Warsaw city hall to fire staff over land restitution controversy

City Hall officials who did not comply with their obligations regarding the transfer of a plot of land on Chmielna street, in the heart of the capital, will be dismissed, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz told a press conference on Friday morning.

She added that the decision to transfer the plot was “hastily taken” and that the three people involved did not consider “all of the circumstances of the case”.

“I came to the conclusion that our staff did not perform the proper due diligence. [...] Therefore, the decision to transfer the plot was hastily taken. And this is why all of those who kept us updated on the case misled us, me included [and] will be disciplinary dismissed,” Gronkiewicz-Waltz said.

The former owner of the land was reportedly a Danish citizen.

In the 1950s, the communist-era Polish People’s Republic had paid Denmark, among other countries, for property seized in the so-called Bierut Decree.

This essentially means that Danish nationals cannot demand any compensation from the present-day Polish government.

An estimated 20,000-24,000 private buildings were taken from their owners in October 1945, in practice without any compensation.

Since the fall of communism in Poland in 1989 it has been possible to submit claims for the return of such confiscated property.

(rg)

Source: PAP