Germany. A temporary monument to the memory of Polish victims of German occupation during World War II was unveiled in Berlin

In Berlin, a temporary monument commemorating millions of citizens of the Second Polish Republic was unveiled, who in 1939-1945 became victims of German occupation. This was widely commented on by German media, which pointed out, among others for the extending implementation of the final project.

The temporary monument dedicated to the victims of German aggression and occupation in Poland, unveiled in Berlin German official memorial site. In the future, it will be the so-called German-Polish house, i.e. a monument and a place of education and meetings.

The commemoration was created in a symbolic place – in the area of ​​the Kroll Opera, in which Adolf Hitler announced an assault on Poland on September 1, 1939. In mid-April, an erratic boulder with a plaque weighing almost 30 tons was placed there with the inscription in Polish and German: “Polish victims of Nazism and the victims of German occupation and terror in Poland 1939-1945”.

“This is the day we have been waiting for a long time”

“This is the day we have been waiting for a long time,” he said Heiko Maasformer head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany, president of the German Institute of Polish Affairs (DPI), welcoming the participants of the event. He noticed that everyone would like a permanent monument to stand in a temporary memorial and a meeting place for Germans and Poles. He also emphasized that the 2017 Citizens' Initiative was at the root. In this context, he reminded about the role of German initiators, including former chairmen of the Bundestag Rita Sessmuth and Wolfgang Thierse present at the Monday ceremony. In his opinion, the place of memory is necessary because “We, Germany, are not sufficiently aware of the misfortune, pain and damage that our country brought to Poland during World War II.”

Hanna Wróblewska, who was present at the ceremony of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, reminded that from the words “there is almost no Polish family who was not affected by German occupation in 1939-1945” a group of 140 initiators and initiators began in 2017 a job in which they included a postulate of a monument to Polish victims of German occupation.

She also noted that “a monument is responsibility”. – Responsibility consisting in the courage to look into the past without avoiding difficult matters, without silence, without oblivion – she said.

The monument caused a discussion. German media comment

The establishment of a makeshift memorial site for Polish victims of war and German occupation was rated by German media.

“A straight boulder under a wild apple tree, with bronze information board: four and a half years after the Bundestag decision of October 2020. In the center of Berlin, a memorial site dedicated to Polish victims of national socialism was solemnly unveiled,” said “der tagespiegel”, wondering: “Did it get amazingly quickly? Andreas Nachama? “

According to the newspaper, the project located in the meadow between the Chancellor's Office and the seat of the Gazeta Parliament can be seen from various perspectives. “Der Tagesspiegel” emphasized that the boulder is a temporary solution, and the planned destination memorial is to consist of a monument, information center and meeting place. Waiting for this project continues – another Bundestag decision is needed and a project competition.

The project “was missing in the Bermuda triangle”

The daily “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” pointed out that the memorial site should be ready for a long time, but the plans to build it “got stuck”. He recalled the words of the former foreign minister of Germany Heiko Maas that the project “was missing in the Bermuda triangle between politics, administration and memory culture.”

“Sueddeutsche Zeitung” emphasized that the commemorative stone was unveiled in a place where in 1939 Adolf Hitler announced an assault on Poland. “You still have to wait for the planned monument,” she noted.

As the daily added, initially preparations for the implementation of the project coincided with the deterioration of Polish-German relations after taking over power by PIS. The Polish side issued a bill for war losses in the amount of PLN 6.2 trillion, and the government in Berlin took the position that the matter of reparations is closed from a legal point of view.

“Stone of disgrace”

The editors of the news program of the first German public television program TAGesschau referred to critical assessments at a makeshift memorial site, formulated on social media. As indicated, the boulder was called “a stone of disgrace”. “In the case of this project ruling the liberal civic platform in Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk assumes the good will of Germany. It also acknowledges that Germany considers the matter of war reparations to be completed” – reminded the editors, paying attention to “biting comments” of PiS politicians.

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