Exactly 25 years ago, on June, 17, Poland and Germany signed Treaty of Good Neighbourship and Friendly Cooperation. It was a milestone for Polish-German relations, which for hundreds of years were very strained. It is a miracle, how the hostility changed into friendship and peaceful cooperation of two nations. Gdansk and its people took an important role in healing the wounds and building our common, better future in united Europe.
June 17, 1991. Prime Minister Jan K. Bielecki and Chancellor Helmut Kohl signing the Treaty
As a kid, I didn't like Germans. It was a very common attitude then in Poland. We all watched a TV series "Four tankmen and a dog". What today can be consider just as a pure pro-Soviet propaganda, was for us, boys growing up in the 70s., a fairy-tale about the adventures of WWII. And Poles indeed had reasons to hate Germans, just to mention 6 million Polish casualties of the war, or total destruction of many cities.
But hatred, no matter of reasons for it, is never a solution for the future. It leads only to more suffering and vicious circle of evil. The reconciliation between Poland and Germany is one of the most amazing, unique political processes that took place in the post-war Europe. It is the process we need to remind today, when so many people in so many countries forgot about the atrocities of war, calling for more divisions and isolation among nations.
What began in 1965, required vision, leadership and courage of many great Poles and Germans. Against all the odds, in 1965 The Pastoral Letter of the Polish Bishops to their German Brothers was published. Just 20 years after we war ended, Polish bishops were brave enough to write "we forgive and ask for forgiveness". The society of Poland was shocked and Communist authorities of Poland reacted with anger and propaganda campaign. But the seed was sown for good and many people cared for it to bring us fruit. Here I would like also to mention Stanislaw Stomma, a liberal Catholic, independent Politician and visionary, who had engaged in relations with Germany as early as in 50s.
Another man I want to mention is late Burgermeister of Bremen Hans Koschnick. This great friend of Gdansk and Poland supported the reconciliation and engaged in building bridges among our nations very early. He was the one who in 1976 signed an agreement for cooperation of Gdansk and Bremen, first such a document signed after the WWII. My city was an area of competition between Germans and Poland for centuries and a place where WWII began, so it was a big step forward for both sides.
Kniefall von Warschau, Warsaw genuflection of Willy Brandt in 1970, was a groundbreaking gesture on the path to better relations, leading to great events at the end of 80s. and beginning of 90s. I remember great emotion in November 1989, when I heard about meeting of Tadeusz Mazowiecki (first Prime Minister of democratic Poland) and Chancellor Helmut Kohl for the mass of reconciliation in Krzyzowa. In this time of political turn, relations between Poland and Germany accelerated, leading directly to signing the Treaty of Good Neighbourship in 1991. On the Polish side it was signed by prime minister Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, a native of Gdansk.
Together we have done a great job for this 25 years. We started to understand each other, and our cooperation got closer than ever. Germany is our important friend in the European Union, both countries being important trade partners, people from both countries travelling, visiting, working, making friends regardless of borders and history. We can be really proud for what we achieved!
Commemoration of the Treaty 5 years ago in Berlin. Photo: Gregor Helms, Wikipedia, CC