Germans demand compensation from Poland over war losses

A German group has filed claims against Poland with a European court over property lost in the aftermath of World War II, a member said today.

The Prussian Claims Society, which represents some Germans who were expelled from Poland after the war ended, filed the complaint with the European Court of Human Rights, the society’s deputy leader Gerwald Stanko said.

“Twenty-two individual complaints have gone to the European Court of Human Rights,” Stanko said. He said the aim was to secure either compensation or the return of property.

The Prussian Claims Society has threatened for several years to file restitution claims for property lost when the borders of Germany and Poland were moved westward after World War II.

The threat has weighed on relations between Warsaw and Berlin.

The German government has made it clear that it does not support the claims, but the topic is extremely sensitive in Poland, which Nazi Germany invaded in 1939 at the start of World War II and subjected to a brutal occupation.

The German government had no immediate response to the group’s move.