O postrzeganiu przez Niemców polskiej historii. Trzy wywiady
On the German perception of Polish history. Three interviews

Author(s): Stanisław Żerko
Subject(s): Political history, Social history, Recent History (1900 till today)
Published by: Instytut Zachodni im. Zygmunta Wojciechowskiego
Keywords: Germany; interviews; remembrance of history;
Summary/Abstract: The noun "reconciliation", declined in all possible cases and meant to characterize good-neighborly relations between our countries, became a figure of speech with which representatives of both countries used to decorate their speeches. At the same time, we were increasingly surprised that the scale and scope of the crimes committed in Poland by the Germans during the occupation were so little known in the Federal Republic. We were concerned that in Germany the dark side of our history during World War II was so eagerly emphasized, while at the same time the accents were shifting: for a dozen or so years, in German narratives, Germans have increasingly become victims, and Poles - persuasions. Some of us, not all, see this as a deliberate German historical policy. Others believe that these are cultural changes, the sources of which are not political in nature. We are trying to find some answer as to why this is happening, and we do not want to formulate simple and hasty explanations. We asked three younger generation historians from the German-speaking area who deal with Polish issues about these issues – two Germans and one Swiss.

• Details
• Contents