Case of Prussian Treuhand against Poland

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In the case of Preußische Treuhand GmbH & Co. KG a. A. against Poland is a complaint procedure by 23 German citizens, represented by Prussian Treuhand , against the Republic of Poland before the European Court of Human Rights . The appeal was dismissed as inadmissible on October 7, 2008. It concerned the expropriation and expulsion of German citizens in what is now Poland as a result of the Second World War .

prehistory

The Prussian Treuhand, founded in 2000, announced in 2004 that it wanted to sue the claims of the German expellees against Poland before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In view of this, and in the opinion of the Polish government, inadequate countermeasures from the German government, the lower house of the Polish parliament called on the Polish government to demand war reparations from Germany. Former Polish Foreign Minister Władysław Bartoszewski compared the development with an avalanche set off by Germany. The complaint against Poland was filed in Strasbourg on December 16, 2006, which led to public criticism in Germany and Poland. Despite the criticism and distancing from the federal government, the chairman of the supervisory board of the Prussian Treuhand, Rudi Pawelka , stuck to his organization's complaint against Poland and pointed out that the Federal Constitutional Court had dealt with it several times and always declared the question open.

object

The applicants complained before the Court that after October 19, 1944 (the day the Red Army crossed the borders of the Third Reich ), they or their ancestors had been forced by the Polish authorities to relinquish their property and apartments leave. These circumstances correspond to " ethnic cleansing " - if not genocide - as well as collective punishment. You would be a crime against humanity. The actions would have violated the property guarantee in Article 1 of the 1st Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). In addition, the Polish state would not have enacted any laws that would enable the victims of these measures to be rehabilitated and receive financial reparation.

decision

The Prussian Treuhand's complaint was declared inadmissible by the Court for several reasons.

The Court noted that the Human Rights Convention came into force in 1953 and was ratified by Poland in 1994, and that the Court cannot oblige states to return property that had been given to them before the Convention entered into force or before it was ratified. The expropriations have not caused any legal violation that has persisted until now. The laws enacted by Poland in this regard arose as a result of and in accordance with the agreements of the victorious powers of the Yalta and Potsdam conferences and the agreement on war reparations for Poland. The accusation that Poland had violated the fundamental right to protection of life and the prohibition of torture with the expulsions was also rejected by the court. In this regard, the court ruled that the current Polish state could not be held responsible for human rights violations in 1945 because it had neither de jure nor de facto control over the German territories in Poland at the time. In the opinion of the court, Poland is not obliged to enact laws on rehabilitation or restitution .

meaning

The decision of the ECHR ensured legal certainty and was welcomed in both Poland and Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke of an “important signal that we have no uncertainty here” and Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the decision a “good solution for Germany and Poland”.

The then Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier commented on the significance of the decision as follows:

“I welcome today's decision by the European Court of Human Rights. The Court of Justice has made it clear that the European Convention on Human Rights against Poland cannot be used to derive any right to return the property of displaced persons. The decision confirms the attitude of the Federal Government that there are no outstanding property issues in connection with the Second World War in the German-Polish relationship.

It is the aim of German foreign policy to move forward on the path of understanding and reconciliation with Poland. Without ignoring the difficult chapters of the past, we want to focus on the future of Germany and Poland as neighbors and close partners in Europe. "

- Frank-Walter Steinmeier

The Prussian Treuhand called the proceedings disappointing and outrageous and the reaction of the German government as shameless . She sees the question of the claims of the displaced as more open.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Welt Online: "The Germans have set off an avalanche"
  2. ↑ FAZ: Poles and Germans criticize "Prussian Treuhand"
  3. ↑ dradio.de: Prussian Treuhand defends lawsuit against Poland
  4. ^ Spiegel.de: Compensation suits against Poland . October 9, 2008
  5. ↑ Federal Minister Steinmeier on the rejection of the complaint of the Prussian Treuhand by the European Court of Human Rights
  6. ^ Opinion of the Prussian Treuhand on the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) of October 7, 2008 (PDF; 276 kB), accessed on February 6, 2010