The issue of war reparations was a subject of controversy in Polish-German relations for a long time. This was due to the position of the Federal Republic of Germany that this issue had been deferred to the moment of German unification. The German concept of reparations also included the individual claims of Polish victims of National Socialism (Nazism). The case for interstate reparations from Germany to Poland was closed as a result of the Polish waiver of 1953, while the issue of individual compensation for Polish victims was symbolically resolved as a result of agreements between Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany only in 1990 and 2000. The scope and amount of any new payments depends on the agreements of particular countries or organizations with the Federal Republic of Germany. As long as the victims are still alive, new pragmatic solutions should not be ruled out.

Aiming to address power consumption issues of various equipment in metro stations and the inefficiency of peak shaving and valley filling in the power supply system, this study presents an economic optimization scheduling method for the multi-modal “source-network-load-storage” system in metro stations. The proposed method, called the Improved Gray Wolf Optimization Algorithm (IGWO), utilizes objective evaluation criteria to achieve economic optimization. First, construct a mathematical model of the “sourcenetwork- load-storage” joint system with the metro station at its core. This model should consider the electricity consumption within the station. Secondly, a two-layer optimal scheduling model is established, with the upper model aiming to optimize peak elimination and valley filling, and the lower model aiming to minimize electricity consumption costs within a scheduling cycle. Finally, this paper introduces the IGWO optimization approach, which utilizes meta-models and the Improved Gray Wolf Optimization Algorithm to address the nonlinearity and computational complexity of the two-layer model. The analysis shows that the proposed model and algorithm can improve the solution speed and minimize the cost of electricity used by about 5.5% to 8.7% on the one hand, and on the other hand, it improves the solution accuracy, and at the same time effectively realizes the peak shaving and valley filling, which provides a proof of the effectiveness and feasibility of the new method.

Among the most important expressions of the cultural identity of the Silesians are the Silesian dialect and Silesian cuisine. The German-Polish cultural and linguistic contacts that have been present in Silesia for centuries are also manifested in the culinary vocabulary of the regionʼs inhabitants. In addition to numerous loan words of German provenance, which have also been incorporated into Polish literary language, many other lexemes are found in Silesian variety that are related to eating and drinking and have only regional distribution. From a contact linguistic perspective, the article focuses on the court terms of German provenance present in the Silesian dialect, mainly addressing the various forms of borrowing.

This article aims to identify and assess the impact of capital structure factors on financing strategies of mining industry enterprises in Central and E astern E uropean (CEE ) countries in comparison to W estern E uropean (WE ) Union countries. T he research contributes to determining which of the main theories of capital structure best describes the financial strategies employed in the examined sector. T he analysis encompasses mining companies from eight WE and four CEE countries, utilising panel data models with information spanning from 2000 to 2020. T he study covers various firm-specific variables commonly employed in similar research, along with the effects of country and year.
The main findings indicate a significant similarity in both the capital structure and the influence of the analysed factors on leverage across the two regions. This homogeneity is attributed to the industrial specificity of the mining sector, which appears to supersede country-specific or firm-size specific features. Moreover, examining the impact of variables on capital structure considering different debt maturity terms reveals that the financial strategies of the analysed companies align with the pecking order and agency theory of capital structure. T his suggests that mining companies predominantly rely on internal financing, viewing debt primarily as a tool to discipline managers. Due to data limitations in the employed BACH database, the study does not encompass all EU countries, highlighting the potential for further research incorporating other regions. T he identified similarities in capital structure, along with the impact of various factors, provide insights for financial decision-makers in mining firms, and investors operating in both CEE and WE EU countries. Str