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WARSAW, Poland — A parliamentary commission in Poland reported Friday that the country lost more than five million citizens and over $54 billion dollars (46.6 billion euros) worth of assets under its Nazi German occupation during World War II.

The commission announced the numbers as part of the current Polish government’s declared intent to seek damages from Germany. It said the figures were preliminary estimates.

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The leader of the ruling Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, argues that as the first country the Nazis attacked in 1939, Poland also was the first to put up resistance and suffered the greatest losses.

Observers say the talk of pursuing damages from Germany is addressed largely to elderly Polish voters. Poland has not made an official appeal, and Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said earlier this year that the issue was not weighing on Warsaw’s good neighbourly relations with Berlin.