Speaking alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after bilateral government consultations in Berlin on Monday, Tusk said Poland continues to view the 1950s-era renunciation of reparations by the then-communist government in Warsaw as "neither freely expressed nor legitimate."
"The Polish nation had no say in that decision," he told reporters.
"From our perspective, nothing has changed: Poland has not received compensation for the losses and crimes of World War II."
Merz reiterated that Germany considers the reparations issue legally and politically settled, a position consistently held by successive German governments.
But he acknowledged what he called a "never-finished" process of confronting history and honouring victims, saying Berlin remains committed to dialogue.
"We recognize our historical responsibility," Merz said, expressing confidence the two countries could reach a "good solution."
The exchange highlighted a long-running point of friction in an otherwise pragmatic relationship, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.
A German proposal last year to provide EUR 200 million in humanitarian support for Polish survivors was criticised in Warsaw as insufficient.
'If you want to make this gesture, please hurry'
Tusk said that, according to estimates by the Polish-German Reconciliation Foundation, around 50,000 Polish survivors of Nazi persecution are still alive.
"When I discussed this with former Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the number was closer to 60,000," he said. "If you want to make this gesture, please hurry."
He added that without a firm commitment from Berlin, his government would consider setting aside Poland's own funds next year to meet what he called an increasingly urgent moral obligation.
The remark drew visible discomfort from Merz, according to Polish officials, and sparked criticism from some in Warsaw.
Zbigniew Bogucki, head of President Karol Nawrocki’s office, called the idea "a disastrous proposal," arguing that "it is the perpetrator who should pay, not the victim's family."
Historians and analysts remain divided.
Stanisław Żerko of the Institute for Western Affairs in Poznań said Poland should begin payments immediately, regardless of Germany's stance.
He contended that individual compensation amounts would be "modest" and that Warsaw could later present Berlin with the bill.
"These people are passing away," he said in an interview with the PAP news agency. "If Germany does not assume this responsibility, Polish taxpayers may have to do so."
He criticised Germany's long-standing legal position, saying: "It is astonishing that successive German governments and chancellors—from Konrad Adenauer to Friedrich Merz—continue to invoke the 1953 Bierut Declaration while simultaneously claiming that German foreign policy is grounded in values, ethics and moral responsibility.
"And all this while repeatedly emphasising a commitment to reconciliation with the Polish people. Such a position is profoundly immoral and deeply hypocritical."
Żerko said compensation amounts should be determined individually for each surviving victim who has never received any form of redress.
He argued that hundreds of thousands of Polish victims died over the decades while Germany "resorted to various legal manoeuvres" to avoid making payments.
This long-outstanding liability continues to weigh on Polish-German relations, he said.
In 1953, Poland's Soviet-dependent government led by Bolesław Bierut renounced further German reparations, a decision widely regarded today as coerced and lacking democratic legitimacy.
A Polish parliamentary commission in 2022 estimated the country's wartime losses at PLN 6.2 trillion (EUR 1.46 trillion).
(ał/gs)
Source: PAP