Entitled To Destroy Poland, the exhibition was mounted at the state-run Institute for Western Affairs, regional daily newspaper Głos Wielkopolski reported.
Among the guests at the launch was Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk, according to the organisers.
Mularczyk, who is the Polish government’s commissioner for seeking compensation from Germany for World War II, posted a photo from the event on Twitter and encouraged everyone to visit the showcase.
'To Destroy Poland'
In terms of losses suffered during World War II, Poland was one of the hardest-hit countries, according to organisers.
The negative impact of the damage is felt to this day, hampering the country’s overall development potential, the Institute for Western Affairs said.
To Destroy Poland features photos of some of Poland’s priceless cultural items that were devastated or stolen by the Nazi Germans, Głos Wielkopolski reported.
Missing: Raphael’s Portrait of a Young Man
Audiences have an opportunity to see a photograph of Raphael’s Portrait of a Young Man, widely regarded as “the most important picture missing since the Second World War,” according to The History of Art website.
If found, the painting would be worth more than USD 100 million today, The History of Art reported.
The exhibition in Poznań also features a 1944 photo of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, taken shortly before the historic building was detonated and destroyed by Nazi German forces, Głos Wielkopolski reported.
Another highlight is an urn containing the ashes of manuscripts and old prints from Warsaw’s Krasiński Library, which were burnt down by the Polish capital's Nazi German occupiers, organisers said.
Mularczyk said at Monday’s launch that more than 5.2 million Polish citizens, including some 3 million Jews, died as a result of the criminal policy of the German Third Reich, Głos Wielkopolski reported.
Later in the day, Mularczyk and Poland's Minister for European Affairs, Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, took part in a debate entitled "In Search of Justice: Poland and War Reparations from Germany" at Poznań’s Cyryl Club, Głos Wielkopolski reported.
Last week, Mularczyk said the Polish government was beginning to distribute its report on the country's wartime losses among German parliamentarians to “spark debate about the need for Germany to compensate Poland for World War II.”
Poland demands WWII damages from Germany
In April, Poland’s government adopted a resolution “on the need to regulate, in Polish-German relations, the issue of reparations, compensation and redress” for the losses caused by the German invasion and subsequent occupation of Poland during World War II.
The government said that the document “confirms that the issue of compensation for the damage and harm caused by Germany during World War II has not been settled in the form of an international agreement between the Republic of Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany, and that such an agreement must be entered into.”
In September last year, the Polish government announced that the losses suffered by Poland at the hands of Nazi Germany during World War II totalled PLN 6.22 trillion (EUR 1.3 trillion) and that it would demand compensation from Berlin.
In October, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau signed a formal note to the government in Berlin, demanding compensation for losses Poland sustained during the war.
According to the German government, "the issue of reparations and compensation for World War II losses remains closed” and Berlin "does not intend to enter into negotiations on the matter," officials have said.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, gloswielkopolski.pl, iz.poznan.pl, thehistoryofart.org, dzieje.pl