The violent criminal acts had been carefully planned, they even had their names. Intelligenzaktion, Sonderaktion or Außerordentliche Befriedungsaktion. All organized operations that the Germans directed against the Polish nation’s elite: professors, lawyers, doctors, engineers, teachers and architects. In Operation Tannenberg alone, in the first months of the war, the Germans killed about 55,000 Polish citizens, including officials of all levels, local activists, teachers, policemen and representatives of many other professions important to the organization of the state. In 6 years, more than 5.2 million citizens of my country have been murdered and the population has decreased by about 12 million.
The end of the war found Poland with a completely devastated economy, industries destroyed and cities razed to the ground.
Instead, what happened to those who had carried out the terror in Poland all that time? They have often become part of the local elite themselves, living in prosperity, avoiding any responsibility for the crimes committed. For example, Heinz Reinefahrt, one of the executioners of the Warsaw Uprising, became mayor of the city of Westerland on the famous island of Sylt after the war and later became a member of the state parliament in Schleswig-Holstein. Heinz Reinefarth is just one of countless examples of how World War II actually ended. It ended with a great injustice. Yes, the bloodiest war in the history of the world has never been closed.
That is why today we are raising the issue of reparations, the issue of compensation for German crimes against the Polish nation and Polish citizens. Crimes that can never simply be forgotten. With justice and the good name of the victims at heart, we have prepared a Report on the losses suffered by Poland due to German aggression and occupation during the Second World War, 1939-1945. This 3-volume report is the result of over 4 years of work by a specially appointed team of experts. It is the account of a stolen future.
The lesson we should learn from World War II is that forgotten, undescribed, unjudged and unpunished crimes can only be a harbinger of more crimes to come. After all, war crimes occur today before the eyes of the whole of Europe: they are committed by Russian troops on the Ukrainian nation. Modern barbarians must know that they cannot shirk responsibility for their crimes: genocide, destruction and plunder. They must be aware that justice will inevitably reach them.