Prussian Trust

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The Prussian Trust, or Prussian Claims Society, (German: Preußische Treuhand GmbH & Co. KGaA) is a corporation registered in Düsseldorf, founded in 2000 as Preußische Treuhand GmbH by some descendants of German expellees, and supported by some officials of the Landsmannschaft Schlesien organization. It seeks to claim compensation from Poland and the Czech Republic, among others, for property confiscated from Germans expelled from territories which after World War II became parts of Poland and Czechoslovakia.

The chairman of the supervisory board is Rudi Pawelka, who also is president of the Landsmannschaft Schlesien, and vice president is Hans Günther Parplies, also vice president of the Federation of Expellees. The Trust probably has less than a hundred members.[1]

Rudi Pawelka told the Daily Telegraph that: "Germans held lands and properties in what is now Poland for hundreds of years. They have a deep, inner connection to the region and many want their properties back. Soon we will all be Europeans. Poland's accession to the EU will enable us to take our case to the Strasbourg court for the first time. Poland must not be allowed to discriminate against Germans."[2]

The former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder stated on August 1, 2004 that the German government will not support these claims. Also, the Polish Sejm declared that Poland will demand war reparations from Germany if the German government does not end the press for compensations. Some German politicians stated that the claims were ridiculous and had no legal basis; the corporation's activities have been repudiated by all mainstream German politicians who have addressed the issue, including the president of the Federation of Expellees, Erika Steinbach.

In December 2006, the corporation filed 23 individual claims against Poland in the European Court of Human Rights, an action which has been condemned by both the Polish and German governments.[3] The Polish government decided that the submissions warranted a comment by Anna Fotyga, the Polish Minister of the Foreign Affairs who "express [her] deepest concern upon receiving the information about a claim against Poland submitted by the Prussian Trust to the European Court of Human Rights".[4]

“ Contributory factors to the special quality of relations between Germany and Poland include the former’s unconditional admission of guilt for the Second World War and its renouncement of subsequent material claims after the war. The Federal Government supports neither private restitution claims by expellees nor complaints like that submitted by the private Prussian Trust to the European Court of Human Rights. Federal Chancellor Merkel has repeatedly reaffirmed this position. (The German Federal Foreign Office, March 2008)[5] ”

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  1. ^ Klaus Ziemer. What Past, What Future? Social Science in Eastern Europe: News letter: Special Issue German-Polish Year 2005/2006, 2005 Issue 4, ISSN 1615-5459 pp. 4-11 (See page 4). Published by the Social Science Information Centre (see Archive)
  2. ^ Tony Paterson Germans claim 'Third Reich' Polish property. Daily Telegraph, 15 February 2004
  3. ^ Staff writer (2006-12-18). Poles Angered by German WWII Compensation Claims. Spiegel Online. Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  4. ^ Anna Fotyga, the Polish Minister of the Foreign Affairs "I express my deepest concern upon receiving the information about a claim against Poland submitted by the Prussian Trust to the European Court of Human Rights. ...". 21 December 2006
  5. ^ The German Federal Foreign Office Political relations: Poland Similar text was on the page in January 2007 (first time it was checked). When the page was "last updated" March 2008 the text (slightly modified from the initial text) remained on the page and as of June 2008 that was still the most recent update.
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