German FM says it is high time to honor Polish victims of German atrocities
Michał Woźniak /rl
01.09.2024, 20:11
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. Photo: PAP/EPA/Filip Singer
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Germany’s top diplomat said on the 85th anniversary of the German invasion of Poland that enough time had been wasted and a memorial to Polish victims of WWII must be erected in Berlin, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
“The history of our countries, of Poland and of Germany, is very strongly linked,” Baerbock said. “By the bottomless suffering and the inconceivable crimes perpetrated by Germans on Polish women and men. By the fight for freedom and self-determination. And today, Germany and Poland jointly strive for the security of Europe and of Ukraine.”
She stressed that the project to commemorate the Polish victims is not an act of charity.
“Our solidarity is not a gift, but a mark of respect for what others have done for us,” Baerbock said. “That is why we need memory, right here in Berlin, where the German crimes of World War II had their origin.
The foreign minister added that Germans needed to be more aware of the events that are painful for Poles to this day. By her admission, German society’s knowledge about September 1, 1939, and its impact, remain unsatisfactory.
Culture Minister Claudia Roth, who is overseeing the implementation of the project, said that the Polish-German House will be “a visible sign of reconciliation and the recognition of Polish suffering.”
“We owe the Poles [our] memory. We also owe them that we face our joint history. Only honesty toward ourselves can strengthen and deepen [Germany’s] relations with Poland,” Roth said, adding that “we must continue to explain what occurred in Poland between 1939 and 1945. It is necessary because the consequences of the German war of extermination are felt to this day.”
Władysław Bartoszewski (1922-2015), Auschwitz inmate and Polish foreign minister (1995, 2000-2001). Photos: prezydent.pl; Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum archives
Neither Baerbock nor Roth made any reference to compensation being awarded to the Polish victims of German crimes.
Polish-German House: history of the project
The event was organized by the German Institute for Poland, a leading research institution on Polish issues based in Darmstadt. Aside from ministers Baerbock and Roth, the event was attended by Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey. The Polish side was represented by Jan Tombiński, the charge d’affaires ad interim of the Polish embassy to Germany.
The meeting was held in the Tiergarten Park in central Berlin, opposite the building of the German parliament, where the Kroll Opera House (Krolloper) once stood. Following the 1933 Reichstag fire, the Kroll Opera House served to house sessions of the parliament. It was there that on September 1, 1939, Hitler delivered a speech announcing the invasion of Poland. Falsely accusing Poland of being the aggressor, he delivered the infamous words: “From 5.45 a.m. we are returning fire.”
Adolf Hitler delivering the speech on the invasion of Poland to the Reichstag at the Kroll Opera House on September 1, 1939, in Berlin, Germany. Photo: Bundesarchiv, public domain
The building was demolished following the war. Its former site is one of the possible vaunted locations of the Polish-German House memorial.
The matter of the Polish-German House was one of the main subjects of intergovernmental talks held back in July in Warsaw.
The Polish-German House is intended to serve a triple purpose: as a memorial, a center for documenting Polish-German relations, and a place for meeting, particularly of young people from both countries.
The decision to establish a memorial for the Polish victims of German war crimes during World War II was passed by the Bundestag back in 2020. This June, the German government decided to name the project the Polish-German House. Before the project is implemented, another discussion in parliament must follow, which is expected to take place this year or at the beginning of 2025.
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