Zwischen „Recht auf Heimat“ und Versöhnung – die Kirchen in der Bundesrepublik und ihr Verhältnis zu Polen 1956-1965
Between “The Right to a Homeland” and Reconciliation – the Churches in the Federal Republic of Germany and their relations with Poland 1956 to 1965

Summary/Abstract: Poland was a neglected marginal issue for the Federal Republic in its early years, as it also was among its Christian Churches. In the period under discussion, between 1956 and 1965, although differing in their approaches, both the German Lutheran and Catholic Churches devoted increasing attention to the subject of Poland. While the Lutheran Church conducted a partly internal, partly public, discussion on the situation of the Germans displaced from Eastern Europe, the right to a ‘homeland’, and the Oder-Neisse border, the Catholic Church sought direct institutional and personal contacts with Poland. In this process we must distinguish between two levels of organisation – the official Church and the Christian laity – who were concerned with Poland. While the official church was obliged to take account of the prevailing political situation, the laity were able to operate more freely. This period was also marked by a striving for reform within the Churches which heralded their changed position in the world and in society and an increased internal pluralism. This made it easier for groups and individuals to adopt, both within Germany and on the German-Polish level, a more open approach to the issue of relations with Poland. But this group of issues in itself gave impetus to the increasing pluralism and politicisation of the time. It is in this context that the changed public perception of the Church is to be seen. In 1965, efforts towards a reconciliation with Poland became more widely known in West Germany as a result of the ‘Eastern Memorandum’ (Ostdenkschrift) and the exchange of letters between German and Polish bishops which sparked off a debate among the general public. Thus church leaders and members played a significant role in a paradigm shift in German relations with Poland. By abandoning ‘reconciliation by law’ for ‘reconciliation without legal claims’, the foundations were laid for the new Ostpolitik and a lasting reconciliation between the German and the Polish peoples.

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