. It was there, on 1 September 1939, that Hitler announced the invasion of Poland<\/a>.<\/p>\n As well as the CDU\/CSU and SPD, the Greens and The Left also voted in favour of the resolution. However, members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is the largest opposition party, either voted against it or abstained.<\/p>\n The co-leader of the AfD, Tino Chrupalla, recently said<\/a> that Poland is as great a threat to Germany as Russia. Previous statements by leading AfD figures downplaying Nazi crimes have provoked anger in Poland<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n On Monday this week, during intergovernmental talks<\/a> between Poland and Germany in Berlin, the issue of a permanent memorial was raised by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, the German-Polish agenda should point toward the future. But we cannot and we do not want to erase history,\u201d said Merz, speaking alongside his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk. \u201cWe must keep memory alive, even the painful memories.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are initiating the construction of a permanent memorial to the Polish citizens who were victims of Nazi tyranny and the Second World War from 1939 to 1945,\u201d he continued. \u201cThe corresponding tenders on the German side will now begin.\u201d<\/p>\n Donald Tusk has hailed Poland\u2019s \u201cexceptionally good\u201d relations with Germany but urged Berlin to “hurry up” fulfilling a pledge to support surviving Polish WW2 victims<\/p>\n Friedrich Merz revealed that the two countries aim to sign a defence agreement next year https:\/\/t.co\/8AnsTKtjMf<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Notes from Poland \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf1 (@notesfrompoland) December 1, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Knut Abraham, the German government\u2019s representative for cooperation with Poland, told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that the competition to design a permanent memorial will be announced in early 2026 and that funding for completion of the project will be determined in the federal budget for 2027 or 2028.<\/p>\n In August 2023, the German culture ministry outlined plans for the memorial, which is to take the form of a \u201cPolish-German House commemorating the suffering that took place in Poland in the years 1939-1945, as well as the cruel death of over five million Polish citizens, including approximately three million Jews\u201d.<\/p>\n While focusing on wartime atrocities, the planned Polish-German House is also intended to show historical ties before and after the war, including Germany\u2019s role in the\u00a0partitions of Poland<\/a>\u00a0from the late 18th to early 20th century, the migration of Poles to German lands, and Poland\u2019s integration into the EU and NATO.<\/p>\n The idea finally received\u00a0approval from the German government<\/a>\u00a0in June 2024. After that, the project passed back to the Bundestag for implementation.<\/p>\n Germany has agreed to return to Poland a collection of 73 medieval documents that were looted during WWII.<\/p>\n The culture minister has hailed it as “the most important and valuable return of stolen cultural heritage in modern Polish history” https:\/\/t.co\/GxHQ8A0jyr<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Notes from Poland \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf1 (@notesfrompoland) December 1, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Almost six million Polish civilians \u2013 around half of them Jews \u2013 are estimated to have died as a result of the Second World War. That represents 17% of Poland\u2019s pre-war population, which is the highest proportional death toll of any country during the war.<\/p>\n The German occupiers also laid waste to many Polish cities \u2013 including the capital, Warsaw, which saw\u00a0around 85% of its buildings destroyed<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and\u00a0plundered or destroyed much of Poland\u2019s cultural heritage<\/a>.<\/p>\n That painful legacy continues to cause tensions today, in particular over the twin questions of Germany restituting looted items<\/a> and paying war reparations<\/a> or some other form of compensation to Poland.<\/p>\n Germany’s ambassador has told a member of the Polish opposition that their demands for Berlin to pay war reparations \u201ccreate divisions that help only Putin\u201d.<\/p>\n His comments sparked criticism, including from President Nawrocki’s chief foreign-policy aide https:\/\/t.co\/z76wvBPbbH<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Notes from Poland \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf1 (@notesfrompoland) November 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \ufeff<\/p>\n Main image credit: Jorge RoyanWikimedia Commons<\/a> (under CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>)<\/p>\n Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of\u00a0Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including\u00a0Foreign Policy,\u00a0POLITICO Europe,\u00a0EUobserver\u00a0and\u00a0Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\n
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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team<\/a> and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/6s83J95K_400x400.jpg\")
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