“I think from the point of view of the German government everything has already been said about reparations,” German Ambassador to Poland Thomas Bagger said in an interview with Polish Radio 24.
“Better leave this Pandora’s box untouched.”
The ambassador argues that the subject of reparations is a “Pandora’s box” and it is better to “leave it untouched”.
As members of the European Union, we have lived in a different paradigm for a long time, and this subject is a Pandora’s box and it is better that this box remains untouched
he says.
When asked “for whom is the solution better?”, he replies:
For everyone, for Europeans.
Germans understand that they must take Poland’s pain and emotions related to World War II seriously, both today and in the future. But that’s another matter, not opening Pandora’s box. Nothing good would come of it for Europe. And a united Europe is our future, not only the future of Germany, but also of Poland
he adds.
Submission by Chancellor Scholz
The conversation also asks about the position of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who declared on Twitter that “Germany has been liberated from the tyranny of National Socialism”.
READ MORE: Taking responsibility for war continues! Scholz: 78 years ago Germany and the world were liberated from the tyranny of National Socialism
The ambassador admits that he has followed the debate surrounding Scholz’s entry and found it “an interesting phenomenon”.
Nothing is easy in Polish-German relations except misunderstandings, and if you want to understand something, you have to make an effort. We have completely different historical experiences, we use different concepts. The Polish side is now at the stage of dismantling the Soviet monuments on which the word “liberation” is inscribed, believing that it was not liberation but occupation.
In Germany, May 8, 1945 has long been considered a day of defeat, a catastrophe
– recalls and explains that in Germany itself the perception of this day has evolved.
Bagger recalls the speech of one of the presidents of Germany – Richard von Weizsäcker, who spoke in 1985 in the Bundestag about “‘liberation’ also in relation to Germans.”
Did that diminish the importance of that day? No, it gave this anniversary a new historical perception, in that even we Germans shouldn’t just look at May 8, 1945 as a day of defeat and fall, because World War II was not an “ordinary war” that ended in defeat
Bagger says.
And adds:
It was a war of attrition that reduced all of Europe and the world to ashes, and the Germans could not free themselves, either by resistance or by elections, but had to be liberated from the outside, by the Allies.
The ambassador adds that in today’s Germany this perception of May 8, 1945 is “common”. In his opinion, Scholz’s words were misunderstood, which should result from “lack of will to make the effort to understand”.
Because what does 8 May 1945 mean for the Germans? Of course something completely different from Poland. But we must be able to agree that this day marked the liberation of Germany and the world from National Socialist terror. That is why the controversy surrounding the chancellor’s entry is, in my opinion, yet another proof that we need to make more of an effort to understand each other. Misunderstandings come easily to us
– judges.
Bagger also talks about what he lacks in the Polish debate in the context of history.
I feel that as with the subject of reparations, history is and will continue to be important, but when you’re behind the wheel you can’t just look in the rearview mirror. If you remember the past, you should do it with your face turned to the future
– underlined.
And adds:
Constantly looking back can distort the perception of the present and the future.
kk/PR24
Source: wPolityce