“Neither material remedies in the form of reparations nor Polish citizens murdered at Auschwitz were rehabilitated. “So if we want to talk about some kind of reconciliation, we have to start with the rehabilitation of Poles who were murdered in German camps,” said Prof. WPolityce.pl. Bogdan Musiał, Polish historian living in Germany.

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wPolityce.pl: How do you assess the “Polish-German House” initiative, which will be launched in the center of Berlin? Was this a form of compensation, resolving the crimes of World War II, or perhaps something intended “instead of” reparations?

Prof. Bogdan Musiał: This topic has been going on for a long time. Initially, it was planned to build a Holocaust Victims' Memorial there, but now the initiative appears to have been given a slightly different name.

They certainly want to emphasize the positive aspects. National socialism? It was bad, it was ugly, it was a mess, but after 1945 everything was beautiful. In the official German narrative after World War II, there was reconciliation, the famous Willy Brandt knelt, we overcame mutual hostility and everything was fine.

Germany may hope that the new government will also adopt this narrative of overcoming hostility.

The whole problem with this narrative is that it doesn't match reality. This is just propaganda. Because Germany also deliberately distorted post-war history. Reparations are of course a form of material compensation. But Germany also protected Nazi criminals from criminal responsibility. In other words, they do not take responsibility for what they have done in Poland in any way.

And so much so that the Polish citizens murdered in Auschwitz, according to German law, still had the right to be punished and killed, and the criminals were innocent. A similar ruling was handed down in the Federal Republic of Germany. Acquittal sentences for German criminals. Until now, these cases have not been resolved. Germans avoid this and this is official state policy. German law to this day considers the murdered Ulmas guilty of breaking that law. The Jews they rescued could be rehabilitated, but Ulma's family could not. And this is just one of many examples. None of the Poles killed at Auschwitz were rehabilitated. Holocaust victims – of course, in greater numbers and it should be emphasized – were rehabilitated at once, and what's more, Germany also concluded a financial settlement with Israel and the Jewish community in the US. For better or worse, it has been done.

However, in the case of the Polish citizens, there was no material solution in the form of reparations nor were the Poles murdered at Auschwitz rehabilitated. So if we want to talk about some kind of reconciliation, we have to start with the rehabilitation of Poles murdered in German camps.

Moreover, I guarantee that this issue will not be discussed in the Polish-German DPR, because Germany will not recognize it. For one reason or another, they have no knowledge of it, they do not want to know it, they have hidden it from their memories. Even when talking about Auschwitz, Germans say that Jews were killed there, but Poles were not killed. Since 1970, it has no longer been possible to prosecute German criminals for the murder of Poles. This is how they set their laws. They gave amnesty. And this was done by the SPD under the leadership of Chancellor Willy Brandt who knelt at the Ghetto Heroes Monument.

This case refutes the myth of German modernity and moral reckoning. They didn't want to discuss it at all. This is just a game.

This initiative was prepared by historians: Agnieszka Wierzcholska and Robert Parzer. As they wrote in “Die Welt”, one of the goals of the “Polish-German House” was to “break stereotypes”. What stereotypes should be broken through this initiative, which focuses primarily on the World War II period?

There is a very strong stereotype in Poland that Germany has completed the crimes of World War II. But this is a stereotype imposed by German propaganda and German historical policy. This is not true, but just a stereotype. I want it to be done honestly and based on facts. However, I exclude such a solution, because German historical policy precisely defines the period of national socialism as “Nazi” and not “German”, and then, after 1945, a modern and open democracy, an exemplary Western democracy, was established. .

And if we look at the facts, we will see that it was no coincidence that American troops were stationed in Germany. Not to protect Germany from any danger, but to protect Europe from Germany.

Second: according to German historical policy, Germany was liberated in 1945. But Europe has been liberated, from Germany. The aim of German policy was to push America out of Europe. That is why an alliance with the Kremlin has always been important for Berlin. Whether Putin, Brezhnev, Khrushchev, Stalin or Gorbachev – they all had the same goal – to drive the United States out of Europe. This was a long-term policy, although it was not included in the “grand and democratic” Germany narrative.

But all you have to do is look at their relationship with Putin. After 1945, Germany mastered the appearance game to perfection. This is one thing you have to give them.

And the Polish-German House will be part of this pretend play?

Appropriate. We will learn that once everything was a mess, not very good, but after 1945, and after the SPD's Willy Brandt knelt, everything became beautiful. This is not true, it completely ignores the fact that the SPD and Chancellor Schmidt support martial law. This is an old story, although it has been hidden from German textbooks and scientific publications.

Germany's actions in this case are no longer historical policy, but propaganda. And when it comes to this initiative, I don't believe in the veracity of this declaration. This propaganda has become so ingrained in German cultural DNA that they themselves may have begun to believe it. Because it is more convenient for them.

Thank you very much for the interview.

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