Poilsh-German Relations Will Turn Sour Again

[EagleEye]

http://www.polskieradio.pl/zagranica/gb/dokument.aspx?iid=57213

Polish-German relations turn sour again
20.08.2007
The Polish-German relations turn sour after the meeting of the German Union of Expellees attended by the president of the EP, Hans-Gert Poettering. During the meeting the group’s chief Erika Steinbach said that the dislocation of expellees could not be justified by Hitler's actions. Many in Poland reacted by accusing the leader of the German Union of Expellees of attempting to revive wartime animosities.
Danusia Szafraniec reports
This is not the first time that Erika Steinbach’s statements caused strong reactions in Poland. Head of the German Union of Expellees sparked outrage in this country, for example, by opening an exhibition in Berlin focused on the fate of ethnic Germans expelled from Eastern Europe after the defeat of the Nazi Germany during WWII. The majority of Poles saw casting Germans as victims of World War Two as an attempt to revise history. Many inhabitants of north-eastern Poland are also concerned that former German owners may reclaim the properties they abandoned after 1945. Small wonder then that when Steinbach called for remembering the sufferings of the millions of German-speakers thrown out of Eastern Europe at the end of World War II Polish experts saw her speech as a failure to take historical context into account. Sociologist professor Zdzislaw Krasnodebski explains.
"On the one hand, we try to play down the historical reasons behind what happened in the past - from the beginning of the war through the national socialism but also that it was an international decision implemented in Poland which was a country subjugated by communism".
According to estimates, between 13 and 16 million ethnic Germans were expelled after the war, mainly from western Poland and the western Czech Republic. Professor Anna Wolff-Pow?ska, head of the Western Institute in Poznan and one of the biggest experts in Polish-German relation says that  the leader of the German  Union of Expellees should not be treated as a partner for dialogue.
"Mrs. Steinbach has proven on many occasions that she is a politician who cares mainly about her own prestige. Hence she presents many spectacular and often anti-Polish but also anti-Czech statements to bring back into the spotlight the subject which may have already been forgotten. However, she is a politician who may be disregarded".
Back in Poland and with electoral campaign about to start PM Jaroslaw Kaczynski has accused the Polish opposition Civic Platform over the weekend of being too dependent on Germany. Bronislaw Komorowski of the Citizen Platform claims that Poland’s PM is thus trying to fuel more objections instead of dispersing fears. 
"I don't think Jaroslaw Kaczynski has had much success in the Polish-German relations - also in the sphere of dismissing the fears of Poles in this area. He himself spoke loudly before previous elections about the solution to the issue of ownership of expellees and concerns of Polish citizens connected with it but has done nothing to that respect. So now he wants to point to others as being more compliant".
Other experts point to the fact that many problems in the mutual relations should be dealt with within the European Union. Eugeniusz Smolar is the head of the Center for International relations in Warsaw. 
"The statement of Erika Steinbach was much more popular and widespread in Poland then it was in Germany so I wouldn't exaggerate but the fact is that some of the Polish politicians are using exactly the same issues in order to pump up their own popularity which is really sensitive to some of the aspects of the aspects of the Polish-German relations. There is a problem but I believe this is not in the interest of Poland to raise this as a controversial issue vis a vis Germany and especially it is not in the interest of Poland to make an issue within the context of our forthcoming elections".
Contrary to what politicians may say, recent surveys seem to prove that neighbourly relations are getting better. Poles tend to accept Germans in everyday life to a much greater extent then 10 years ago. The same trend is visible in Germany – Poles in the eyes of Germans are seen as a much higher quality nation then it was a decade ago. And let’s not forget that Germany was one of the biggest  proponents of Poland’s EU membership while many cities from both countries participate in the twin-towns projects. 

[newman]

Stuff the krauts, up the polaks.

[EagleEye]

The article talks of the massive expulsion of Germans out of Eastern Europe in and after WWII where 2.2-3 million died and around 16 million were kicked out.  I first heard of this event watching Meir Kahane speak .

[Ultra Requete]

Good movie, The Israel must do with A-rabs the same we did with huns post 1945; that's sole solution. BTW the tranfer of ethnic Germans was decision taken in Yalta and Potsdam by USA, UK and USSR; if the krautz want reparations they're welcome to try with them.