Polish scholar Krzysztof Ruchniewicz, whose work focusses on German history, has been named Warsaw's coordinator for German-Polish cooperation.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski appointed the 57-year-old to the post in recognition of his "contribution to German-Polish understanding and the European idea," a ministry statement said at the weekend.
Ruchniewicz is a professor of contemporary history at the University of Wrocław and director of the Willy Brandt Centre for German and European Studies there.
The appointment is seen as another signal from Prime Minister Donald Tusk's centre-left government, which took office in December, that it wants to improve relations with its neighbour.
Ruchniewicz will engage in issues surrounding cross-border cooperation and support the Foreign Ministry in its talks with the German side on how to deal with painful chapters in their past.
This applies in particular to the planned construction of the German-Polish House in Berlin - a place of remembrance for the victims of the German occupation in Poland from 1939 to 1945.
On the German side, lawmaker Dietmar Nietan currently serves as coordinator of German-Polish cooperation. The position within the German Foreign Office has been in place since 2004. There has been no counterpart on the Polish side in recent years.
The right-wing nationalist Law and Justice party, which led Poland from 2015 to 2023, strained relations with anti-German rhetoric and demands for €1.3 trillion ($1.4 trillion) in World War II reparations.
Under Tusk's government, the tone has changed completely. However, the issue of reparations is not completely off the table.
Foreign Minister Sikorski has demanded proposals from Berlin on how Poland should receive reparations for the damage suffered during the war.
Sikorski said that Germany could, for example, contribute to the reconstruction of destroyed historical buildings in Poland or provide support for surviving Polish citizens who were victims of Nazi terror.