The Polish government on Tuesday abolished the post of the coordinator for Polish-German relations after the office holder, Krzysztof Ruchniewicz, reportedly proposed a seminar that would discuss Poland returning cultural objects to Germany.
That touches a sore nerve in Poland, where there has been a decades-long effort to get back vast amounts of art and other cultural artifacts plundered by Germany during World War II.
“As of August 5, 2025, the position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Plenipotentiary for Polish-German social and border cooperation, held by Prof. Krzysztof Ruchniewicz, has been abolished,” the Foreign Ministry wrote on X on Tuesday night.
Ruchniewicz is a historian and the director of the Pilecki Institute, a research center focused on the fate of Poles who experienced authoritarianism and totalitarianism in the 20th century.
The institute said that the article about the seminar by the Rzeczpospolita newspaper contained ““numerous slanders and untruths” and that no meeting leading to the return of items to Germany was planned.
However, the story caused an outcry from the opposition nationalist Law and Justice party, which demanded that the government fire Ruchniewicz.
Knut Abraham, Ruchniewicz’s German counterpart, said on Wednesday he was surprised by the Polish action. “I was in Warsaw just a few days ago and spoke with [Ruchniewicz], including about our joint work, and I am honestly surprised that this position has been abolished,” he said to German public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.
The role of the coordinator was purely representative and aimed to strengthen relations between Germany and Poland. It also aimed to assist the Polish government in dialogue with Germany on historical policy, as both countries collaborate on building a memorial house for Polish victims of the Nazi era in Berlin.
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