Speaking alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after bilateral government consultations in Berlin, Tusk said Poland continues to view the 1950s-era renunciation of reparations by the communist-era government in Warsaw as "neither free nor legitimate."
"The Polish nation had no say in that decision," he told reporters.
"From our perspective, nothing has changed: Poland did not receive 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.
Still, he acknowledged the "never-finished" process of confronting history and honouring victims, insisting Berlin remains committed to dialogue.
"We recognise our historical responsibility," the chancellor said, expressing confidence that the two countries could reach a "good solution."
The exchange underscored a long-standing point of friction in an otherwise pragmatic relationship, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Last year’s German proposal of EUR 200 million in symbolic humanitarian support for Polish survivors was dismissed in Warsaw as inadequate, and Polish officials have continued to push for a broader acknowledgment of wartime suffering.
'If you want to make this gesture, please hurry'
Tusk noted estimates from the Polish-German Reconciliation Foundation indicating that around 50,000 Polish survivors of Nazi German 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 in the absence of a firm German commitment, his government would consider allocating Polish funds next year to meet what he characterised as an increasingly urgent moral obligation.
The remark drew visible discomfort from Merz, according to Polish officials, and domestic criticism from some in Warsaw.
Zbigniew Bogucki, head of President Karol Nawrocki's office, described the idea as "a disastrous proposal," arguing that "it is the perpetrator who should pay, not the victim’s family."
Historians and analysts remain divided on the best route forward.
Prof. Stanisław Żerko of the Institute for Western Affairs in Poznań argued that Poland should begin payments immediately, independently of Berlin's stance.
He contended that individual compensation amounts would be modest and that Warsaw could subsequently present Germany 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 added.
He criticised Berlin’s long-standing legal stance, 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 added that the sums in question should be determined individually for each surviving victim who has never received any form of compensation.
He said that hundreds of thousands of Polish victims died over the decades while Germany waited, "resorting on various legal manoeuvres" to avoid making payments.
This long-outstanding liability continues to hang over Polish-German relations, Żerko argued.
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