In Poland, the last survivors of the German occupation are waiting for a sign from Berlin. So far, the announced ‘humanitarian gesture’ by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and opposition leader Friedrich Merz has had no concrete result. The longer the federal government hesitates, the greater the shame becomes.
Many Germans are currently researching the Nazi past of their own families – for instance, through the NSDAP membership file made accessible by the Süddeutsche Zeitung. They come across entanglements that were long suppressed or concealed. In Poland, however, the suffering of Nazi crimes has remained omnipresent across generations, the commentary states.
Particularly painful for Poland is the awareness of how little is known in Germany about the crimes against the Polish civilian population. The author cites one example: In the forest of Szpęgawsk south of Gdańsk, the SS shot up to 7,000 Poles in autumn 1939 – in the immediate vicinity of his ancestors’ estate. Shortly afterward, his great-grandmother joined the NSDAP.
Source: www.sueddeutsche.de
