By Else Loeser
Published: 1983-01-01
Dedicated to the memory of the ethnic researcher Dr.
Kurt Lueck, Posen, in gratitude for his scientific research into the German
ethnic national areas of Poland.
Foreword
When
I was asked about a year and a half ago whether or not I would consider giving
a talk on the subject of Poland — in view of the considerable interest in
Poland on the part of the German people and the extent of German assistance
programmes to that country — I began to research the "Polish problem"
in greater detail than had hitherto been the case. It was not difficult for me
to write recollections from my own experience, extending as far back as my
earliest childhood and school days, while simultaneously discussing the
findings of literature and history. At the request of the listeners, a printed
text of my first talk was prepared, followed, some time later, by a further
revised and expanded second edition, which has now been superceded by a third.
My
first talk was followed by many others. Many questions were raised and
innumerable letters received, expressing gratitude for my work of
enlightenment, with the request that I publish other information, unknown in
Germany, which might contribute to a more accurate appraisal of the Polish
national character. I wish to comply with that request on the part of
interested readers by writing a second part on falsifications of Polish
history.
The
enormous quantity of available materials made selection difficult; I had only
intended to write a brochure enabling the German reader to see and understand
the development of the Polish nation from its earliest Germanic racial origins
to its chauvinistic hatred of everything German. In so doing, I made plentiful
use of documentation prepared by scientific researchers and historians of an
earlier era, as well as of materials dating from more recent research.
At
this point, I should like to thank all those who have written to me enclosing
clippings, etc. from the various news media, or who have alerted me to certain
matters, thus helping me to clarify the topic of a falsified historical past in
relation to falsifications of the present day.
It
is not the case that the falsification process has come to an end. Quite the
contrary: it is now, as in the past, being given continued life not only by
foreigners, but by German writers and journalists, whether out of ignorance,
carelessness, or deliberate malice, we may not say. It is the fashion — indeed,
the fad — to write about Poland, since Poland is headline news in the world
press; the subject must therefore be dealt with. The following pages are
intended to reveal another aspect of Poland: the Poland of Polish literature,
to which all Poles, and many Germans, make reference.
At
the immediate moment, for example, the Hoffman and Campe Publishing Company is
offering a large-format MERIAN book on glossy paper, advertised as follows:
"POLAND - a passion. Poland, the eternal. What
kind of land is it, what kind of people? ... We know too little about the
history of Poland, writes the author Karl Dedecius. Yet Polish history is made
especially clear to us precisely by Polish literature. Polish history and
literature complement each other perfectly, since Polish literature has at all
times been nationally and historically conscious, and therefore representative
of the Polish people. The selection of texts is unusual. Poetry and prose are
presented alongside historical documents and many journalistic texts. Bruno
Barbey's photos provide atmosphere, depicting everyday occurrences, unique
qualities, and historical events. Barbey's photographs reveal the Polish people
and their surroundings with unreserved sympathy."
That
Polish literature was, and is, very nationalistic, is already well known. How
historically accurate it may be, has been discussed by someone more competent
than the writer discussed above. The second authority is the Pole, Prof.
Markiewicz, head of the Polish School Book Commission, who, speaking on German
television, described the kind of historical consciousness which is
representative of the Polish people. His statements are as follows:
"We should not forget that the historical
consciousness of a people was, and still is, influenced not so much by
professional historians and their work, but rather — and to a much greater
degree — by novelists and their works. I would like to remind you of our great
writers Adam Mickiewicz, particularly his two novels 'Drazyna', and 'Konrad
Wallenrod'; Henryk Sienkiwicz, whose novel 'The Knights' was filmed a few years
ago; and Boleslaw Prus, with his work entitled 'The Watch Posts'."
When
the publisher of the Merian Book says that we know too little about Polish
history, we can only agree with him. But he offers only an "unusual
selection of texts", and, in addition to historical and political
documents, a number of more journalistic writings and topics photographed with
"unreserved sympathy". This means that the reader can renounce all
hope of learning the truth about Poland and its history. I should like to
provide some assistance in ameliorating this lack of knowledge with regards to
the works of the great Polish poets referred to by Prof. Markiewicz, who were
responsible for "forming the historical consciousness of the Polish
people", as Prof. Markiewicz expressly admits; but I fear that I will not
concur with the "passionate author", Karl Dedecius, and his 60 books
on Poland — which he would like to expand to 100, according to page 37 of the
"Darmstadter Echo" of 18 September 1982. The manner in which the
writer's output is praised to the book purchaser is highly peculiar. This
clever fellow possesses an inimitable method of production, described as
follows:
"Every morning — at least this is the impression
he gives the reader — he takes one, two, three, Polish poems and translates
them, much as another man might munch upon one, two, three English muffins. For
a mid-morning snack, he treats himself to a couple of letters, which he
translates; at noon, he relaxes with a few aphorisms, which he translates; in
the afternoon, he writes a little essay or two — sometimes short, sometimes
long — on translation work. In the evening, he attends a colloqium on Polish
literature, or holds a meeting or two with a few experts on Poland. One may
admire the quantity of work tossed off per annum by the 61-year old translator,
but the quality can only be wondered at. So far, he has written, translated, or
published approximately 60 books, testifying to his passion for Poland."
I
shall not attempt to compete with this mass producer as regards sheer quantity;
but perhaps I can come closer where quality and truth about Poland are
concerned. His connections — such as the Robert-Bosch Foundation — are not
availble to me, but I hope to offer my readers a closer acquaintance with the
Polish literature mentioned by Prof. Markiewicz so as to provide them with a
clearer image of the land and people of Poland.
There
is also a study group called "Poland Writings in the German
Language", led by a certain Udo Kuehn of Wiesbaden, of whom I wish to
speak, since he has also attempted to "fill the German information gap on
Poland". According to the advertising blurb, however, he is apparently
attempting to do so in the interests of the Poles and their country, rather
than in German interests. The wares offered therein will therefore rather
resemble the merchandise purveyed by Prof. Markiewicz where the historical
consciousness of the Polish people is concerned, i.e., a product based on
anything but reality and truth. German interests cannot, however, be served by
whitewashing Polish literature and rendering it innocuous through deceptive
translations, but rather, solely and finally, through the truth. I therefore
agree with all those who say that the information gap on Poland must be filled,
but please, let it not be filled not by persons who know neither the land nor
the people, who have no idea of the conditions there, or who have only
permitted themselves to be filled with one-sided information from Poles, i.e,
those who accept the Polish image of themselves. Rather, I am in favour of
permitting an expert with the highest qualications to speak on the subject.
My
compatriot from the German East, the ethnic and national researcher Dr. Kurt
Lueck, of Posen, provides information on the Polish national character and way
of thinking in his very extensive works "The Myth of the German in the
Polish Tradition and Literature", and "German Construction Forces in
the Development of Poland". It is regrettable that these works can only be
consulted in the Eastern Studies Departments of universities. They really
belong in every German home, so that the unrealistic delusion of a proud and
noble Poland — standing as high as the heavens above German barbarism — might
finally be dispelled here in Germany, and facts be taken into account. Kurt
Lueck's research has done us a magnificent service through his sifting of
Polish literature; I wish to rescue that work from obscurity.
It
is only natural for screams of "incitement to racial hatred" to be
raised whenever the coddled, pampered Polish child receives a scolding. In
reply, let it be said that I cite exclusively texts originating in Polish
literature or history, that is, admissions made by the Poles themselves, for
which they alone are responsible. To us Germans, it is more important — in
fact, a vital necessity — to learn the whole truth about the systematically
engendered and pressure-packed Polish hatred of everything German, i.e, that we
recognize the extent and origins of Polish chauvinism, as we ourselves
experienced it in the 1920s and 30s, and are still experiencing it today.
Contemporary
research has dealt with the question of the Eastern German settlement areas
with typically German thoroughness, and in so doing it has reached findings
which can no longer be thoughtlessly ignored. Even the Poles will be compelled
to recognize these truths, if genuine reconcilation between both peoples is to
become a reality.
The
history of the settlement of an area is determinative for all time. Culture is
not created by force or by lies, but only by intellectual work on the part of
the elite of a people. Rights and ownership arise only by reason of the
achievements of a people brought into fullness in a geographical area. There is
no culture of weapons, no culture of lies. Only history provides an insight
into the identity of the real founders of an ethnic culture.
I
described the origins of the Polish nationality in my previous text,
"Falsifications of Polish History", in which I limited myself to the
briefest possible discussion. Here again, I must return to the beginnings of
Polish historical writings in the briefest manner possible.
All
Polish history books, indeed all Polish literature, including the so-called
"Letter of Reconciliation" from the Polish bishops Stefan Wyszynski
and Karol Woytyla to the German bishops in 1956, refer to Miseszko I as the
"first Polish Duke", who took the Holy Sacrament of baptism in the
year 966.
Of
course, at the same time, this constitutes proof that no Polish empire existed
in 966, since Miezszko was the "first"; furthermore, he was not a
Pole, but rather, a Norman named "Dago-Mesico", from the Norwegian
family line of the Daglingers, who migrated into lands settled by the Germans
on the Weichsel and Warthe. His baptism proves nothing at all — certainly not
that he was a Pole, or that he ever became a Pole: it only proves that Dago
accepted Christianity. There are no records — as scholars confirm today — which
ever mention — even once — a people bearing the name "Poles" or
"Slavs" [in the area] at that time. The only tribes which were native
to the area were Germanic, and the founders of the Polish empire were also
German. But Polish history has to begin somewhere; it was therefore logical to
take this Christian baptism as the point of departure.
The
falsifiers of history, who came along very much later, were simple men who
lived mostly for the present, as is the case at all times. They lacked
experience in falsification, and failed to realize that their falsifications
would be recognized as such, even centuries later. They could hardly imagine
that research into the truth would ever begin, even after a thousand years.
They
falsified for the present and the immediate future; they encouraged belief for
the present, and they knew how to compel this belief, just as they had known
how to compel baptism at an earlier time. Baptism or death — thus was the
conversion to Christianity achieved. The new "Polish" language, which
was only invented much later, could hardly be imposed by force in the same way,
since nobody would have understood it. The transformation of an entire people
into a previously non-existent ethnic group could hardly occur overnight; long
periods of time were required for this purpose, as well as stubborn,
deliberately conscious work. First to be effaced was human memory, relegated to
oblivion. The re-writing of the cloister chronicles dating back to the year 966
— the time of the first Christian baptism in the area — was only completed at
the expense of great time and effort. It was, after all, necessary to take the
name of every well-known person, every village, every ordinary object, and give
it a new name, while concealing one's objective.
Artificial
languages are not as difficult to devise or as unusual as one might at first
imagine. Synthtetic languages are created with specific objectives and
propagated in books and groups even today, such as Esperanto, for example.*
*
Translator's note: The 1911 Encylopaedia
(Poland) remarks:
"The first press from which books in the Polish
language appeared was that of Hieronymus Wietor, a Silesian, who commenced
publishing in 1515... the first complete work in the Polish language appeared
from the press of this printer at Cracow in 1521..."
Polish
belongs to the West Slavonic group of languages, several of which acquired
written form, with many German loan words, only in the 19th century.
Today,
we are in a position to see how our own experience of the very recent past is
falsified on a daily basis. Since 1945, the German past — not just the National
Socialist period but even the Weimar Republic and the Empire of the Kaisers —
has been re-written according to the requirements of the victors and the ruling
hierarchy. The newspapers are simply not allowed to say how it really was. And
the further removed we become from personal experience, the more susceptible we
become to a history bespattered with lies and filth; all efforts to clear our
name are either ignored or subject to legal prosecution. Yet this is the case
in an "enlightened age", a "democratic state", a
"state of law". The same certainly cannot be said of the period
during which the Polish falsifications were devised. The invention of the
"new" Polish artificial language by the German bishop Wolf
Gottlobonis — later name-changed into Wincent Kadlubek — began in 1218, at the
cloister of Klein-Morimund, near Cracow. Just as, today, all sorts of attempts
are made, with recourse to every conceivable variety of manipulation, to turn
the German people into a race of mongrels, doomed to renounce their traditions
and their ability to recall, to make them easier to rule and to exploit, in the
same manner, an effort was begun to dissolve the connections between the
peoples of the Eastern German settlement areas and their Germanic origins. The
new language was also given a new past. For simplicity's sake, the date of the
origins of the Polish state was deemed to coincide with the first Christian
baptism.
For
that particular period of history, this may have been enough: ordinary people
had no idea what the falsifiers were getting up to in their ecclestiastical and
municipal chronicles. If a "Polish people" really existed from a
racial point of view, then it must have fallen down out of the sky, without any
racial ancestors. A Polish miracle without parallel.
Ordinary
people didn't accept the new artificial language for a long time. It took
almost 300 years for a so-called Polish conversational language to arise from
the glagolitic church Latin of the monks. The city of Cracow, which according
to the statements of Polish historians remained German until the late 15th
century, held out the longest. But as it was impossible to cause the German
chronicles to disappear, they continue to provide mute evidence, even today.
That
the German inhabitants of the city Cracow resisted for so long, is food for
thought. It cannot have been due to their religious belief, since all men were
of the same faith. But the seat of the bishop falsifier Kadlubek, who would
today be called a "collaborateur", was located in the city of Cracow.
We may presume that the reason why a knowledge of the altered form of the
language and ethnic identity of the people was retained for so long, was
precisely because people had acquired a first awareness of the basic objective.
Their ideological teachings obviously aroused resistance, which lasted until
the final eradication of tradition, as people fell gradually victim to
compulsion.
The
manner in which Germans are transformed into Poles is described very exactly on
pages 240-276 ff. of "Ostgermanien" by Franz Wolff. I know from
personal experience how German names became Polish, how German names were
changed in the 1920s and 30s, how personal identity documents were issued
bearing Polish names only. Thus, Else became Elzbieta; Eugen became Eugeniusz;
Albert or Albrecht became Wojciech; Nickolaus became Mikolaj; Lorenz became
Wawrzyniak; Mathias became Maciej. And if there wasn't any translation for a
name — Hildegard, for example — then the person was simply called Elzbieta,
i.e., Elizabeth. Protests were a waste of time. The Nuremberg sculptor Veit
Stoss became "Wit Stwosz". The German, Nikolaus Kopernikus, from
Thorn, became "Mikolaj Kopernik". The last two could hardly protest,
since they had already been dead for centuries. Yet top-ranking officials of
the Polish Catholic Church, Cardinals Wyszynski and Wojtyla, in their so-called
"Letter of Reconciliation" in 1965, claimed that the Germans were
permitted to retain their names, that nothing was taken from them. How
credible, then, are the other statements made by the same men in their attempt
to excuse themselves? Do the stones of Breslau really "speak Polish",
as the Primate Cardinal Wyszynski claimed in Breslau Cathedral? If the Cardinal
Primate personally lies in solemn ceremonies in the Cathedral, then what can
one expect from his colleagues in the education of a people? Ordinary people
are not responsible for the lies contained in Polish history — the Polish
clergy, the intellectuals, the writers, and the press are responsible. They are
the educators of the people, as everywhere in the world. When these educators
are dishonest and filled with hate, then the people will be, too. The seeds
sown by chauvinistic educators produce cruel fruit. I should like to describe
this "seed" to the German reader. In my view, this is absolutely
necessary, because only a recognition of the causes can lead to a remediation
of the effects. Light must be shed one of the most shameful chapters in Polish
history.
In
his incomparably exhaustive work, Dr. Kurt Lueck of Posen has researched and
established the traditional conceptions of the Polish people from German
traditions. In the introduction to his "Myth of the German in Polish
Popular Traditions and Literature", he mentions the peculiarly Polish
manner of viewing identical matters in a different light; for example, the
"winning" of the originally German — but later Western Slavonic —
areas between the Oder and the Elbe by Boleslaus the Brave is called a
"State programme" by Polish historians, who, in the same breath, call
it "lust for plunder" when the same areas are settled by the German
Empire. These contradictory value judgments on all aspects of national and
popular life, to their own advantage and according to the needs of the moment,
were, and still are, the mainspring of Polish actions and the Polish character.
Lueck
then continues:
"The sociological roots of the Polish anti-German
hatred and antipathy may be illustrated by a few additional examples. The
religious division was decisive. The abyss which first separated Christian
Germans from pagan Poles in the early Middle Ages was not overcome without
great pressure upon converts. As a result of paganism's defensive
anti-Christian attitudes, the new religion was called "the German
Faith". But even the still unified world of the Western churches was not
free from disputes. In 1248, for the first time, we hear bitter complaints from
the Poles regarding foreign colonists who failed to keep the fasts as strictly
as themselves; or, later, of serious conflicts within the nationally mixed
clergy itself over benefices, rights, and the language of sermonizing and
educational work. Stubbornly, but finally in vain, the German bourgeousie of
the end of the 15th and 16th centuries in Cracow, Lemberg, Krossen, and
Weislok, in Bietsch and other localities struggled to retain their mother
tongue in religious services. But nothing brought religious temperaments to a
boil with greater heat than the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. Once
again, the Polish people called the faith of which they wished to know nothing,
"the German Faith". As in the Middle Ages, awakening nationalism
implied that the struggle against Lutheranism was now to became the chief
source for a renewal of Polish Catholicism. Hatred of dissidents grew to a mass
psychosis, exploding in the numerous persecutions of Protestants over the
centuries which have cast their dark shadow over the history of the country.
Protestantism is described in Polish writings, even today, as the 'eternal
enemy of Poland'".
This
is the key to all later developments in Poland. It can hardly be assumed that
the new converts complained so bitterly of the failure of old believers to keep
fasts — believers who had been invited into the area from the German Empire by
Polish counts and priests to develop the land — as to be the cause of the
ensuing conflicts. Rather, the serious conflicts among the nationally mixed
clergy over benefices, rights, and the language of sermonizing and educational
work sowed the initial seeds of the hatred which was to become so pervasive
among the common people of later times. There are so many indications of this
clerical hatred that it is impossible to mention them all. The following is
therefore a mere selection from Kurt Lueck's compendium:
Page
34:
"From the 17th century, there are so many such
statements that we can only list a few of them:
'The Bishop Pawel Piasecki explains in one of his
chronicles: 'The Poles, and all the Slavic peoples, have always felt a national
abhorrence of everything that smelt of Germany. Anything that originated in
Germany, regardless of value, everything except the works of mechanics, is
considered pernicious, and is rejected with suspicion.' Or: 'The name of the
Germans is hateful to the Poles, inherently arousing an inexorable Slavic
tribal hatred in their hearts'. Piasecki viewed the Reformation as the mortal enemy,
calling it the 'German poison', which the Poles were to reject at all
costs."
Page
84:
"The Dominican Fabian Birkowski writes: 'Your
corrupt religion arose through false prophets, and was created by the Devil,
who wanted to be equal to God... Your leader is the Angel of Hell, that is, the
Devil'".
Page
269:
"The Gneneser Archbishop, Jakob Swinka, around
the turn of the 13th century, habitually called the Germans 'dog's heads'. Thus
he said of a bishop at Brixen that he would have been an excellent preacher,
had he not been a 'dog's head' and a German.
The term "dog's head" is also referred to in
the "Koenigsaaler Chronicle". King Wenzel is said to have been
displeased by the expression, his reply being noted in the chronicle: 'He who
spake thus, showed that he possessed a worse tongue than a dog; since a dog's
tongue promotes healing, while the tongue of the speaker, on the contrary,
injects the poison of slander.'"
This
"poison of slander", originally invented and expressed by an
Archbishop, has been passed down for centuries. Not only has this poison passed
into the language of the people, vilifying the Germans in every manner
possible, but "aesthetic" and "spiritual" writings, even
paintings, have used this disgusting manner of expression. The frequency of
vilification, the constant recurrence of insults in all possible contexts and
variations, reveals a deliberate intent and, finally, a popular conviction that
there had to be a justification for such slander, or else literature and even
the clergy would not have produced it. The term "dog" is considered
by Poles to be the worst insult applicable to anyone. Polish collections of
popular sayings include the following:
"Co
Niemiec, to pies"—Whoever is a German, is a dog.
"Zdechly
Niemiec, zdechly pies, mala to roznica jest"—A dead German is a dead dog,
there's not much difference.
"A
wy Niemcy nic nie wiecie, wasza mowa to psie wycie. W naszej wsi, jak psy
zawyly, wsystkich Szwabow diabli wzieli."—And you Germans don't know
anything, your language is pure dogs' barking. When the dogs howled in the
villages, the devils took away all the Germans.
For
the corresponding results in the plastic arts, one need only mention a painting
by W. Brotanski: "Psie Pole pod Wroclawem", i.e.,"Dog's Field by
Breslau", in relation to which Kurt Lueck remarks:
"The battle after which the bodies of the German
knights were eaten by dogs before the very eyes of the victorious Polish King
Boleslaus 'Crooked Mouth', is well known never to have taken place; rather it
is an invention. Brotanski's painting is distributed as an 'art postcard' by
the 'Exposition of Polish painters in Cracow', entitled, in Polish: "Dogs
Field in Breslau. Boleslaus 'Crooked Mouth' on the Battlefield after the
Glorious Victory over Henry V, the German Emperor, in 1109". We wonder
whether it ever dawns upon the Polish admirers of this work — as it does to us
— if they were to reflect a bit, with how little dignity, how tastelessly, a
Polish king is depicted here? What it is supposed to prove, if Boleslaus
allowed the corpses of enemy knights to be eaten by dogs? It is certainly no
proof of historical greatness. We Germans would never distribute such
postcards; we would be too ashamed of them."
Let
us consider a few more examples of Polish "literary" writings. Even
their greatest and best-known novelists, such as Adam Mikiewicz and Henryk
Sienkeiwicz, use these insulting terms. Yet it is precisely in reference to
them that Professor Markiewicz says, in his discussion of the film
"Scars":
"We should not forget that the historical
consciousness of a people was, and still is, influenced not so much by
professional historians and their work, but rather — and to a much greater
degree — by novelists and their works. I would like to remind you of our great
writers Adam Mickiewicz, particularly his two novels 'Drazyna', and 'Konrad
Wallenrod'; Henryk Sienkiwicz, whose novel 'The Knights' was filmed a few years
ago; and Boleslaw Prus, with his work entitled "The Watch Posts".
Now,
let us look at Lueck for Adam Mickiewicz's statements on the Teutonic Knights
[invited into Poland to protect the Poles against the Lithuanians; the Poles
later combined with the Lithuanians against the Teutonic Knights — Translator's
note] in his novel "Grazyna", to see just what Professor Markiewicz
is so proud of today. Mickiewicz uses expressions such as "psiarnia
Krzyzakow"- "the dog scum of the Knightly order"; or, "such
a damned fellow from the dog scum of the Crusaders". And this in the
edition intended for Polish school children! The same writer, in his novel
"Pan Tadeusz", speaks of "all state counsellors, court
counsellors, commissars, and all dog scum". His novel "Tzech
Budrysow" refers to "Krzyzacy psubraty" — "the Knights, the
scum of dogs".
Henryk
Sienkiewicz uses the insult "scum of dogs" several times in his novel
"Krzyzacy" (the Knights).
Lueck
discusses several other writers who speak of Germans as "scum of
dogs", "Saxon vile dogs", "bloody German dogs",
"rabid German dogs", "barking German dogs", etc.
·
The very well known
Polish writer W. Reymont, in his peasant novel "Chlopi", speaks of
"dog heretics" and "dog rabble".
·
Jan Kochanowski, in
"Proporzec" (1569) calls the Order of the Teutonic Knights "pies
niepocigniony" — "unexcelled dogs".
·
R.W. Berwinski, in
"Powiesci Wielko-Polskie" (Tales of Greater Poland) 1844, speaks of
"the Germans, the damned race of dogs."
·
Jozef Szujski, in
his play "Krolowa Jadwiga" (Queen Hedwig) (1866), act II, scene 2,
says: "A Teutonic dog sank down from his horse."
·
·
Adolf Dygasinski,
in his novel "Demon" (1866), says: "psy szwabscie "German dogs",
and, at another point, exclaims, "and who brought you to Poland, you
dogs?"
·
K.
Przerwa-Tetmajer, in his novel "Nefzowkie", speaks of a German
manufacturer who is called "rudy pies" — "red haired dog" —
by his Polish workermen.
·
Lucjan Rydel —
Polonized form of the German name Riedel — in "Jency" (The
Prisoners), speaks of "the German enemy dogs".
·
Maria Konopnicka,
in "Pan Balcer w Brazyliji", speaks of "the German packs of
dogs".
·
Jadwiga
Luszczweska, in "Panienka z Obienka" (3rd edition, 1927, p. 17), says
"co pol Niemiec i pies luter" — "half a German is also half a
Lutheran dog".
·
J. Weyssenhoff's
"Woz Drzymaly", in which a German official is called "brother to
the dogs" was compulsory reading in German classical secondary schools
(for example, in Posen).
·
In Gustow
Morcinek's novel "Wyrabany Chodnik" (1931, volume 1, p. 309, 310,
312), which won a prize in 1931 and was republished in 1936, a dog with the
name "Bismarck" appears several times.
As
we shall see, it is not just abstract theory when Polish writers speak and
write of "bloody German dogs". The first month of the war proved
that, in September 1939. According to Lueck, p. 271: "the Poles threw dead
dogs into many of the graves of murdered ethnic Germans. Near Neustadt in West
Prussia, the Poles cut open a captured German Luftwaffe officer's abdomen,
rippped out his intestines, and packed a dead dog inside. This report has been
reliably established."
Where
is the dignity of a people which can sink so low? They may believe themselves
to be expressing hatred for their neighbour, but in reality they are only
revealing their own soul. Do they think it is a sign of culture when
German-speaking human beings are referred to as "tam sczczekaja po
neimiecku" — "there, they're barking German"? Or when a dog is
called by the name of a great German statesman, or is called
"Prusak", "Krzyzak", "Szwab", or
"Niemiec"? This lack of dignity is neither a unique phenomenon nor a
momentary aberration. It is a systematic denigration of a neighbouring people,
with the unrelenting object of education in hatred and contempt.
It
is precisely this which reveals the Polish lack of that culture which they
claim to possess in such great measure. Culture is not expressed by the spewing
forth of hatred, insults, lies, and distortions in all aspects of life. On the
contrary, such actions simply express a painful inferiority complex festering
in the soul of the writer or painter. Painting has not been used just
occasionally to make the Germans appear contemptible: it has been used
systematically in this education in hatred. Lueck reproduces illustrations of a
variety of paintings, for example, "Zamordowanie Przemyslawa w Rogoznie
przez Margrabiow brandenburskich" (1296). ("The Murder of Premeyslaus
in Rogasen by the Count of Brandenburg"). This is the title of a colour
postcard reproduction of a painting by Jan Matejko, published by the
"Exposition of Polish Painters in Cracow". The painting shows one the
murderers with a dagger clutched between his teeth. His helmet bears the Black
Eagle of Brandenburg. In reality, this is just another atrocity legend.
Premyslaus — as serious Polish historians have established — was killed by
Polish irregulars. Even the insinuation of the Polish text — irresponsibly
presented as fact — that the Brandenburgers were the instigators, lacks
convincing evidence. It is part of the psychosis of border dwellers to blame
their neighbours for wind, rain, illness, and accidents. Art and science should
be freed from this psychosis."
Another
painting in the service of hatred is "Lowy na ludzi"
("Manhunt"), by Wojciech Kossak. The picture depicts flaming huts and
fleeing peasants, while Teutonic Knights discharge firearms from horseback.
Regarding
this painting, Lueck remarks:
"Polish painting never depicts Teutonic Knights
except as burning villages, ravishing women, and butchering the male
population. The comments of a POLISH HISTORIAN — Tadeusz Ladenberger —
regarding this painting, should also be quoted:
'Study has convinced us that two factors have had a
decisive influence on the distribution of population in Poland: the soil, and
German colonization. In the north, the pioneers of this movement were the
Teutonic Knights. The Order succeeded, over a 100 year-period, in establishing
populous cities and villages in the region of Chelm — instead of a thinly
populated wilderness — and in making the land productive. A century was all it
took to give this region — with by no means the best soil — mostly clay — the
highest population density in Poland.'"
The
Poles have repaid this achievement of the Teutonic Knights with libels and
hatred, as in the painting by Wojciech Kossak, "Napad Kryzapkow" —
"The Attack of the Knights".
The
scene shows a Polish village population being murdered. The settlement is being
set on fire, while a young girl is ravished despite the pleadings of her
mother.
This
painting was sold in both black and white and colour reproduction as an
"art post card" in every stationery shop in Poland, and was published
by the "Exposition of Polish Painters in Cracow". The great masses of
the Polish people had no idea that this was just a shameless piece of atrocity
propaganda."
On
Polish songs, Lueck writes:
"Even 'History in the Songs of the Polish People'
is not characterized by love for truth. Sobieski's forward movement to Vienna
(1683) has long been celebrated by Polish tradition. The songs tell how the
city was conquered by the Turks, the houses of worship desecrated, the monks
and nuns tortured and killed. Parts of the song consist of confused phrases
taken from a song about Turkish battles in the vicinity of Podolisch-Kamentz.
But the verses fit the legend of Polish assistance and German ingratitude, for
example: 'The Poles beat the Turks at Vienna, but the German thieves did nothing,
and didn't even say "'thank you"'. Even today, whenever someone
generously sets off on a thankless errand, he is warned 'it's worth about as
much as fighting for Vienna.'"
Here
I must recall Brigette Pohl's description, published in the "Deutsche
Wochen Zeitung" no. 9 of 2 March 1979, of the noble Polish chronicle of
Jan Sobieski and his movement to Vienna. It is worth recalling, even if only in
excerpts, since it shows why the Poles always blame the Germans in connection
with the battles against the Turks at Vienna, saying "the thieves didn't
even say 'thank you'". The Poles always reveal their own character defects
in attempting to accuse the Germans.
The
"brave Polish king" remained behind with his comrades, far removed
from the blood of battle at all times, at a safe distance from the battlefield.
He knew just where to hide — in the Vienna woods, at Dreimarkstein, where no
Turk was to be seen or could even be expected for miles around...
Far
behind the front line, the noble Sobieski was right up front: on Bald Mountain,
ministering to the Papal nuntio Marco D'Aviano and reading Mass. Then he once
again withdrew, leaving it to the Germans to defeat the Turks. He must have
been about as peace-loving as the Soviet Union today. Again and again, the
Germans attempted to pursuade the Polish nobleman to move forward to intervene.
But in vain. He had letters to write to his noble wife, who wanted to know how
much loot he would bring back. He replied that he and his son Jakob would quite
certain to run no risk of danger.
This
was while the Germans fought and died in fierce combats around Heiligenstadt,
in Nussdorf, and Grinzing. The generals were wounded, the brothers Moritz of
Duke Croy fell at Nudsdorf, the Duke himself was severely wounded. Prince
Eugene, later to become famous, won his first laurels here, in the service of
Germany; none spared himself. Streams of blood flowed over the famous wine
region of Grinzing. Only the Poles held back, "biding their time...
But
when they considered the battle safely won, oh, then they broke cover, since of
course they wanted to be the first to divide the spoils. But they failed to
reckon with the Pascha of Ofen, Ibrahim, who broke forth upon the Poles at the
edge of the city of Dornbach, so that the Poles, crying for help — this is
reported by the chronlicler Diani, who is very well disposed towards Sobieski —
ran away in large numbers. Count Ludwig of Baden then attacked with two of his
Imperial dragoon regiments, and succeeded in rolling back the Turkish line of
battle. Duke Charles of Lorraine gained the victory by undertaking a daring
wheeling movement with doubling and flanking movements. The road to the
surrounded city of Vienna now lay open. The chronicler reports: "Our
cavalry was too heavy to keep on their (the Turks') heels. That of the king
(Sobieski) was, of course, lighter; he, however, abandoned the attempt at
pursuit due to other considerations" (!) For the Poles, in particular,
their greatest hour had come: while the Germans buried their dead, cared for
their wounded, comforted distraught and desperate refugees from the burning
outlying villages of Vienna, and sought in vain to pursue the Turks with their
heavy cavalry, the good Sobieski made himself at home in the tent of the Great
Vizier and "gave his Polish army and accompanying hordes the order to
plunder."
Thus
the legend of "the brave King Sobieski" and his equally brave army is
disproven on the basis of historical fact.
[Translator's
note: The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica disputes
this, but depicts Sobieski as a traitor in the pay of Louis XIV: "He died
a broken-hearted man, prophecying the inevitable ruin of a nation which he
himself had done so much to demoralize."]
Sobieski's
behaviour is strikingly similar to that of the Polish Marshal in the last war,
Rydz-Smigly, who naturally wished to be depicted in an equestrian victor's pose
before the wings of the Brandenburg Gate in the summer of 1939, but who, when
the war which he demanded actually came about, rapidly left his troops in the
lurch and fled to a foreign country (Romania). Polish bravery was — and is —
simply a legend, just like their honesty. Why would they need to call the
Germans robbers and plunderers at all times if they didn't need to distract
attention from their own misdeeds? Plundering the treasures of the Great Vizier
Kara Mustafa at Vienna can hardly have been so unprofitable as not to be worth
fighting for. But this must not be admitted; attention must therefore be
diverted towards the ungrateful Germans.
There
are a few Polish historians and writers who recognize the constructive
achievements of the Germans, and have openly confirmed it. But the overwhelming
majority dispute everything, twisting even the arduous task of clearing the
land and making it arable into its very opposite: they call it "plundering
the Polish peasant". At this point, I would like to include a few remarks
by Polish scholars as quoted by Kurt Lueck in his extensive work "German
Construction Work in the Development of Poland". The following comments
were made by one of the most respected Polish scholars of his time, Alexander
Brueckner (despite his German name, he considered himself ethnically Polish),
Professor at the University of Berlin until WWII:
"German settlement, especially in the cities, was
beneficial to both sides. The Germans provided the standard of living, the
Poles provided order. The role of the cities was truly educational. The two
peoples learned to respect each other; to live together; to respect the law;
(German) urban legal proceedings (law and procedure) was progressive compared
to (Polish) domestic procedures. The cities created trades and professions,
which had hitherto existed only as a potential. The cities contributed to the
wealth of the whole country, as well as to the general standard of living. They
created the basis for schools and universities, which could only function in a
well-managed city."
The
history of German immigration in Poland is known to most people only in its
general outlines. In my first publication, "Poland and Falsifications of
History", I stated that the regions of Weichsel and Warthe at the time of
the introduction of Christianity were not even inhabited by Poles, and that the
newly founded cloisters were forced to recruit German peasants and artisans
from the German Reich. In this connection, Professor Grabski of the University
of Warsaw writes as follows (p. 54):
"The cloisters founded by the Germans in Poland
began to draw emigrants from Germany, Flanders, and other areas, as early as
the 12th century, in order to achieve more efficient land management. Polish
peasants were very unreliable as settlers."
The
Pole Dabrowski described the activity of German farmers in the following
manner:
"The Germans lived in closed cities and open
villages, in village farmhouses and manors, occupying themselves with
artisanship, trade, farming, soldiering, and the word of God. Since they were
hardworking, peaceful and economical, they were a socially creative element
representing a model for the domestic population."
The
Poles always brag that Casimir the Great took over a "wooden Poland",
and left it a "Poland made of stone". Lueck gives the Polish
historian Bruecker an opportunity to express himself in the following terms (p.
23):
"It was not Casimir the Great who changed 'wooden
Poland' into a 'Poland of masonry and stone': it was the cities that
accomplished this. There was a tremendous difference between the German Cracow
of 1300 and the Bishop's Cracow of 1200 — and this applies not just to Cracow,
but to every other city."
The
Pole Czeckanowski confirms German research on [Polish] racial and biological
descendance from the Germans in the following two sentences (p. 103):
"In the rise of our city population, German
immigrants played a very great role. Their descendants today form part of the
highest strata of the Polish patriciandom."
Another
Polish historian has also concerned himself with the significance of the German
city founders and citizens; he is the very respected and serious cultural
historian Ptasnik (p. 131).
"It is uncomfortable to write about the history
of trade and professions in Poland, and even sadder to describe the magnificent
men who rendered service in this connection. Certainly, there was Polish trade,
in the sense that it took place on Polish soil, importing goods from abroad,
selling them to the Polish population, and exporting domestic raw products to
foreign countries. But who were the merchants and tradesmen, who carried on the
trade? Germans mostly — Poles only came along at the end."
What
Ptasnik (p. 22) as well as Grodecki (p. 23) were compelled to admit with
regards to earlier times also applies, with some reservations, to Poland during
the 17th century. Ptasnik writes:
"Insofar as it applies to earlier times, that is,
around the 13th and 14th centuries, those who immigrated into the newly founded
cities were primarily German population groups; at least, the strata that gave
the city its national character, namely, the tradesmen and artisans, were German.
The name of the citizens who took part in city government, whose names are
recorded in the archives even today, testify expressly to this fact."
Another
Polish testimony to the value of German work of construction is given by
Sokolowski (p. 136):
"Honour must be paid to these careful, assiduous,
hardworking, and energetic descendants who, though they came from foreign
lands, acquired a liking for their new homeland, were loyal to their King and
city; who brought culture to the rough soil of our earth, uniting us with the
world of the West and sealing our link to Latin culture. In the tops of the
Cracow towers, in the bastions surrounding the city, in the construction of
houses, in commercial and art objects, in everything that is dear to us,
everything which forms the pride of our city, we may perceive traces of the
influence of the Franks, which, together with the influence of the Italian
Renaissance, created the Golden Age of our history."
On
page 330 of his work "German Construction Work in the Development of
Poland", Lueck quotes the Pole Tadeusz Smarzewski, in the agricultural
newspaper "Kraj" in January 1901:
"Only those who are unaquainted with history due
to the present circumstances of nationalities in the Prussian part of the
territory could be depressed by this picture [of German construction work].
Those who, by contrast, possess a more exact knowledge of history from
childhood on, and who know what to expect in Greater Poland, will feel
differently. Anyone who knows that these provinces had already long reflected a
land with a mixed population, that the cities of West Prussia bore a German
character even during the ancient Republic of the Nobles, and that the great
Polish cities possessed an overwhelmingly German middle class, will be far less
disappointed."
In
like manner, an equally, extraordinarily positive view of the Germans and the
value of their construction work, published in the "Gazeta Polska" in
1901, is quoted by Lueck on pages 451-2. It confirms that not all Poles have
adopted the so-called "traditional hostility" as the sole basis of
their dealings with Germany: many excellent historians have shown a dedication
to the truth, and have also attempted to do justice to the truth. But they were
the minority, and are ignored by their ill-willed brethren. Here is the
translation of a note published in the Polish original text of Prus-Glowacki:
"We always had the best possible relations with
the German people. From them, we acquired the Gothic style in building, wood
cutting, numerous mechanical devices, vessels, and tools, a great deal of
scientific knowledge, trades and textiles, trade, many customs, and many forms
of organization... We have no fear of the truth: to this noble people we owe
the greater part of our civilization."
These
Poles have done their fatherland a greater service than those who, dripping
with envy and hatred caused by their feelings of inferiority, describe the
Germans as the progeny of Hell. The German Polish border was at peace for more
than 300 years.
During
this period, the Germans achieved incomparable feats of culture which
benefitted the country. Of course, they didn't do so for the country's sake
alone; they did it for their own well-being as well — it could hardly be
otherwise — but the greatest beneficiary was the country itself. Allegations to
the contrary notwithstanding, the Germans did not engage in compulsory
"Germanization"; on the contrary, they were often forced to resist an
extremely violent "Polonization". They were compelled to defend
themselves against the forced assimilation of German Catholics as Poles. The
excessively emotional, egotistical Poles only acknowledge measures taken in
their favour; they are not objective. The Poles always consider their
"Polonization" programmes to be justified, no matter how violent they
may be; measures taken by others in self-defence, on the other hand, are
considered an injustice committed against themselves.
At
this point, I should like to reproduce part of a history by a German writer
which is relevant to the Pole Czckanowski's remark that the descendants of
German immigrants formed part of the highest strata of Polish patriciandom. The
information is derived from an East Prussian family chronicle, which we owe to
a fortunate accident. It was written after WWII in book form as the story of
the history of a distinguished family, from which the author was descended. The
book is entitled "Names None Dare to Mention", and the author is
Marion Graf Doenhoff. At the beginning, we learn how the Countess Doenhoff came
to occupy herself with the history of her family, which had not interested her
when she was younger. Upon concluding her studies at Basel, the professor assigned
her the dissertation topic of "The Rise of the Landed Estates of the
Doenhoffs in East Prussia". She agreed to the topic, after some initial
hesitation, and got down to work. In so doing, she had to consult many cubic
metres of official documents and private papers, which she had to sort, label,
catalogue, and classify. After 12 months of preparatory work, she was finally
ready to begin her dissertation.
This
family chronicle is extraordinarily interesting: it is probably the most
revealing chronicle in existence of over 700 years of German history in East
Prussia.
The
Doenhoff family left the Ruhr in the 13th century, and emigrated to the East.
They settled first in Livonia, and finally in East Prussia. The oldest
available document dates back to 1379, and was signed by Grand Master Winrich
von Knipprode, who bestowed the title under the law of Chelm. According to this
document, the Doenhoffs had already been settled in the area for 100 years at
that time. I do not wish to dwell on the descriptions of the expansion of the
landed property, which are of no interest here, but rather, on the parallels to
the Pole Czekanowski's remark — that the descendants of German immigrants
formed part of the highest strata of Polish patriciandom. The Doenhoffs contributed
a great many state officials and advisors to kings, both German and Polish. The
author mentions a Doenhoff who was a representative at the Brandenburger court
in the 17th century, and who founded a Polish line. This is a perfect example
of the manner in which ethnic Germans became Poles. Because the Polish king
needed a representative at the Brandenburg court, the honour was offered to a
descendant of the most highly respected family. Since German was the
"lingua franca" at all European princes's courts, * the linguistic
qualification was decisive in itself. Did this emissary of a Polish king then
become a Pole solely by virtue of his office? The Poles are supposed to be
Slavs. Did Count Doenhoff become a Slav, and found a Polish Slavic family? Such
cases exist by the hundreds of thousands, beginning with the monk Wolf
Gottlobonis, who later became bishop "Wincent Kadlubek", and who has
remained so to the present day. The only difference was that the monk adopted a
Polonized name, while Count Doenhoff retained his German name, which makes it
easier for us to establish his German origins. Neither was a Slav; nor were the
hundreds of thousands — even millions — of Germans who emigrated to the East
during the same period, cleared the land, and made it arable.
The
Doenhoff family chronicle also contains another interesting piece of
information: the grandmother of the Polish king Stanislav Lezczynski was also a
Doenhoff! The question now arises: how "Slavic" was this Polish king?
Perhaps they will find someone to research the Leszczynski family tree, so as
to discover the origins of their family name. Nor was Kadlubek born under that
name in Poland. And according to legend, the name Pilsudzki — which is unique
in Poland — allegedly stems from the German name "Pils" or
"Pilz". It is generally well known that Pilsudzki originated in
Lithuania, was Calvinistic in religion, and that his first marriage was
consecrated in the Evangelical Church near Bialystok. His second marriage was
to a Jewess atheist; he only converted to Roman Catholicism after becoming
Polish head of state. This is not a legend, but simple fact. Was he Slavic in
origin, or just possibly a German named Pilz? After all, the names Lenin,
Stalin, Trotsky, Tito, and even Willy Brandt, are not real names either, but
pseudonyms.
But
back to the Doenhoff family chronicle, which reveals still another important
piece of information. In relation to the allegedly "originally
Slavic" area of East Prussia, the Countess, based on her documentation,
remarks as follows:
"Since we are dealing with errors at this point,
reference may be made to another inexact allegation: East Prussia was never
originally Slavic territory, into which the Germans penetrated as conquerors;
rather, the Slavs appeared quite late on the Weichsel and Oder, no earlier than
around the 9th century A.D. Germans had already inhabited the area for 1500
years. As early as 1000 B.C., the Goths inhabited the mouth of the Weichsel,
and remained in the area... At the time of the birth of Christ, East and West
Prussia were both inhabited by Goths, and the region of Posen was inhabited by
Burgundians."
There
were, therefore, no "original Slavic areas" on the Weichsel, Warthe,
Oder, and Pregel. And when the "Slavs" allegedly
"appeared", suddenly in the 9th century, they must have fallen down
out of the sky, since they have been unable to prove any other origins.*
*
Translator's note: The 1911 Encylopaedia Britannica, "Slavs", vol.
XXV p. 229, states: "In spite of the prevalent brachycephaly of the modern
Slavs, measurements of skulls from cemeteries and ancient graves which are
certainly Slavonic have shown, against all expectations, that the farther back
we go, the greater is the proportion of long heads, and the race appears to
have been originally dolichocephalic and osteologically indistinguishable from
its German, Baltic, and Finnish neighbours.")
Today
we know that the concept "Slav" is not characteristic of a race or of
racial origins, but was the invention of vain scholars, manipulated by a
hateful clergy against German power and greatness.*
*
Author's note: Proof that the Polish language and glagolitic monks' Latin were
still generally unknown as late as the 15th century is the "parchment
document with attached lead seal" of King Casimir of Danzig", dated
1466. It begins as follows: "Kazimirus von gots gnade konig zsu Polan,
grosforste in Lythawin, in Rewssin, Prewssin herre und erbeling etc. bekennen
und thun kunth... (I, Casimir, king of Poland by grace of God, great prince of
Lithuania, lord and heir in Russia, Prussia, and heir etc., hereby acknowledge
and announce... i.e., the document is in archaic German and not Polish.) It
might be observed that the term is not "Polen" (Poland) but rather
"Polan", i.e., "po" (Germanic "an",
"am", "bei" = near), and "lan", derived from the
Germanic = "arable land, field, land". (See my remarks on page 24,
part I, "Falsifications".) [Web editor's note: The counter part to
Polan is Pomern, which is "po mer" in middle high German or
"beim Meer" in current German, the German province next to Poland
bordering at the Baltic Sea, which today is called Pommern.]
The
term "Slav" arose in the 18th century through the German theologist
August Shloezer (1738-1809), in Russian service, who, to please his employer,
the Czar, as a researcher of Russian history and linguistic sciences at St.
Petersburg, systematized his research on glagolitic church Latin and invented
the word "Slav". The basis for the word was the designation
"Sclavi" in the ancient church Latin of the monks, which, however,
meant "servant, pagan, heathen". The term is used in all ancient
chronicles to refer to any heathen not yet converted to Christianity.
The
Poles, naturally, refuse to admit this. "Slavic" traditions are
sacrosanct. The present day also furnishes examples of what happens to people in
Poland who undertake research into authentic history. The Polish literatary
historian, Jan Josef Lipski, made the attempt: he was arrested and thrown into
prison. His crime, in particular, consisted of the following passage in his
history of culture:
"A mass of false myths and concepts has arisen in
the Polish mind regarding our historical relations with the Germans, which, for
the sake of truth and our own well-being, must be cleansed of lies once and for
all. False statements on one's own history are a sickness in the soul of a
nation, which, in particular, can only lead to hostility to foreigners and
national megalomania." And he adds: "Almost everyone in Poland — even
the educated — believes today that, after the Second World War, we moved into
an area which had been stolen from us by the Germans. We need only mention
Danzig and the Ermland, which were among the lands given to the First Republic
under the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), although both Danzig and the Emland
were ethnically German in the majority, then and until the end of WWII. The
rest of East Prussia was never Polish; the Germans did not take this area away
from Poland, they took it from the Prussians..."
Elsewhere,
Lipski says: "After centuries of development of German culture, side by
side with Polish culture in Silesia (the overwhelmingly German city of Danzig)
and the long since exclusively German culture of West Pomerania, a rich
heritage of architecture and other works, in addition to German historical
archive materials, was bequeathed to us as the result of historical events. We
are the trustees of this material for all of humanity. We are therefore obliged
to maintain these treasures in full awareness that we are safeguarding a
heritage of German culture for the future — including our future — without
lies, and without concealing the origin of this material. People in Poland
don't like to write about this, or to be reminded of our debt to the Germans in
terms of civilization and culture: our styles of roofing, brickwork, our masons,
printers, painters, sculptors, and hundreds of Polish words, are all evidence
of debt to our Western neighbour.
"The magnificent heritage in architecture and
sculpture, paintings, and other works of art and craftsmanship in Cracow and
many other cities and villages of Poland, not only during the middle ages, but
to some extent even later, up to the end of the 19th century, was for the most
part the work of the Germans, who settled here and enrichened our culture.
Almost every Pole knows about Veit Stoss. But not everybody knows that he was
an ethnic German (credit must be paid here to Polish scholarship, because, in
this case, definitive proof was adduced by the priest Boleslaw Przybyszewski;
many people imagine that he was a Pole, and are ready to assault those who
contradict them — only specialists know the hundreds, nay, thousands, of first
and last names of creative Germans who have left indelible traces in our
culture."
Apart
from the fact that the Poles were not "bequeathed" any heritage, but,
to the contrary, committed land piracy, this paragraph from the pen of a Pole
is a cultural act of greatness for which its author was compelled to pay with
his freedom; and not only with his freedom, but with his health. The Polish
press supplied proof of that in its own reports.
Just
like earlier Polish rulers, the present rulers of the Polish people do not wish
to hear any truth at all; they do not wish to admit that they lack a suitable
national identity to look back upon; they therefore invent their history in
order to feel like a people, at least for the present moment at any particular
time. They believe that they cannot permit themselves to hear the truth. Truth
must therefore be subjugated to a hotheaded nationalism which has long since
deteriorated into chauvinism, to make up through "style" that which
it lacks in positive substance. This lack of substance — of which the Poles are
ashamed, and which they attempt to conceal through the camouflage of
misappropriated German cultural accomplishments, has another, hidden side,
however. This is described by a Polish contemporary of the first partition of
Poland in 1772, born in Scheidemuehl, Stanislaw Staszic:
"Before
my eyes stand five sixths of the Polish people. I see millions of unhappy
creatures, half-naked, covered with skins and raw cloths, disfigured by smoke
and dirt, with sullen eyes, short of breath, moody, degenerate, stupified: they
feel little, think little: one hardly perceives in them a rational soul.
"They look more like animals than human beings.
Their usual fare is bread mixed with chaff; the fourth part of the year, merely
weeds. They drink water and brandy; they live in earth huts or dwellings which
are almost on a level with the earth; there, no sun penetrates; smoke and
vapours suffocate the people inside and often kill them in childhood. Exhausted
from the days work for their noble lords, the father of the family sleeps
together with his naked children on filthy straw, in the same room with the cow
with her calf, and the pig with her piglets."
Such
was the reality of the Polish Republic of the Nobles, which is so famous today,
of which the claimant to the Polish royal crown, Stanislaw Leszczynski, at that
same time complained:
"I cannot remember without a shudder of horror
the law according to which a nobleman who killed a peasant was fined no more
than 50 franks. This was the price at which one purchased immunity from the
force of law in our nation. Poland is the only country in which all men are
equal in having lost all their human rights."
Today,
the Poles glorify the misery and suffering of the past, from which they only
rose with German help, vilifying and libelling precisely those German
accomplishments which enabled them to do so, although there is sufficient proof
of both. The contemporary witness, Staczic, has even been honoured by a
monument in his birthplace Scheidemuehl, as may be seen from the
"Pommerschen Zeitung" of 24 July 1982 — a monument to Polish misery.
The Poles are, in fact, well aware of the limitless misery of the people who
suffered under the degenerate and corrupt Republic of the Nobles, since a
monument exists, even today, to the writer who revealed the conditions of that
epoch for what they were, and set them down for posterity in writing. The
quotation is taken from the booklet "Germany and Poland 1772-1914",
only 76 pages long, by Dr. Enno Meyer, published by Ernst Klett Verlag,
Stuttgart.
At
the time of its partition in 1772, Poland was incapable of survival.* <*
Translator's note: The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica calls Poland "a
moribund state, existing on sufferance simply because none was yet quite
prepared to administer the coup de grace... the folly, egotism, and selfishness
of the Polish gentry, whose insane dislike of all discipline, including even the
salutary discipline of regular government, converted Poland into something very
like a primitive tribal community...". The same description could be
applied to almost any period of Polish history.> Without the concern of the
Prussian King Frederick the Great, who took over the old settlement areas in a
wretched condition, there would presumably have been no more Poles left alive
today. That is what the Poles refuse to admit in their megalomania and
arrogance. That is why every voice of reason in Poland is suppressed. That is
the explanation for the creation of a hate literature without parallel. Though
national conflicts, despite the invention of the artificial Polish language,
were insignificant until the end of the 18th century, a systematic buildup of
hatred began with the invention of the term "Slav". Responsibility
for this rests, first of all, with the clergy: this is shown by the endless
number of Polish proverbs current among the lower classes, crushed by the power
of the priesthood. Kurt Lueck remarks as follows in volume I page 111:
"Polish Messianism, which made Poland the Saviour
of the World in the 19th century, was an entire philosophical system. For
centuries, the Poles considered it their mission to form the bulwark of
Christendom in the East. Even in the early Middle Ages, the Holy Stanislaw Cult
contributed considerably to bringing about an awakening of Polish national
feeling in the struggle against their German neighbour. And God's preferential
support to Poland is already clearly visible in the chronicle of Vincenz
Cadlubko (Kadlubek).
"The superstitious beliefs of the Polish peasant,
contain, of course, neither philosophical systems, nor concepts of a mission.
The peasant is simply convinced that, in Heaven and around the Pope, the only
language ever spoken is Polish...
"Conflicts of the following variety break out on
the ethnic front on a daily basis. An old German says to a little old Polish
grandmother from Gutowo near Wreschen (Warthegau): 'Yes, soon we'll both go up
to Heaven!' 'What', protests the old woman, 'you Evangelicals think you're
going to Heaven? Heaven is only for Catholics! The Germans and Jews are
swindlers. Your religion is false. God only created the Catholic faith'.
"In many areas, they also believe that German is
spoken in Hell. The Mother of God, naturally, is only concerned with the Poles,
as the 'Crowned Queen of Poland', as 'Our Mother'. It would never occur to the
peasantry to think that Holy Mary would ever think of the Germans, or even
understand their language. On the contrary, she is sometimes beseeched in their
prayers to go for the throats of their enemies. One of these prayers is quoted
by Kazimierz Laskowski in his novel 'The Culture Bearers':
"'Matko Boska Polska ochraniaj Polakow. Tych
przybledow szwabow powrzucaj do krzakow". Translated: 'Polish Mother of
God, protect us wonderful Poles, and throw the Schwabs (Germans) in the
bushes.'"
The
following verse, which I prefer to give in translation only, is noted from the
region around Cracow: "At Cracow Castle, the gods had a brawl. Our Lord
Jesus cut the Germans' legs in two." This clearly shows that the religious
abhorrence of the peasantry did not simply arise from the people, but was
instigated by the Polish clergy, which needed to explain to the peasantry why
the Germans were so much more prosperous than the Poles. Of course, they didn't
wish to tell them that the Germans worked harder, were more assiduous, frugal,
and cleaner, while the common Poles, vegetating in the slavery of their nobles
and the clergy, gave themselves over increasingly to drink and idleness in an
attempt to escape their inhumane existence. Thus, attention was diverted from
the real problem, while subliminally convincing the peasants that the Germans
were responsible for all their misery — so much the more so, since great
numbers of these same "Schwabs" were also heretics. At the same time,
Catholic Germans were said to be "Polish", on the principle that
"anyone who was a Catholic was also a Pole". The heretics, the
Lutherans, on the other hand, were the enemies of Poland, and were to be
abhorred. Here are a few examples:
In
the entire General Gouvernement, it was said:
"Whoever
is a Pole, is a Catholic. Whoever is a German, is a Lutheran."
From
the Posen area:
"Look
there, what heretics!", people who see a wild brawl exclaim to each other.
From
the Lemberg area:
"Every
German is a renegade."
And
from the region of Chelm:
"Half
German, half goat: an unbeliever without God."
"The
Germans believe in God as the devil in his horn."
"The
German religion is like an old cow".
"When
a German is sick, the devil dances."
The
next 4 lines are taken from the first strophe of a formerly widespread song
from the Swedish war, which was reproduced in a Polish songbook by J.St. Brystron
(1925), and which runs, freely translated:
"In
Poland, there was great misery
Did
it come from Man or God?
From
the unholy heretics it comes
And
from too few Catholics in the land."
The
Reformation of Martin Luther and Calvin had reached the German settlement
areas. During the Counter Reformation, the clergy shrank from no tactic, no
matter how devious, to lead people back to Catholicism. The diffamation of
Martin Luther from that time onward continues to produce results in religious
hatred even today, religious hatred which cannot be separated from national
hatred. Luther is portrayed as a drunkard, glutton, whoremonger, and betrayer
of souls, as the progeny of the Devil and of Hell.
The
Dominican friar Fabian Birkowski wrote (see Lueck p. 84):
"Your rotten religion arose through false
prophets, created by the Devil, who wanted to be equal to God... your leader is
the Angel of Hell, who is the Devil."
Of
course, similar expressions were used by Catholics against Protestants during
the Counter Reformation in Germany; but the German Enlightenment ensured that
this kind of language finally ceased to be used. In Poland, by contrast, this
kind of language was encouraged, and has continued down the centuries to the
present day, quickened and entwined with national sentiment, rendered second
nature to the people through so-called 'aesthetic literature'. The culturally
very backward, exploited people sought solace and consolation for their
miserable existence, and found it — which is perfectly normal and
understandable — in religion. Thus, the clergy had an easy time of it,
achieving its own objectives in terms of power. Letters were published which
Luther was said to have written from Hell. In the sermons of the Dominican
friar Birkowski, Luther was called 'stinking filth', and it was said that even
pigs — if they could talk — would speak like Luther. In the region of Lublin a
taunting game arose, which, freely translated, says:
"Was
Martin Luther born of woman?
No!
a she-wolf in the forest lost him out of her behind.
Who
raised him? Lucifer, his companion!
What
kind of person is he? The Minister of Hell!"
Or
"A
God, that's what the Germans don't have.
They
only believe in Luther, the wretch.
He
was immediately banned from Rome,
Since
he invented a new church.
He
seduced many women.
A
new order was his objective.
That's
why he had to flee from Rome to Germany,
Since
the Pope wanted to castrate him.
If
the Germans didn't listen to Luther,
They
would have clothing and forage in winter.
But
the Schwab is so stupid,
He
gives everything to Luther.
And
Luther collects the money,
And
spends in the tavern on wine."
This
verse refers to German stupidity: this alleged characteristic of the Germans is
constantly stressed in all possible variations. No Polish novel fails to
describe the Germans as stupid, cowardly, greedy, dishonest, fat, filthy,
thieving, cruel, brutish, and as many other similar qualities of a devlish kind
as can be invented. In the forefront of all of these stands Henyrk
Sienkiewiczs's novel "The Knights", the most widely read
quasi-historical novel in Poland, which depicts the Germans as the cruelest of
all animals; all Poles, without exception, are examples of shining nobility.
The reader is soon compelled to put aside the novels of Sienkiewicz,
Mickiewicz, and many others from a feeling of sheer nausea at the sight of so
much hatred. But Professor Markiewicz is quite proud of this literature, even
today: indeed, he considers this literature of diffamation to be of
"historical value" for German children in his recommended school
books!
We
cannot understand how so much filth can accumulate in a single human being, who
reveals his true nature despite himself merely by depicting this animalistic
hatred. Since even the best author can only describe in words that which dwells
in his mind, his manner of expression is the mirror of his soul. The language
of this literature committed, and continues to commit, a form of murder against
the soul of the Polish people, just as the language of the fanatical Polish
clergy of the 16th and 17th centuries deliberately obscured and murdered the
souls of the people in the struggle against Protestantism. It was believed
necesary to erect a religious retaining wall to prevent the loss of souls,
which would have weakened the power of Rome and the Polish Church. But the
results were even more far-reaching: confused souls, crippled and made sterile
by hatred, were converted or retained, for whom there existed only one guilty
party in relatiion to any of the difficulties which arose in the natural
struggle for existence: the German. Such persons no longer made any attempt to
overcome difficulties on their own. They had a scapegoat, responsible for all
the evils of life: the Germans. This was much more comforting than having to
work personally. And if things went well for the Germans, then the Germans were
naturally to blame if things went badly for the Poles, since the Poles had of
course been taught that the German was in league with the Devil — even that the
German was a devil himself. Of all the devils in the world, the German was by
far the worst. The devil spoke only German: he wore German clothing, while
German laws, which were naturally dishonest and devilish, were valid in Hell.
This doctrine of the German devil enabled the Polish Catholic clergy to
reinforce its own position among the people. Fear of the devil kept the people
in obedience: after all, who should know better than the clergy, who was alone
competent in religious matters? The people failed to notice the transition from
faith to superstition, and they still don't notice. Proof of this was provided
in 1977: a Polish worker's newspaper, in an article on the great Lodz
industrialist Karl Scheibler, claimed that Scheibler had made a pact with the
devil, as a result of which he received gold rubles down the factory chimney
into his lap, for the sole purpose of better exploiting his Polish workers! The
"Deutsche Wochen-Zeitung" informed us of this piece of lunacy in an
article in the last issue of May 1977, and printed my remarks as a letter to
the editor in one of the following issues. How primitive must a people be to
accept such a sick joke today?
But
how can one explain that, in Germany, the Poles are considered an enlightened,
proud, and pious people? And how can we explain the present German sympathy for
the Poles?
First,
there is the very skillful propaganda of the Poles, who possess a magnificent
understanding of how to depict themselves in the best light. They must
exaggerate their own worth if they wish to survive in competition against the
hardworking, culturally much more highly developed Germans. They must therefore
represent themselves as a people with an ancient culture who have been unfairly
dealt with by history. As a necessary corollary, they must present their
history in the best possible light in order to gain sympathy. People who enjoy
sympathy are more readily believed, especially by the Germans themselves. But
this alone is not enough: their adversaries must be denigrated, and their human
worth reduced to a minimum. This is why the Germans are depicted as devils in
human form, a dangerous people of violent criminals, constantly obsessed with
plundering the poor, noble Poles. If it is possible to misappropriate the
credit for the enormously valuable construction work performed by the Germans,
one must necessarily rise in the estimation of others. Above all, this must be
hammered into the heads of one's own people; eventually, the whole forgetful
world will believe it. Isn't there a saying that "attack is the best
defence"? That is how the Poles proceed in their propaganda. As attackers,
they are justified in their own eyes if the victim is made to appear to appear
inferior and of lesser worth, since he must appear to deserve no better
treatment. That is why the entire Polish people from childhood onwards is
educated in hatred and superstition, destroying the capacity for rational
judgement through prejudice.
Are
the Poles pious? In their own own minds, yes, since they are the underlings of
their clergy, and think only what they are supposed to think. This is shown
with particular clarity by the present conflict between the State and the at
all times politically committed national Church. A power struggle is raging
between these two blocks in Poland. Which of them will emerge victorious it is
impossible to predict, but it will not result in freedom for the masses in any
case, since the result will be continue to be subjugation as in the past.
How
can one explain the one-sided sympathy of the German people for the Poles,
despite the immense hate literature directed against all things German? Kurt
Lueck provides one answer: dishonest translations of Polish literature, novels,
poems, etc. In volume 2, p. 415, he remarks:
"At this point in our study, mention must be
made, in all strictness, of what is traditionally an egregious defect in all
German translations. These translations regularly delete or falsify passages in
Russian or Polish originals containing derogatory statements or expressions of
hatred and contempt for Germany and the Germans. One need only compare the
originals of Russian masterpieces such as Tolstoy's 'War and Peace', 'Anna
Karenina', Dostoievsky's 'Debased and Insulted', 'The Brothers Karamozov', and
others, with the translations! 'Corrections' are also often made in the
translations of Polish novelists. 'The Knights', by H. Sienkiewicz, translated
into German by Sonja Placzek, not to mention a second translation, is nothing
but a hoax perptrated on the German reader. The spirit of the Polish original
is falsified by means of numerous deletions, and the text, which are often
quite "raw", is adjusted to suit the reader's taste.
"A
number of cosmetic corrections in the Polish text were made even in the
translation of W. St. Reymont's 'The Peasants'. For example, volume II, p. 475,
'you are even worse than the Germans', should, in reality, be translated as
'you are even worse heathens than the Germans.'
"On
p. 491, certain insults hurled at the Germans 'swinskie podogonia, sobacze
pociotki' i.e., 'sow buttocks, race of dogs', have been left out.
"On
page 492, in the curse 'that you shall all come to shame to the last man', the
last phrase, 'like rabid dogs', has been deleted.
"Reymonts
'Ziemia obecana' ('The Promised Land', 1899, which appeared in 1915 in a
translation published by Georg Mueller, Munich) contains very seriously
falsified translation passages. We refer to the third edition, published in
Warsaw by Gebethner and Wolf. The following passages have been deleted in the
translation:
"Vol.
I, p. 79, the passage containing the sentence 'that the Germans are a low
people'; p. 122 'German swine' (in the translation only 'swine') p. 163
'Prussian cattle'; p. 286 'German women are only good for founding a national
cattle stall'.
"In
S. Lipiner's translation of 'Mr. Thaddeus, or the Last Entry into Lithuania',
by Adam Mieckiewicz, published in Leipzig in 1882, the expression coined for
Prussian officials 'psubraty' ('dog's brother') has been replaced with the
somewhat milder-sounding 'vermin'.
"Even
the rendering of 'Polish Folk Tales' by Glinski replaces the contemptous term
'rozum niemieki' ('German understanding'), with 'citified understanding'.
"And
in the translation of the Jalu Kurek's novel 'Grypa szaleja w Naprawie' (4th
edition, Warsaw 1935), a few evil expressions used against Germany are simply
left out. A Pole, in the reverse case, would simply refuse to translate such a
book. This novel, of course, won a prize from the Polish Academy of Literature
in 1934; in Poland, it nevertheless appears on the Catholic Church's index of
forbidden books.
"A
few tasteless anti-German expressions have even been deleted from the novel
'The Sable and the Fairy', by Josef Weissenhoff, which recently appeared in
German translation.
This
undignified process of falsification should be ended once and for all. We
should either translate all the passsages critical of Germans without doctoring
them up, or we should simply ignore a work of fiction containing unjustified or
tactless criticism. The German people are done a misservice through the
censorship of statements critical of us in foreign works of fiction. What is
more, foreign authors are encouraged to think that they need not shrink from
any manner of expression, since the book will appear in German translation
anyway, while ethnic Germans, to whom these falsifications become very quickly
apparent, are deprived of their German dignity and worth as human beings."
The
ethnic researcher Dr. Kurt Lueck has rendered us a great service in exposing
these falsified translations for what they are, and in calling them by their
true name: a hoax perpetrated against the German reader, who is not permitted
to see how he is viewed in a foreign country. Dr. Lueck's remark regarding
foreign authors — that they may permit themselves any manner of expression,
since their books are translated anyway — is of even greater significance. At
this point, I should say that the problem is not just that translations of
Polish authors are falsified and given a face-lift; the problem is that we
translate this hate literature at all, instead of protesting publicly and, if
needs be, throwing it on the rubbish dump — through public condemnation — since
the preservation of this red-hot hatred over the centuries undermines all human
dignity, including that of the Polish writer. What kind of miserable people
nourishes itself upon hatred, deriving gratification from the most inhumane
atrocity propaganda directed against precisely that neighbour to whom it owes
its basic existence?
I
must admit that I did not recognize the extent of the hatred contained in
Polish literature, even though these books were compulsory reading in my school
days. Our teachers obviously proceeded in the same manner as our translators,
and deleted the worst atrocity tales. Not one of us ever read a Polish novel —
such as "The Knights" — in its entirety. And how many people ever
read them in Germany? But it, and many other Polish atrocity legends, are
translated and sold. Are they read all the way through, or just part way, and
put aside? Really, shouldn't the competent cultural authorities have raised an
objection? Let us take the contrary case as an assumption. If a comparable body
of anti-Polish hate literature had ever existed, no matter who wrote it, the
Poles would have screamed incessantly until it was prohibited.
To
give the German reader at least a taste of this "aesthetic
literature", I would like to cite a few examples, indicating the original
source, followed by the page numbers in Lueck's book.
"May
the hand of God protect us from the German neighbour". Reymont; p. 351.
"Strong were the scoundrels, broad shouldered and strong, in blue jackets
with silver chains across gorged bellies, and their snouts — they simply glowed
from good eating.
"Give
their pig snouts a sound thrashing...
"I'll
give this one on the end a punch in the guts, and if he attacks me, then I'll
strike! Don't hurry so, you beggars, or you'll lose your baggy breeches!",
St. Reymont, in "Chlopi" ("The Peasants"), 1914; p. 351.
"Wherever
the Germans go, no poor Jew can earn a living, much less a dog", Henr.
Sienkiewicz, in "Dwie drogi" ("Two Ways"); p. 351.
"The
Brandenburg swine want to root up the earth with their snouts, to make a new
empire of swine. That might be good enough to destry the flowers, but he rubbed
his snout bloody on a stone, and had to give up his plan", Sienkiewicz, in
"Flowers and Stone"; p. 353.
"One
must hit them, break their bones, until the soul quits peeping in their
bodies", Adolf Dygasinski, in "Struggle for the Land" p. 353.
Lueck remarks that Dygasinksi was an implacable enemy of the Germans, whose
extermination in the interest of a durable peace in Europe he repeatedly
demanded.
"Listen,
you degenerate tyrant! Thus smote Moses the Egyptian bloodhounds to death, who
murdered the children of God! And again he struck the Germans, overflowing with
blood until they looked like a bloody stump. "The people need men like
Moses!" cried the crazy mob, ruled by fury, "so that such men may
free the people from the hands of the heathen!"
"Blows
crackled down like hail over the Germans, who had not a moment's time to stand
up straight. 'When you strike, strike like a crazy man', said von Molken.
'Follow me, people, let's take the German Palki down again! To the castle!
"But
Staszek alone pushed himself slowly out of the crowd, with a gigantic scythe in
his hand. Immediately, a group of Germans came out of the castle bearing
various weapons from Lutowojski's armory, kept ready to shoot. The crazed one
nevertheless had such a horrible expression on his face, and such a fire of
rage broke forth from him, that the horde of Germans held back at some
distance. Jantsch aimed at Von Molken.
"'Shoot,
you scoundrel, men without weapons are easy to kill!", called the
youngster, going after his adversary. "Now, you degenerate folk, worse
than all the beggars in the world, infamy of the century, scum of humanity! Go
ahead and shoot!", Dygasinki, in "Von Molken", (1885); pp.
353-5.
"Wherever
one went, everywhere, one came into contact with Germans. No one in the
vicinity could earn their daily bread, because they even forbade the old women
to go into the woods, so that they couldn't gather mushrooms any more... A
great deal of gibberish was spoken, but nobody understood what it was all about
with those renegades. The peasants liked them about as much as a dog's tail,
but the lord of the manor stuck close to this gang", Dygasinski, in
"Two Devils" (1888); p. 355-6.
"'Who
caused such devastation in the Ojcower woods? Tell me exactly who made so much
destruction? Now, the Germans, the Germans who else?', my travel companion cut
in involuntarily. The Polish peasant spoke further: 'Yes, see! see!', and with
these words the white-haired old man raised his sinewy, work-worn hand in the
air, his face took on a peculiarly hard expression, and he called solemnly, as
if in answer to an inspiration: 'May the Lord God refuse them wood for their
coffins, they that exterminate us here so. Everywhere, the Germans take the
wood away from the Polish peasants, suck us dry, make us all their slaves. All
the poison of the Germans will not suffice to poison the body of our people...
the peasant loves his earth, and hates the Germans", Dygasinski in
"Demon" (1886); p. 357.
An
especially tasty tidbit, such as Zofia Kossak-Szczucka's recent (1930) novel,
turns the history of medieval Silesia (1234-41) completely upside down. In her
"Legnickie Pole", "The Battlefield at Liegnitz", she
compares the Duke of the Piasts (first dynasty of Polish rulers) Heinrich the
Bearded, and his second son, Heinrich the Pious with the Duke's eldest son
Konrad, who is an enthusiastic Pole, and at the same time a implacable enemy of
the Germans and their way of life. The dialogue of Konrad with his brother goes
like this:
"'Have you brought new Germans over here?'
Heinrich got excited: 'Yes, three families, a heap of people in each one.
Decent settlers from far away in the Bamberg area. You will be astonished at
how hardworking they are! They will harvest many times the wheat that you sow.
Our lord Father gave them farmland near Buczyna and in addition, fields in the
east";
p.
36
"'Where did the Koczura and Biesage come from,
who settled at Buczyna? The Duke gave them land in Greater Poland to clear!'
Konrad said indignantly, 'Why don't the Germans settle on uncleared land?'
Heinrich laughed haughtily: 'Them, clear land! They're not used to that kind of
work. It's been hard enough to bring them out into the cleared fields, although
they each have 3 'malter' of grain for sowing. They wouldn't go into the
wilderness under any circumstances!', said Konrad, knitting his brows. 'And
when the Koczura clears the new land, then you give it to the Germans, since
they're not used to hard work! The Koczura should have broken their German
bones — not deserted the honestly acquired property which was theirs.'"
And
then:
"'Our people just clear new land, and get tired.
When they have made a strip arable, then you give it to the Germans, and they
send you further into the wilderness.'"
At
another point, it says:
"Two more wagons with Germans appeared. 'It's
already known', replied Slup, 'these are new settlers from the Bamberg area.'
"'They ate so greedily it was impossible to
tolerate it', Konrad continued. 'Whereever you throw a stick, you hit a German,
and my illustrious father, the Duke, calls more and more in'. The nobles agreed
with him: 'The Germans are a plague, may the Devil take them to Hell!'"
This
is how the Poles are deceived into believing that it was they who cleared the
land and made it arable.
Here
is a part of a "humourous poem" of the 17th century by Wezpazyan
Kochowski (1633-99), p. 376:
"A man from Masow and a German met on a narrow
road. 'Out of the way!' shouted the German to the other loudly. 'Step aside,
you baggy pants, or you'll see right away how I beat a German up yesterday;
I'll beat up another today'. The German moved aside, and asked, seized with fear:
'What's the matter?' 'Ha! If you weren't such a coward', said the Pole, 'I
would have gotten out of the way!'
This
"poem" contains a typically Polish allegation which should not be
overlooked. The quarrelsome, brawling Pole challenges the less belligerant
German, and orders him about at every possible opportunity. When the German
gives way without making too much trouble, he is accused of cowardice. Thus,
the Germans are described as cowardly in many scornful verses, novels, and
stories, such as, for example, in the following verses by Antoni Labecki (born
1786):
"Should
you meet a real schwab in the war,
"He
never thought of anything but drink and food.
"You
don't need to prepare a regiment,
"Or
any drums, flutes, or trumpets against those weaklings.
"Just
show the Schwab a hare,
"He
can scare away three hundred Schwabs."
Or,
in Reymonts "Peasants", the Pole Gschela scorns the Germans:
"'They
are too soft to be neighbours to us peasants, and if you ever hit one of them
on the head, they just fall down right away.'
"'Did
he ever fight with one?' asked the lord of the manor, curiously.
"'You
call that fighting? Mathias pushed one, because he didn't answer his 'Praised
be Jesus Christ', and he started bleeding right away; a miracle that his soul
didn't didn't fly up and away.
"'A
whole nation of softies! They look like oaks, but if you ever hit one with your
fist, it's like hitting a feather bed..."
"Bartek
the Victor", hero of the novel by Sienkiewicz, beats up a German teacher
together with his adult son, sticks him headfirst into a water barrel, and,
with a lathe of wood, holds off the colonists hurrying to assist, until a
treacherous stone's throw on the head knocks him to the ground. But even then,
the Germans don't dare approach him.
Only
in overwhelmingly great numbers do the Germans ever dare to attack the Poles:
for example, in Artur Gruszeckis "Starancza" (1899), where forty
German boys attack an old man and a few women, and beat them unconsious. The
fight begins when the boys bait the old man like a dog.
A
miracle of bravery is performed by a brave peasant in a novel by Walery
Lozinski: three Teutonic Knights stand before the peasant. He warns them in a
friendly manner, and, when that is no use, he chops all three Knights' heads
off simultaneously with one single blow of his sword (a peasant with a sword?).
For this miracle, he is rewarded with the grant of a coat of arms featuring 3
ass's heads by King Lokietek (King "Yard-Long").
In
Zeromskis "Popioly", five hundred Germans are besieged by the Poles
and French at Tschenstochau. Peasants from the surrounding area set fire at
several different locations to feign great numbers of besieging troops.
At
the mere threat of immediate bombardment of the city, five hundred German soldiers
surrender with three hundred (!) weapons to an enemy numbering one fifth as
many.
At
another point, Friedrich Wilhelm III is ridiculed:
"He's taken Warsaw, besieged Tschenstochau, and
marched up to Cracow. And now you baggy pants have lost your guts, now you
retreat! Where is your land then! Show me! Don't you have Berlin anymore? Not
one piece of land, you thief of foreign property!"
Do
arrogance and conceit have no limits? Are these writers or spreaders of filth?
But
even the Polish "Prince of Poets", Adam Mickiewicz, is not sparing in
disgusting outbursts of hatred. In the much-read "Pan Tadeusz", which
is compulsory reading in all schools, the following "poem" has been
preserved for posterity:
"From
Lord Todwen came a message in all haste,
"Grabowski
read the letter, called 'Jena Jena Hail!
"The
Prussians are beaten, knocked on the head! Victory!'
"I
hardly hear the words before I immediately get down from the saddle,
"And,
after kneeling to thank the Lord, we rode into the city.
"Apparently
just on business, as if we had heard nothing.
"Look
there! All the state counsellors, court advisors, commissars,
"And
all other vermin of the same type honours us,
"Bowing
down deeply before us. They tremble, their blood is pale,
"Just
like when the Germans pour boiling hot broth on a cockroach.
"We
rub our hands laughingly, and ask in a servile sort of way,
"What's
new? What news of Jena? Ha! Didn't they give a start!
"Astonished
that we know of the misfortune of their army, the Germans cry: 'O Lord God, o
misery'!
"And
run with their long noses towards home. Then they really make a run for it!
"How
they did run! All the streets out of Greater Poland were full of fleeing
Germans! Crawling like ants,
"They
dragged their vehicles, coaches, and carriages, whatever they are called, each
one heavy laden, the women as well as the men,
"With
pipes, boxes, and chests, bedsteads and coffee pots.
"'Run
for it! Wherever there's a place!' Meanwhile, we say softly to each other,
"Holla!
To horse! Let's make this journey a misery for the Germans!
"Hey!
One court counselor's ribs broken! Another state counselor, and another dog's
brother hacked to pieces!
"Officers
and gentlemen packed by the pigtails,
"And
General Dombrowski started for Posen,
"Bringing
the order to rise up for the Emperor of the French!
"In
eight days, the Prussians were driven out.
"Not
even a drop of medicine remained behind!"
The
reader senses the poet positively gloating over the cruel notion that no
Prussian was still alive who might still have needed medical treatment. This is
certainly great testimony to the great "humanity" of the Polish
people! I would like to give the German reader one more example of this
"humanity", the last one of its kind which I care to repeat here,
since these texts, with their lust for murder and bestial cruelty, cannot be
contemplated without the profoundest horror. This doesn't mean that there is no
more "educational literature" of this kind. Lueck discusses a great
many more examples of these hateful tirades from Polish literature than I can
reproduce here. He writes:
"An
allusion to 'The Knights' in Waclaw Sierosczewski's novel 'Zacisze' (1923)
displays a singular tastelessness and lack of spirituality. A Polish student
tells a German wood merchant, in reply to the question of what a great stone is
doing in such a place, the following legend, which is supposed to be amusing:
"'O,
that is a long and terribly fascinating story!' answers Izyda. 'They say the
Devil brought it here... In any case, he performed very devlish ceremonies
there. On top, there is a depression and a furrow. The simple people say that,
in the night of the full moon, around midnight, the mountain opens up, and,
from underneath the stone come bearded old men dressed in white with oak
clusters on their foreheads and golden lutes in their hands... Behind go others
leading a Knight fastened with an iron chain. The Knight wears a black cross on
his coat and breast. In vain, he struggles and moans; his eyes flash like
lightning: men in linen cloth rip off his irons and garments, drag him out of
the stone without formality, and cross his arms. An old priest bends over him,
and sinks a sharp stone knife into the breast arched with pain... Blood spurts.
The Knight bellows like a stuck pig! The priest pushes his arm into the
steaming wound to above the elbow, and searches for a long time... Finally, the
whole story concludes miserably, since, instead of the heart of the barbarian,
he pulls forth, with great effort... a rather large but empty purse,
manufactured in Berlin... The Knight spent everything he had on frivolous lady
Slavs!.. maybe he even lent money to their parents at high rates of interest...
Really, just look! I found one just like it!...' he concludes solemnly, drawing
an old, rain drenched, completely faded purse from his pocket.
"The
youth tore it laughingly from his hand, and began to examine it with great
interest.
"'By
God, that's mine! I lost it here last year! But there must have been money in
it! Give it here, Izyda!' cried Antos.
"'Yes!
So you you've been carousing around here too, with frivolous lady Slavs? And
with a German purse? .. that's really... Polish economics!'.
"That's
really a fascinating legend... it must be some old tradition...'. Szmit turned
to Izyda.
"'O,
yes, it's a tradition... from the sojourn of the beloved neighbour... dating
back... to the time of Lokieteks!"
One
could not possibly imagine a bloodthirstier fantasy or a greater degradation on
the part of scribbling Polish slanderers and liars. What can possess the soul
of a Polish scribbler who imagines that he is elevating his own people with oak
clusters and golden lutes, depicting the Teutonic Knights as whoremongers
carousing around with stolen money, bellowing like pigs, while at the same time
a priest of his own people is described sinking his arm bloodily to above the
elbow into the breast of a barbarian, in search of his heart? Who, then, is the
greater barbarian: the tortured Knight, or the bloodthirsty priest? But one can
hardly expect so much logic from Polish writers, whose only concern is to sow
hatred at any price.
Polish
literature is intended for long term effect, and depends upon the short
memories of other nationalities, as well as on the well-known good nature and
helpfulness of the Germans — as well as on German stupidity, which inclines us
to believe all the lies told by other people — people who ridicule us in
practically every novel, not to mention their proverbs. For example: "Even
clever Germans are stupid rabble, the Poles can always sell them a pig in a
poke."
"The
German is as big as a poplar, but infernally stupid."
"Dumb
as a German."
"Poles
grow wiser by experience; the Germans should profit by our example, but they
never learn, with or without experience."
"You
Germans, you just don't know anything. People swindle you with sheer
cleverness."
The
whole point of Polish literature is simply to portray the Poles as the most
good natured, the noblest, most heroic people in the world, while branding the
Germans as the greediest, dumbest, most cowardly, degraded, and cruel. Constant
exposure to this poison is bound to awaken the cruelest instincts, instincts
which cry for war to get revenge, although one does not even know why. And
since the Germans are represented not only as stupid but as cowardly as well,
the entire Polish people is educated in arrogance, and taught to overestimate themselves.
Thus, even responsible officials in the Ministry of War in 1939 believed that
all they needed to do was to order Polish troops on horseback, armed with
lances decorated with pennants, to attack German tanks, and then ride through
the Brandenburg Gate as victors. The awakening was a bitter one. But the guilt
for that, of course, lay, not with the frivolous, arrogant Poles, but with the
wicked Germans, who had tanks.
Translator's
note: This is a perfect example of the manner in which the Poles are unable to
learn from history. In 1648, the Cossack leader Chmielnicki annihilated them
under identical circumstances. "The Polish army, 40,000 strong, with 100
guns... consisted almost entirely of the noble militia, and was tricked out
with a splendour more befitting a bridal pageant than a battle array. For
Chmielnicki and his host these splendid cavaliers expressed the utmost
contempt. 'This rabble must be chased with whips, not smitten with swords',
they cried... After a stubborn three days' contest the gallant Polish pageant
was scattered to the winds. The steppe for miles around was strewn with
corpses..." 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Poland."
Only
the bloodthirsty descriptions contained in Polish novels, the systematic
education in hatred, the demands for the extermination of every German
inhabitant of the area, which the Poles merely took to heart and imbibed, could
lead to the orgy of murder on Bloody Sunday in Bromberg, Bereza Kurtuska, and,
later, in Lamsdorff. The Polish people were fed on this literature for two
hundred years, from the 18th to the 20th centuries. This is in addition to the
hereditary heritage of the Mongolian hordes of earlier wars, a heritage determined
by blood. Blood is not just a body fluid. Suitably instigated, it exploded in
an avalanche of crimes against ethnic Germans which is without parallel in the
world.
Polish
radio on 1 September 1939 repeatedly broadcast "call number 59" at
short intervals. The call contained a codeword, established in collaboration
with the authorities, and an order to the voivodes [administrative officials],
for transmission to the police stations, to arrest all the ethnic Germans, who
were already listed by name, in accordance with already existing arrest
warrants. Then began the manhunt for the Germans. At the same time, the Polish
singer Jan Kiepura — discovered by a German film director and trained as a
singer in Germany, made famous by the German UFA film company at a time when he
was considered to have no talent in his own country — sang the notorious
"Rota", calling for war against Germany, at a demonstration in a
market place in Warsaw. This, too, was typical Polish thanks for benefits
received.
The
following events, especially in Bromberg on Sunday, 3 September 1939, were of
such cruelty that the human mind has difficulty believing them. And yet they
are true. In my possession are 347 pages of photocopies of official records and
sworn statements, in addition to accompanying photographic evidence, of
horrifyingly mutilated bodies, proving the kind of murder orgies of which the
Poles are capable. In addition to these 347 pages from the secret archives of
the Reichsgovernment, 650 pages of text and photographic documentation were
published relating to the preliminary history of the Second World War, which
material is also available to me, proving the irrefutable testimony of
diplomats regarding the Polish atrocities. The crimes committed were comparable
to those described in the novels. But in the novels they were invented, and
attributed to the Teutonic Knights. Here, they were actually committed —
because people were instigated and encouraged to commit them, and because
weapons had been distributed in the churches for that purpose. Where these
weapons did not suffice, the Poles used knives, axes, saws, hammers, automobile
parts, daggers, hatchets, shovels, whips, fence lathes, clubs, pickaxes, iron
bars, and metal-studded clubs, etc., from their own households.
Germans
were murdered indiscriminately without regard to age, profession, social
position, religion, or sex: no class was spared from torture, whether farmer or
property owner, teacher, priest, doctor, merchant, worker or factory owner. The
victims were not shot by firing squad: the butchery was never based on any
title of law. The victims were shot, beaten to death, stabbed, tortured to
death, without reason; the majority, in addition, were mutilated in an
animal-like manner. These were deliberate murders, committed mostly by Polish
soldiers, policemen or gendarmes, as well as by armed citizens, classical
secondary school students, and apprentices. Uniformed insurgents, members of
the "Westverband", riflemen, railroad workers, released criminals,
even housewives, all joined in the blood frenzy. Everywhere, a definite method
was followed, leading naturally to the inference of a centrally planned,
uniform programme of murder. The open, and even admitted, aim of Polish policy
was the extinction of Germanness. Literature, among other things, was an
instrument of this policy, as a means to which hatred was deliberately
fomented.
I
prefer to show the results of this systematic education in hatred. I do not
wish to reproduce more than 3 photographs, as they appeared in the forensic
medical report of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, accompanied by
graphic evidence, and printed in the 650 pages of text and photographic
documents on the preliminary history of the Second World War, from the archive
of the Reichsgovernment. To show more than these 3 photographs would constitute
intolerable cruelty to the human soul, which I wish to spare the reader.
Not
only do the Poles deny the atrocities they committed, they brazenly twist the
truth and allege that the ethnic Germans killed 25,000 poles in Bromburg, in
eternal remembrance to which they even erected a monument to their imaginary
dead.
There
is another monument to the actual events in Bromberg, one which was not just
erected recently with lying inscriptions to conceal the perpetrators' own
guilt: one completed immediately following these inconceivable cruelties
against innocent Germans, written by the man who took down the testimony of
these horrible events from survivors still suffering from shock, in a book containing
the following lines in a foreword:
[caption
p. 45: German Catholic priest from the Church of the Heart of Jesus in Bromberg
in silent prayer before the bodies of murdered ethnic Germans in Bromberg.]
"This book was the most difficult task ever assigned
to me as a reporter: it contains only the naked truth. Every name is that of
the actual witness, every description is based on sworn statements."
The
author was the world famous writer and reporter Edwin Erich Dwinger, who called
his monument to the slaughtered innocent ethnic Germans "DEATH IN POLAND —
The Ethnic German Passion". That which is contained in a hundred official
records of a few words each is described here in consecutive images of the
inhuman crimes of the Polish population against the innocent and helpless
Germans, revealing a spiritual attitude on the part of the Poles which deprives
them of their claim to a place in European culture. The reader must be allowed
repeated pauses in the description of the horrifying martyrdom and murderous
fury to which the ethnic Germans were exposed, because the normal human mind
cannot tolerate such cruelty. Through these massacres of the Germans, the Poles
have forfeited all claim to pride and honour. That they dare to turn to the
Germans today and beg for help, and actually accept such help, is a clear index
of their character. Even if they erect a hundred monuments in Bromberg intended
to prove the contrary, they can in no way conceal the real monument erected by
Erich Dwinger to the slaughtered ethnic Germans in his book.
For
some time now, the Poles have also made it known, in their usual way, that camp
Lamdsdorff is supposed to have been a real sanitorium for the Germans held
there. They proceed in this connection exactly as they did with their monument
in Bromberg. I therefore recommend that every German should read the report of
the Lamsdorff camp doctor, Dr. Heinz Esser: "The Hell of Lamsdorff",
to be convinced of just how shamelessly the Poles lie.
Yet
no Polish priest steps forward to defend the truth; on the contrary, they
demand belief in Polish innocence, which is, after all, only a lie. The misuse
of religion for political purposes is obvious, because, strangely enough, no
one is scandalized by these events. Even German Catholics in Germany turn a
blind eye, even though the inhuman persecutors of Bloody Sunday in Bromberg
made no distinction between Evangelical and Catholic Germans; on the contrary,
Catholics who declared themselves to be Germans often suffered worse than the
others.
I
will now reproduce some sworn statements by Catholic priests on these crimes,
which were taken down by the War Crimes Investigation Office of the Supreme
Command of the Armed Forces:
Pater
Breitinger, pastor for the German Catholics of Posen, writes as follows on the
procession of kidnapped persons out of Posen:
Posen,
5 October 1939
War
Crimes Investigation Office of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces
Regarding:
Advisor
to Court Martial, Hurtig
Legal
Inspector for the Army, Pitsch
There
now appeared Pastor Breitinger upon interrogation, after being duly sworn:
As
to myself: My name is Lorenz Breitinger, religious appelation Father Hilarius,
born 7 July 1907 in Glattbach near Aschaffenburg, pastor for the German
Catholics of Posen, resident in the Franciscan cloister at Posen.
[captions
p. 46: Murdered and castrated: a body found at Bromberg
A
married woman, mrs. kempf, 25 years old, murdered at wiesenau, district of
hohensalza. with her were killed: her husband, 36 years old, their children
hilde k. 9 years old, and helene k., 2 1/2 years old, in addition to the
elderly married couple k. 70 and 65 years of age, and the farmhand theodor
draeger, 17 years of age, i.e., a total of 7 persons. killed by pistol shots
through the skull (a), in addition to mutilation of the 4th and 5th fingers of
the right hand (b), with amputation of the ring finger (c). the victim was
nearing the natural termination of her pregnancy. the embryo was found
partially expelled from the abdominal cavity. this is not an example of
commonly so-called "post-mortem birth", due to the effects of
decomposition. rather, birth began during the death agony of the mother.]
Section
no. Report 127 (Supreme Command of Armed Forces)/H.S. In)
As
to the facts: on 1 September 1939, around 6 P.M., a police officer appeared
before the cloister door and stated that I was under arrest. Upon my request to
be permitted to take some changes of clothing and food with me, he replied that
this would not be necessary, that I would be released to go home inside half an
hour. Another police officer was waiting in front of the cloister with his
pistol drawn; both policemen drove me, together with three other arrested
persons, like dangerous criminals, to the police station. There, a police
official placed me under arrest, and pressed a certificate of arrest into my
hand against receipt, whereupon I saw that I was really going to be interned.
In the police courtyard, I met about 20 people I knew; I spent the night
together with them under an open sky. Additional transports filled with
companions in misfortune arrived during the night from other parts of the city.
The Elder of my cloister attempted to intervene with regards to my arrest with
the supreme commandant of the police administration. After my return, I heard
from him that his intervention was rejected with the words, "What? You
dare to intervene for such a man? You must be mixed up with spies. You deserve
a bullet through your head like the others."
When
the Elder asked to be permitted to give me a suitcase with clothing and food,
he was told "the lice could eat it". My Elder was so astonished that
he later told me that, at that moment, he felt ashamed to be Polish for the
first time. Furthermore, I heard from my Superior that he had also attempted to
intervene with the police commandant of Posen at the Woiwodeschaft [an
administrative office], who was a good acquaintance of his and of myself. The
commandant, however, replied that, unfortunately, he could do nothing, since
all power was in the power of the military. On 2 September 1939, we had to line
up in 2 groups. A police officer in civilian clothes then deprived us of our
civil rights in the name of the voivode, and furthermore remarked that we were
now to march into a camp; and that anyone who did not march properly on the
street would be shot on the spot. The police then loaded their weapons, took
out their sidearms, and then led us through the streets of Posen to Glowno. The
police repeatedly called to the crowds filling both sides of the street
"they're all Germans"; the crowd responded with absolutely incredible
screams of rage, together with disgusting profanity.
The
crowd became violent at the old market as well, and we were hit with sticks,
kicked, struck by flying rocks, so that we were already covered with bruises
when we arrived in the suburb of Glowno. In a restaurant in Glowno, I was
filled with hope when a Catholic priest, the Vicar of Glowno, entered the room.
In particular, I hoped to meet with understanding and protection from him, and
above all, information as to our future. I was immeasurably astonished when the
priest began to interrogate me as to whether I was not really a spy in
disguise, asking in a brusque tone asked why, then, had I fought with weapons
in my hands against Poland? Totally speechless, I gave up any attempt at
further conversation with him.
Late
in the afternoon, we were led to a great meadow, which was surrounded by a
large crowd. Two other groups were also interned there, including women and
children, two cripples who could hardly walk — war invalids with wooden legs —
and a great crowd with bandaged heads, whose clothes were covered with blood.
On the meadow, we were arranged in groups of four, and were counted. We were
then placed under the command of the leader of our guards, consisting of a few
policemen and various humanities students in the uniform of military youth
organizations, and made to exercise and sing a hateful anti-German song. He
then made me step forward in my clerical clothing, and perform exercises all by
myself, to the howls of the crowd. Finally, he put me in the front row, as the
"leader of the rebels", which is what we were always called. We then
had to return to Schwersenz through a gauntlet of excited people who spat on us,
threw rocks, and kicked us. The accompanying guards did nothing to protect us
from this mistreatment or, if they had any desire to do so, they were utterly
powerless or lacked the strength to do so. In Schwersenz, the animalistic crowd
beat both children and cripples sitting on wagons with sticks until the sticks
broke in pieces. The next day, I noticed that representatives of almost all
German organizations as well as the entire German priesthood had been driven
together. These were without exception men who were convinced that they had
always conscientiously fulfilled their public duties to the Polish state, and
therefore could not understand why they were now being treated worse than
dangerous criminals.
In
Schwersenz, an Evangelical minister and myself asked if we could minister to
the people's spiritual needs. I received a very rude negative answer from the
leader of our accompanying guards. Running the guantlet of heavy blows with
cudgels and kicks, we were then marched through Kostrzyn to Wreschen. Here we received
more blows with cudgels and kicks. Here, my Cardinal drove by, who must have
recognized me as an internee from Posen. But he did nothing to intervene for
us. In Wreschen, we had to exercise in a room for a while; they made us stand
up, sit down, kneel down, etc. He treated me in a particular manner, called me
a hypocrite and a swindler, and declared that the cross ought to be torn off
me, since I had betrayed it. Towards noon, the march continued. The guards
drove in the car together with the sick people; often we had to run behind the
trucks, when it suited the drivers to make us do so. At times we attempted to
cover our heads with blankets and coats due to the danger of flying stones. It
was incomprehensible to me that Polish soldiers, even Polish officers,
participated in this mistreatment to a particular degree. Thus it happened that
after a while, members of the Polish army, wearing medals, ran alongside our
ranks dealing out especially powerful kicks to those of us they could reach.
From Konin, we could no longer continue our march to Kutno, and we were
suddenly marched northwards. Approximately 7 km before Konin, our guards left
us, and only a single policeman remained with us, who was of very limited
intelligence. In the meantime, we were mistreated by Polish reservists with
long beatings and thrown stones. We were saved from this by field police. At a
farmstead near Maliniec, we were able to lie down for 3 days, since our
policeman first had to obtain instructions as to what to do with us.
Near
Slesin, we came through the first Polish positions, and were lodged behind the
city in a freight yard which was completely occupied with polish soldiers.
Here, a young Polish lieutenat threatened us with death, uttering innumerable
curses. The next morning, we were awakened at 2 A.M. to continue the march. The
wagons with the cripples and children remained behind. Later I heard that they
had been shot. They were the whole Schmolke family and a war invalid with one
leg. We made a forced march under cannon fire to Babiak. In the afternoon, we
were forced to continue after being split into three groups, and being assigned
to the guardianship of numerous soldiers. On a forest road, we were forced to
give the soldiers all our watches and other jewelry, money, and even wedding
and engagement rings. When we were told to start marching again on Monday
morning, some of us could no longer stand up. In addition to five sick people,
who were absolutely unable to continue (including a teacher from Posen), three
healthy people remained behind to protect them. Later, we heard that they had
simply been shot by the guards and cruelly beaten to death with stones. After
marching to and fro all day, the frontline came closer to us, and we were freed
on 17 September by German troops. We were sent back to Germany through Breslau
by the German army.
Dictated
aloud, corrected, and signed
Signed:
Lorenz Breitinger (Father Hilarius)
The
witness swore the following oath: I swear by God the Almighty and Omniscient
that I have told the pure truth and have concealed nothing, so help me God.
Conclusion
Signature:
Hurtig
Signature:
Pitsch
In
addition, I note the following:
I
was interned together with the following people, all from Posen people. Among
them in my group were Director Hugo Boehmer, Pastor Stefani, the Director of
the German Humanities School, Dr. Swart, Dr. Robert Weise, and other leading
persons.
I
also swear to this on my oath.
Signed:
Lorenz Breitinger (P. Hilarius)
Conclusion
Signature:
Hurtig
Signature:
Pitsch
Source:
WRII 1
Rev.
Rauhut, pastor for the Salvation of German Catholics, testified as follows on
the kidnapped persons from Gnesen:
Gnesen,
21 September 1939
Research
Office for Violations of International Law of the Supreme Command of the Armed
Forces
Present:
Military
Legal Advisor: Hurtig
Army
Legal Inspector: Pitch
Rev.
August Rauhut fron Gnesen appeared and declared as follows:
As
to myself: my name is August Rauhut von Gnesen, born on 21 September 1888 in
Dambitsch, district of Lissa. Pastor for German catholics at Gnesen, former
director of the German private humanities school, 2nd associational chairman of
the Union of German Catholics in Poland, resident of Gnesen, Poststrasse 1a.
As
to the facts: I went with my group of expelled ethnic Germans, accompanied by
two policemen, along the Chaussee of Wreschen to Stralkowo. On the way, Polish
troops lay on the edge of the woods. When they saw us being transferred, they
threatened to shoot me in particular, because I was a clergyman. We nevertheless
reached Stalkowo in the company of both police officials. Shortly before
Stalkowo, policemen from military trucks supplied us with food for the
continued journey, for high prices, paid cash. We were supposed to march to
Kossow in the Woiwodschaft of Polesie (district of Pinsk).
After
several days of wandering hear and there in the fields and woods of Stralkowo
to Powitz, our group of 42 men decided to send 3 men to Powitz; it was 7
September 1939. These 3 men were to ask the authorities in Powitz either to
settle us in Powitz, or to allow us to return to Gnesen. They were:
1.
Mr. Ernst Wiedermeyer from Gnesen, a businessman
2.
Mr. Derwanz from Przybordzin, a farmer from the district of Gnesen
3.
Myself, August Rauhut.
We
arrived in Przybrodzin around 11 A.M. and received permission from the local
authorities to settle in Przybrodzin, and even received identity papers. When
these formalities were taken care of, Mr. Wiedemeyer and myself saw our third
companion, Mr. Derwanz, together with one of my former students, Lyk, being
taken away by soldiers to be shot. In any event, we never saw Mr. Derwanz
again. Afterwards, we heard that Mr. Derwanz had reportedly been buried naked
in the Evangelical cemetery of Powitz. Mr. Derwanz was found after several
graves were opened by persons known to me, and was identified.
Around
2:30 P.M., Mr. Wiedermeyer and myself went back to our group in the forest with
our identity documents and permission from the authorities approximately 4 km away,
to take them back to the city. We were close to our group. Then we were stopped
by young people bearing arms and making a great deal of noise, and taken back
with violence and threats of every kind, saying, "You have to go back,
your identity documents are no longer valid; you will be shot". They
nearly carried out this death sentence several times on the way back. We had to
go separately, and could not speak to each other. Mr. Wiedermeyer just murmured
to me: "If you get out of this alive, greet my wife and children." We
reached the city, where the population was very hostile, with insults and
curses directed at us on several occasions, especially against myself. We
reached the police station around 5:30 P.M. While we sat in the police station,
we heard from the commisssioner of police, himself a large landowner in Poland,
make several painful remarks concerning the shooting of Mr. Derwanz. He even
condemned the shooting. We sat in the waiting room for around two hours; then
our identity papers were once again demanded of us. Shortly afterwards, we got
them back again, and I was immediately taken away by three very
shabbily-dressed Polish soldiers to be shot. Among them there was even a lame
invalid carrying a wepon, who was particularly rough in his manner towards me.
Mr. Wiedermeyer stayed behind. When I was in the corridor, I was told to go
back into the consultation room. There was a group of young people, among them
a former chairman of the so-called firing squad. He accused me of being a
"gang leader", and of owning a short-wave radio. When I denied all of
this, he told me that fooling with shortwave radio technology was a very black
point against me. I saw that my fate was sealed.
Then
I remembered that the clerical authorities had given a letter of recommendation
for my bishop in Polesia. I produced this; they were surprised. In the
meanwhile, the local religious authority entered the consultation room and
declared: "I have no power over him, but transfer him to Gnesen to the
Deacon Zablicki, who is head of the citizens committee." I had to leave
the consulation room, and returned to the waiting room. Mr. Wiedermeyer was no
longer there. I knew what had happened to him in the meantime. At any rate, I
was sure that he had been shot, since that was the fate which had been decided
for me. After a short while, the local clergyman took me away and told me that
he had taken full responsibility for me; I had to spend the night at the
clergyman's house, and would be transferred to my authorities in Gnesen on the
next day, Friday 8 September 1939. This also happened on the next day. For my
own protection as a clergyman, I was accompanied by another clergyman who
happened to be staying in Powitz with the local chairman of the citizens
committee. We reached Gnesen despite many threats made against my person along
the way. The citizens committee decided to house me in the hospital of the Grey
Sisters for my protection. This was done. I stayed until Monday, 11 September
1939, at 11:30 A.M., after the Germany army had taken the area. I was released
by a German army captain from protective custody.
I
remarked that constant accusations had been made on the way to Powitz to the
effect that I had possessed a shortwave radio hidden in the oven of my
dwelling; I had the chairman of the Citizens Committee in Powitz establish the
groundlessness of the accusation.
At
this point, he told me: "I must tell you that Mr Wiedermeyer is no longer
alive." He asked to maintain the strictest secrecy about this. On
Thursday, 14 September 1939, all fresh graves in the cemetery of Powitz were
dug up by civilians sent by the city of Gnesen, which led to the discovery of
the dead bodies of Mr. Derwanz and Mr. Wiedermeyer. Wiedermeyer's body was
particularly badly mutilated, in particular, exibiting bleeding wounds on the
neck.
Both
men were killed by Polish soldiers.
In
addition to these two men, six other persons from the region of Gnesen were
bestially murdered near their farms by armed civilians. Among them was Kropf
and his son in law, Brettschneider. The abdomen of one murder victim had been
cut open, and the head had been crushed. These crimes were spoken of with
genuine horror in Gnesen, even among the Poles.
In
my opinion, the civilians were supplied with weapons by the authorities. This
happened during my absence from Gnesen. The grave diggers at the Evangelical
cemetery can testify to the condition of the bodies. I cannot remember their
names for the moment.
An
expulsion order was issued against me on 1 September 1939 from the Starost, and
I left Gensen on 3 September.
Dictated
aloud, corrected, and signed.
Signature:
August Rauhut
The
witness was duly sworn.
Conclusion
Signature:
Hurtig
Signature:
Pitsch
Posen,
29 January 1940
Your
Excellency!
A
great many priests and laymen have asked us whether the reports on Polish
atrocities reported in the papers committed against the German population at
the beginning of September of last year, are based on fact. Since surely many
more people, including the Catholic clergy, must be awaiting an answer to this
question, we, the undersigned German Catholic priests from the Archdiosese of
Gnesen, Posen, hereby send at least the following reports from two brethren of
our acquaintance, who experienced the harsh fate of internment or kidnapping.
Despite
the nearly unbelievable harshness and cruelty testified to by these reports, we
should like to emphasize that these are not exceptional cases. Rather, all
German Catholic priests without exception have suffered from the Polish terror
to a greater or lesser degree, and many of them have looked Death in the eye on
more than one occasion.
In
addition, our entire German population, due solely to their German ethnic
origin, have suffered the greatest losses in blood and property: so far 5,000
deaths have been established so far, committed inthe cruelest, most bestial
manner by Poles. These frightful crimes were not, however, committed only by an
overexcited Polish rabble, but by educated Poles as well, and even by police
officials, and officers in the Polish army, who should have intervened to
protect us. People may perhaps refuse to believe this, since the Poles are
known as a pious people. But their piety has obviously failed to penetrate
inwardly to a sufficient depth, so that, in their hatred of everthing German,
incited on all sides, they have come to be guilty of atrocities which stand in
the most extreme contradiction to Christian thought and feeling.
The
following persons swear to the truth of the above:
Cathedral
chapter member: Dr. Joseph Paech
Cathedral
chapter member: Prof. Dr. Albert Steuer
Rademacher
Gumpacht
August
Rauhut
Georg
Kliche, Priest
Juettner,
Propst
Father
Hilarius Breitlinger
In
view of the above testimonies of German Catholic dignitaries, Catholics in Germany
should be cured of the superstition that Poles would not expel Germans of
Catholic faith. It would really be impossible to raise a stupider objection
defence of the Poles. People filed serious accusations against me with the
State Prosecutor, just because I quoted a Polish saying on television: "A
German Catholic is not a real German." I quoted this in my first book. Due
to my having quoted this phrase taken from the mouth of a Pole, I was accused
of "insulting German Catholics". I only made one mistake — as I
realize only now, but at any rate a most serious one, when I referred to the
journalist Zdanowski as the speaker. A tape of the television discussion has
been made available to me, from which it is clear that it was not Zdanowski who
made this statement, but rather our much-beloved expert Prof. Markiewicz, the
self-styled historian, in person. I shall now quote his statement word for
word:
"Religion plays a great role here. To a Pole, a
real Pole was one who was a Catholic, as well as vice versa: a real German
simply had to be a Protestant. For this reason, a special term was invented:
German-Catholic; which sometimes means, and all the more so, that he is a
German, but that he is a Catholic, that is, that he is not a real German."
In
keeping with this piece of wisdom, a Catholic Swede in Evangelical Sweden
cannot be a "real Swede", and a Catholic Chinese cannot be a
"real Chinese". This logic may be impossible to fathom, but it is, in
clear language, the statement of a speaker who is far more important than the
journalist Zdanowski could ever be. A history professor can hardly be said to
have been talking simple rubbish when he takes a position on German-Polish
problems on German television. That religion must coincide with nationality is
a thought which can only originate in a Polish brain.
The
person who tried to turn me over to the State Prosecutor, since he considered
himself insulted and outraged as a German Catholic by my quotation from the
Poles, should really have withdrawn his complaint against me and filed it
against Prof. Markiezwicz. Did he possess that much decency? No. He filed an
appeal to the Attorney General against the prosecutor's order dismissing the
case against me on the grounds that it was groundless.
After
that, he even filed a complaint with the State Supreme Court.
This
event shows the grossly unlogical thinking which lurks in the brains of many
who permit themselves to judge the facts and background of history. They read,
but do not understand what they read. They write, but do not understand what
they have written. But they proclaim their opinions at the top of their lungs,
regardless of the damage they are doing to their own country and their own
people. Letters to the editor are written based on willful ignorance, conceding
the territories of the German East to the Poles, just because that is what the
writers once learned in school. This is not the first time that the Poles have
made an effort to get their ideas into German school books, through their
representative Prof. Markiewicz. Such persons have always existed and on the
German side, do-gooders who are ignorant of German rights and therefore give
in. Among them, I include the Evangelical Churches of Germany, who, forgetting
their dead in the East, express contempt for the victims through their demands
that the homeland be given up. Even the Evangelical Churches of the East have
had to pay in blood for their Christian convictions. The following obituaries
taken from two official German publications set forth the names of those who
lost their lives in the Polish murder actions:
[Translation
of obituary notice from Deutsche Rundschau, 18 October
1939]
In
true fulfilment of their service to people and Church of the homeland, the
following clergymen and church officials of our church district, insofar as
could thus far be determined beyond doubt, died during the days of the
liberation, either killed by Polish murder gangs or as a result of exhaustion
during long marches:
Rev. Friedrich Tuft of Sienno
55 years of age, in the 29th year of his ministry.
Murdered on 1 September 1939 in Sienno.
Rev. Richard Rutzer of
Bromberg-Jaegerhof
48 years of age, in the 10th year of his ministry.
Murdered on 3 September 1939 in Bromberg-Jaegerhof
Deacon Willy Lubnau of Posen
District Trombone Guard in the Evangelical Young Men's Work
39 years of age, murdered on 10 September 1939, near Rutno.
Rev. Emil Mix of Strelno
64 years of age, in the 48th year of his ministry.
Died in the "House of Mercy" in Lodz on 20 September 1939, as a
result of severe mistreatment suffered on the march to Lowitich.
Superintendant Georg Reisel of
Rentomischel
75 years of age, in the 46th year of his ministry.
Died on 12 September 1939 in the Deaconage of Posen, exhausted by interment.
Rev. Paul Rudolph of Graz
43 years of age, in the 24th year of his ministry.
Murdered on 10 September 1939 near Rostchen.
Rev. Johannes Schwerdtseger of
Posen
48 years of age, in the 24th year of his ministry.
Murdered on 10 September 1939 near Rutno
Rev. Johannes Tauber in Sontop
47 years of age, in the 15th year of his ministry.
Murdered on 10 September 1939 near Rostschen
The memory of these men will
live on in our hearts forever.
"No man hath greater love
than this, than to lay down his life for a friend." John, 15:13
Posen, 16 October 1939
The Evangelical Consistorium
and Synodol Board of the United Evangelical Churches
D. Blau Birschel
General superintendant
President of the synod
[Translation of obituary notice
from Deutsche Rundschau, 17
November 1939]
The unremitting search for
those arrested and taken away during the first days in September has proven
beyond a certainty that, in addition to the victims already reported by us, the
following Christian clergymen from our Evangelical Church were killed by Polish
murder gangs:
Rev. Oskar Reder
In Roglino, 63 years of age, in the 36th year of his ministry.
Shot in early September near Thobecz.
Rev. Ernst Reinitz, Graduate in
Theology
In Czempin, teacher at the Theological University of Posen, 44 years of age, in
the 17th year of his ministry.
Murdered in early September near Turek.
Rev. Henz Werner
In Czin, 34 years of age, in the 10th year of his ministry.
Murdered during the night of 4-5 September in Hohensalza.
Rev. Wilhelm Borgmann
In Rendstadt-bei-Pinne, 30 years of age, in the 3rd year of his ministry.
Shot on 4 September near Rostchen.
Pitar Mark Riede
In Schwiegel, 25 years of age.
Murdered on 8 September at Turek.
The
memory of these men will live on in our hearts forever.
"Remain
true unto death, and I will give you the crown of life." Revelations 2:10
Posen,
11 November 1939
The
Evangelical Consistorium and Synodal Council of the United Evangelical Church
D.
Blau Birschel
General
Superintendant President of the synod
It
is impossible to describe all the cruelty that millions of people were
condemned to suffer merely because they were German, in an event which would
certainly never have taken place if the Polish people had not been incited by
their intelligentsia and their fanatical clerical leadership. The persons
responsible can never wash themselves clean from their guilt. It is a crime for
which there is only one redmption: that is, to look at their own souls, and
turn to their own people and tell the truth. The official records from
September 1939 show that many Poles who committed horrible crimes against their
German neighbours, weepingly exclaimed that they didn't know how they could
have been capable of such deeds, had they not been incited to such an extent;
it was believed that if the priests demanded it, they had to do it.
As
a further proof of clerical encouragement, I quote the following text of a
prayer embroidered by a Polish Christian into the priestly raiment:
"O
Lord, give strength to our hands, accuracy to our cannons, resistance to our
tanks, invisibility to our planes, speed and universality to our gases; give
them the sign which is equivalent to your Holy Love.
"In
the name of the Holy Love with which you love us, may the enemy sink down like
grass, mowed by the scythe of your justice. May their women and their land be
unfruitful, may their children go begging, and their daughters fall victim to
rape. May their bullets and artillery shells fall in the grass like little
lambs, and ours tear the heart out of the enemy like tigers, and may they
finally go blind.
"Our
soul is the same as one thousand years ago. It hates the enemy and spares him
not. So pardon not the godless, but punish them; so that they may cease to do
us harm; and please do not hinder us when we kill them.
"For
now and forever, and for all Eternity. Amen."
The
author of this "prayer" was the Polish Catholic priest Mieszko
Uszerski. It was distributed as a postcard in the 1930s, along with a "map
of the Greater Polish Empire" — also printed on a postcard — which
included Berlin and parts of Czechoslavakia. The "enemy" was
understood to be exclusively German, in whose extermination the great majority
of the Polish people saw the panacea for all the ills of humanity. This is only
one example of flood of anti-German incitement and the rage to destroy which
explains the explusion of one million Germans after the First World War, the
murder of thousands of Germans on Bloody Sunday in Bromberg on the third day
after the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, as well as the total
extermination of all German ethnicity beyond the Oder-on-Neisser.
This
"prayer" by an allegeldy Christian priest, inoculating his flock with
chauvinistic hatred, was quoted in the "Deutsche-Wochen Zeitung" of
22.1.1971.
It
cannot be objected that this is merely the temporary aberration of a single
priest: we have many other proofs as well. The Polish Church has never
disassociated itself from such clear expressions of hatred or condemned them.
They did not do so even in view of general knowledge of the cruel murder orgy
of Bromberg and the long lines of kidnapped persons: rather, they were silent.
Had they intervened, the atrocities of Lamsdorff could never have taken place.
But down to the present day, not a word of disassociation or condemnation of
the criminals has ever been uttered, not a single criminal has been brought
before a court. This shows that they approve of the murder of ethnic Germans,
and stubbornly defend the theft of German land. In so doing, the highest
representative of the Polish Church, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, stands forth so
prominantly that he even declared, in God's House, Breslau Cathedral, that
Poland had regained its own property, that the very stones spoke Polish, that
it was not the German soul that inhabited this cathedral, but the Polish. Is
the Polish Church really Christian? Or is it exclusively Polish, pursuing other
objectives which the same Cardinal revealed when he said:
"The greatest Counter-Reformation in history
began in 1945!"
The
explusion of nearly 15 million people from their centuries-old homeland was
obviously a step towards this Counter-Reformation, since this same Polish
clerical has admitted that the Lutheran Reformation was reversed in the
reconquered areas.
Let
us remember the role played by the Primate of Poland Cardinal Hlond, Cardinal
Wyszynski's predecessor, in 1945, when he compelled the Administrator of the
Bishopric of Breslau, the chapter vicar Dr. Ferdinand Piontek, to waive his
jurisdiction beyond the Oder-Neisse Line. He claimed to be acting on behalf of
the Vatican, but it later turned out that Pope Pius XII had no knowledge of the
matter. When the Breslau University Councillor Dr. Kaps informed the Pope of
Hlond's actions in detail, Pope Pius XII is said to have been very upset,
saying, "We didn't wish that".
This
is significant proof of the evil role of the Polish Church in politics. It
shows quite clearly that it does not travel the narrow path of virtue, but uses
every instrument to achieve its goals, even lying and swindling. The Axel
Springer publishing house in Berlin revealed Cardinal Hlond's role under the
headline "Polish Cardinal Tricks Papal Nuntius"; at least, according
to the "Homeland Letter of the Catholics of the Archbishop of
Breslau" no. 3/1977.
[Translation
of illustration p. 38-39]
Poster
of the "Polish Protective Association" of "Anti-German
Week", 21 - 28 November 1930
Translation
of text: "Away, Prussia! We Are Repeating Grunwald!"
Grunwald
is the Polish name for the battle of Tannenberg in 1410, in which the Poles
gained a victory against the Teutonic Knights due to the betrayal of the German
positions.
The
German in this illustration is depicted as fat, brutal, beastly — a monster.
The Pole, by contrast, is slim, resolute — the picture of nobility.
The
Poles reveal their attitude towards us at every possible opportunity —
including banners on the streets during their never-ending strikes. Their
attitude is that they neither forgive nor forget, even though they are
responsible for their own misfortune. But that is suppressed and denied; the
Poles have always been the only angels of innocence in the whole world. And the
German fool always turns the right cheek even when he has just received a
powerful buffet on the left one; he never sees his own rights, only those of
others, no matter how lying and arrogant. And because the whole world knows
this, every kind of disgraceful act is permitted against him: it is always
endured.
Might
I be permitted at this point to provide additional proof of the anti-German
attitude of the Polish intelligentsia, making it particularly clear that Polish
Christian beliefs are dependent on whether certain circumstances and events
turn in their favour or to their disadvantage. The proof is a letter from Pope
XII to the German bishops, in which he expresses an opinion on events in the
East and on the expulsion of the Germans, together with the reaction of the
Polish university teachers.
The
Papal letter of 1 March 1948 reads in part as follows:
"The refugees from the East will always deserve
special consideration, expelled as they were from their homeland in the East by
force, expropriated without compensation, and sent to the German zones. When we
come to speak of them we are not so much concerned with the legal, economic,
and political point of view of this procedure, which is without parallel in
European history. History will be the judge of the above mentioned points of
view. We fear that its verdict will be unfavourable. We believe we know what
happened during the war years in the broad expanses from the Weichsel to the
Volga. But was it permissible, in retaliation, to expel twelve million people
from their homes and farms, and expose them to misery? Are not the victims of
every retaliation, in their majority, people who took no part in the events and
misdeeds which took place, who had no influence over them? And were these
measures politically reasonable or economically responsible, when one considers
the living needs of the German people, in addition to the well-being of all of
Europe? Is it unrealistic for us to hope and desire that all participants may
come to a more tranquil view of things, and make these events reversible
insofar as that is still possible?..."
The
pious Poles, who are so fond of their churches, nevertheless showed the value
to them of an appeal from a Pope who was not a Pole. Three months later, the
university teachers of Cracow replied in a sharp counter resolution. This
answer is so interesting, and provides such an insight into the character of
educated Poles in particular, that one can never read this reply often enough.
Envy and hatred ring throughout it, since the Pope had found words of mercy and
love for the victims of explusion, but not for the Poles.
"We, the undersigned Rectors, Deacons, and
Professors of the University, hereby affirm: 1) We decisively reject the
unjustified opinion of the Pope regarding the question of our Western borders,
which are not negotiable. The Western territories are, and remain, an integral
part of the New Poland. 2) The statement of the Pope that 12 million germans
were expelled, reflects neither the facts nor the truth, since only 2,155,000
Germans were resettled to Germany, and this in a manner which differed
considerably from the methods employed by the Germans. 3) In his letter, the
Pope speaks of the 'proud achievements of Catholic Germany in Breslau', thereby
forgetting that Wrocklaw was for centuries the seat of a Polish bishop and part
of the Polish state, which was governed by Catholic kings. 4) The letter of the
Pope is characterised by love, friendship and mercy with regards to the
Germans. The Pope addresses the Germans 'Dear Sons and Honourable Brethren',
calling them a Christian people, which 'has a double right to know that the
heart and concern of a Shepherd of the Representative of Christ stands nearby
them'. The resettlement of the Germans from Poland is termed by the Pope a
'procedure without parallel in European history'. Unfortunately, the Pope found
no such words for us when the Germans killed millions of Poles, in a manner
truly without parallel in the history of mankind, nor when, in an equally
unparalleled manner, they arrested outstanding personalities from the Polish sciences,
professors from the oldest universities in Poland, and one of the oldest
universities in Europe, as well as from other academic institutions, and caused
them to die slowly in Dachau and Oranienburg; nor did he do so when they
arrested Polish Catholic priests — patriots — and tortured them in camps. The
Pope did not protest against the gas chambers and crematoria of Auschwitz,
Maidenek, and Treblinka, nor did he call this 'a crime without parallel in
European history.'"
This
answer to Pope Pius XII proves the peculiar attitude of the Poles to the Head
of the Church. They do not hesitate in the slightest to accuse the Pope of
injustice and untruthfulness (that is, lying), or of preferring the Germans
over the Poles. They could not possibly provide Christ's Representative at the
Holy See of St. Peter with a clearer proof of the envy and ill will, the hatred
and abhorrance, which they have always felt towards the Germans than this
letter, in which they turn history completely upside down, since the Rectors,
Deacons and University Professors obviously believe that Pope Pius XII is
unaware of the history of the German East. This reveals the boundless arrogance
of the intellectual classes in Poland, which does not hesitate to attack the
Christian Catholic Head of the Church with a contempt "which has no
parallel", since he dares to demand justice and humanity for the Germans
whom they hate so much.
This
is the perfect answer to Kurt Lueck's question: do the Poles really think they
are proving their greatness through an incomparable contempt for history?
These
honourable gentlemen refer to the "oldest universities in Europe", as
if their founding had been the work of the Poles. But there is nothing unique
in this procedure; they have always laid claim to everything to which they had
no fundamental right. This what they did with Nicholas Copernicus, with Veit
Stoss, and an endless list of other Germans who lived and worked in Poland to
the benefit of the land and its people. They continue to do so at the present
time, even with the ethically German Father Maximilian Kolbe, whom they also
wish to claim for their own due to his Catholic faith, since, in keeping with
the formula "Catholic means Polish, and Polish means Catholic", the
Catholic Kolbe was also transformed into a Pole. Kolbe was most certainly an extraordinary
man, and he took his Christian beliefs seriously, but does that make him a
Pole? Kolbe's life story is told in the script "Father Maximilian Kolbe —
Hero of Auschwitz" by Franz Lesch, OFM Conv. Radio Vatican: we learn that
he was born the second of 5 children in a working class family, and was named
Raimund. Zdunska-Wola, his birthplace, is a city adjacent to mighty industrial
city of Lodz. His father was a weaver. The father's first name is nowhere
mentioned, but since the boy was given the name of Raimund, which was not
common anywhere in Poland, we must assume that his parents came from the
Austrian part of Silesia, where this first name occurs frequently, that they
emigrated to the booming German textile city Lodz, and settled in Zdunksa Wola,
which is also German. The name Kolbe is so unequivocal that it leads
necessarily to the conclusion, in combination with the baptismal name of
Raimund, that Kolbe was a German by birth. At the time of this birth in 1894
there was no such nation as Poland. It was, however, an era during which
Silesian weavers, due to the misery of their own homelands, emigrated to seek
new homes. The industrial city of Lodz and the surrounding areas offered both
bread and work. None of these hard-working German weavers ever went to
"Poland", but rather to the city of Lodz, which was under Russian
sovereignty.
[Translator's
note: The Czarist administration of Poland was enormously beneficial to the
Poles, abolishing the privileges of the nobles and leading to unprecedented prosperity
among the peasantry and middle classes.]
That
the young boy was accepted into the university to study the humanities, was the
result of his gifts; that he was accepted into the Holy Order of Francis of
Assissi at the age of 16 is no proof of Polish nationality either. During the
following period, he was sent to Rome to continue his theological studies at
the Papal University. In Rome, he fell ill with consumption. In January 1917 in
Rome, he had a experience which proved decisive to his life. Father Lesch
describes this in the above mentioned short book:
"The
Freemasons were celebrating the 200th anniversary of the founding of their
craft. At the same time, they were unsparing in their words: 'The Devil will
reign in the Vatican, and the Pole will serve him as a Swiss guard.' Kolbe
described this event in 1941 in the following words: 'These men, divorced from
God, are in a state of misery. Such deadly hatred of the Church and Christ's
Representative on Earth is not the work of mere individuals, but is the result
of systematic activities ultimately rooted in Freemasonry.'
"To
hold out a helping hand to these unhappy men, to help all to a blessed life,
under the protection and through the interception of the Immaculate Virgin
Mary, Maximilian, together with six fellow brethren on 17 October 1917, in the
college of the order in Rome, founded the 'combat troops of the Immaculate',
the 'Militati Immaculatea' (MI), known in the German language as the 'Kreuzzug'
(Crusade). The founding documents state that its objective was the redemption
of sinners, heretics, schismatics, but especially Freemasons, together with the
healing of all men. What an ecumenical document!
"At
23 years of age, while still a sub-deacon, Kolbe became the father of a
worldwide movement which had no lesser aim than to lead the whole world to God
in such a manner as to enable Him to dwell in all."
From
this and other statements, it is clear that Father Kolbe was motivated by a
general love of humanity which recognized no nationalities, only service and
love, but never hatred of any kind: a quality of character typically
characteristic of no other people as much as the self-sacrificing Germans.
There is no people on earth which, apart from its other good and bad qualities,
so converts this humility and dedication, this love of its enemies and
renunciation of its own living rights, into action. It is precisely this
characteristic which, in addition to his German name, Raimund Kolbe, confirms
that he was a German and not a Pole. This fact is in no way exceptional.
Another example is readily available in the person of a Catholic politician of
the present day, who, though he knows nothing whatsoever about Poland, calls
himself a "committed friend of Poland and Polish history", and, what
is more, proclaims that that he is in no sense a German nationalist. If he had
lived in Poland, as was the case with Father Kolbe, the Poles would naturally
claim him as one of their own, since after all, he is a Catholic, and full of
friendship for the Polish people. The remarks of this politician, the then
Federal Representative Dr. Helmut Kohl, on 19 February 1976 in the German
Bundestag, as reported in the official stenographic record, read as follows:
"We have said that it is natural, based on the
great tradition of the German Centre Party, to which my family belongs and in
whose tradition I was raised, not having experienced the period personally, to
take a pro-Polish position... I assure you, Mr. Chancellor, that you are
entirely correct in your impression. No German nationalist, no committed enemy
of Poland, sits before you here, but rather, a committed friend of Polish
history, of the Polish future, and, above all, of the Polish people."
Dr.
Kohl, according to his own admission, is first of all a Catholic, and loves the
Polish people above all else. Since he is no German nationalist, but rather a
committed friend of Poland, the Polish people, and the Polish future, is he
then no longer a true German, in keeping with the logic of Professor Wadyslaw
Markiewiscz? And can he be therefore be claimed as a Pole by the Polish people,
like Raimund Kolbe, who recognized no nationalities, and was only a Catholic?
Father Kolbe's fellow prisoners in Auschwitz testified that he felt no hatred,
not even of the Germans who had put him in the camp and who guarded or drove
him; rather, he at all times urged only peace and love, which are certainly not
Polish character traits, since Polish history supplies us solely with proofs to
the contrary.
[Translator's
note: The atrocities of one of the greatest and most pious of all Polish kings,
Stephen Batory, resemble something out of a horror movie, and would be
incredible from any source other than the 1911 Enclyclopaedia Britannica. The
details are revealed only in very brief articles on peripheral subjects. Once
one forgets the Polish names of the victims, it is nearly impossible to find
the articles again. This can only be an act of deliberate concealment.]
Whether
Father Kolbe served as a missionary in China, Japan or Poland, was indifferent
to him, as may be seen from the many stories and obituaries written about him.
His concern was exclusively the Catholic mission, and his particular vocation
was the order of the "Militati Immaculatae", which he founded.
According to the founding documents, the order was not concerned with Poles,
but the conversion of all sinners, particularly the Freemasons, followed by the
healing of all men. But that is not the aim of the Poles, since they claim
Heaven for themselves alone, turning the Mother of Jesus into the "Queen
of Poland", that is, a worldly regent, who can, and must, reign solely for
one single people, and who must, and therefore does, only speak Polish. But
this was not Father Kolbe's view: when he served as a missionary in China and
Japan, his order was called the "Immaculate Virgin Mary", not the
"Queen of Poland". He could hardly have converted any Chinese or
Japanese in the name of a Polish queen! At his canonization, he was represented
as the symbol of all reconciliation. But in reality, this symbol of universal
reconciliation and love of humanity has been turned into a symbol of eternal
hatred of the Germans. That is a Polish, not a German, method of procedure.
In
the past pages, I have described how Polish literature and the fanatacal Polish
priesthood have used atrocity propaganda against all things German. In
literature and painting, the most horrifying atrocities were invented,
depicting the Germans as subhuman monsters, and the Poles as the most heroic
and noblest people in the world. Thus it is with the symbol of reconciliation
which they now wish to claim for themselves, allegedly because Kolbe was of
Polish blood. Precisely the same kind of "Polish blood" as flowed in
the veins of Nicholas Copernicus, Veit Stoss, or Gottlieb Linde. At the same
time, no image, no book, no obituary, fails to recount the most disgusting
atrocities imaginable which this hero was allegedly forced to endure at the
hands of the Germans. This is intended to bring anti-German disgust and hatred to
a boil. It is unceasingly hammered into Polish minds that the Germans murdered
their priests. At the same time, they never neglect to attribute the
corresponding qualities to the Germans: the blood-drenched hangmen, SS
torturers, slaves doomed to extinction, executioners, and anything else which
could be invented by the noble Poles, nothing is missing. The black-white
caricature of evil vs. good is drawn to perfection. Everyone is forced to
participate. On the back cover of the little book by Father Lesch from the
Vatican is an afterword signed by Cardinal Wojtyla, containing the epithet
"Bloody Fritz". This is another indication of this high dignitary's
true priorities, since the epithet "Bloody Fritz" is intended as an
incitement to hatred. The man to whom the afterword was dedicated was of far
greater nobility than the man who wrote it, since all witnesses agree that
Father Kolbe never spoke a word of contempt or hatred, but taught only peace
and love. This type of remark from a Man of God is certainly not in the spirit
of Maximilian Kolbe, who was a German by birth by the name of Raimund Kolbe. We
do not doubt the descriptions of his life and dedication, we simply wish to
delve further into the legend of his death, i.e., his alleged murder, since the
stories abound with so many contradictions. Again, we wish to point to the
misuse of religion for political purposes.
First,
it must be kept in mind that Kolbe, at the time of his death, was dangerously
ill with tuberculosis — very active tuberculosis — as Father Lesch and others
never fail to mention. He therefore identified himself entirely with the
thought of the sacrificing his life for others. He even requested this very
sacrifice. Father Lesch reports that Kolbe repeatedly, voluntarily, and
constantly did without bread and tea — even medical treatment — to prove his
Christian humility and service. His incurable tuberculosis may have been
partially responsible for this longing for death.
Let
us now turn to the available — and unavailable — Auschwitz documents concerning
Father Maximilian Kolbe.
From
a letter from the Auschwitz State Museum dated 21.10.1977, we learn that
"due to the destruction of the majority of the documents by the SS camp
administration, the file of death records for Maximilian Kolbe is unavailable.
But the individual document from the registry office, i.e, the "individual
certificate", is available. As such a certificate, the cloister at
Niepokolanow, upon request, issues a photocopy of a letter of the last alleged
eyewitness. I have translated this letter, and reproduce it in its entirety as
follows, since it contains allegations which are so monstrous that they cannot
reflect the truth:
"Chorow,
27 December 1945
"To
the administration of the 'Knights of the Immaculatae' in Niepokolanow
"Upon
reading the article 'Remembrance: the last days of Pastor O. Maximilian Kolbe'
in the December issue of the 'Knights', I wish to describe his last days in the
underground bunker of the Auschwitz camp.
"I
was then working as writer and interpreter[!] in the mentioned bunker, and due
to this noble man's extraordinary behaviour in the face of death, which
inspired admiration even among the SS men, I still remember his last days
exactly.
"Block
13, at the right end of the camp, was surrounded by a 6 meter high wall. Under
the earth were cells, on the other hand in the ground floor the penal company
was located. In many cells, there were small windows and bunks; others had no
windows or bunks, and were completely dark. In one of the latter cells in July
1941 after the evening roll call, 10 prisoners were led out of block 14. Before
the block, they were ordered to strip naked, after which these poor souls were
pushed into the darkness, where 20 unhappy victims from the previous group were
already confined, also naked. All new arrivals were led into one cell. Upon
being locked into the cells the SS men laughed, 'You'll shrink like tulips'.
From this day onwards, the prisoners received no food at all. At the daily
inspection, the SS men on Block 13 were ordered to take out the dead from the
night. I was always present during these visits, since I noted the numbers of
the dead and had to interpret possible conversations and requests of the
prisoners from Polish into German. [Translator's note: they were killed in the
cruelest manner possible by the Germans, but interpreters were provided to
serve as convenient witnesses.] From the cells in which the unhappy victims
were located, came loud daily prayers, rosary recitations, and songs in which
the prisoners in the neighbouring cells participated. At times, when the SS
crew was not present, I went into the bunker to speak to my colleagues and to
cheer them up. Heartfelt greetings and songs from the suffering to the Holy
Mother could be heard from all entrances to the bunker. I had the feeling I was
in church. Father Kolbe spoke, and the prisoners answered in a chorus. They
were so deeply absorbed in prayers, that they didn't even notice the SS men
spying on them. They only fell silent when the SS shouted loudly. When the
cells were opened, the sufferers begged for a bit of bread or water, but they
didn't get it. When one of the stronger prisoners approached the door, he was
struck blows in the abdomen so that he fell over backwards and hit the hard
cement floor and was killed, or was shot. The degree of torment the prisoners
had to endure before their death is shown by the fact that the latrines were
always dry and empty; hence we may conclude that the unfortunates had to drink
their own urine due to their great thirst.
"Kolbe
himself kept himself apart. He didn't complain, and asked for nothing. He gave.
He consoled his fellow prisoners, saying that the departed would be all right,
and that the prisoners would be released. Since they were already very weak,
they prayed only very softly. During inspections, the priest Kolbe could be
seen standing or kneeling in the midst with a peaceful expression, looking out
upon the world, while all the others already lay on the floor. The SS, who
recognized his dedication and saw that all the others in the cells had died
guiltlessly, came to have a great respect for Kolbe and told each other 'that
priest there is really a really decent person. We never had one like him here
before'. Thus 2 weeks passed. In the meantime, one after the other died, until
after 3 weeks, only 4 were left alive, including Kolbe. That seemed too long to
the camp administration. The cell was needed for new victims. Therefore, they
fetched the leader of the hospital, a German with the criminal name of Bock,
who gave each one of them an injection of carbolic acid in the veins of the
left hand. Kolbe, with a prayer on his lips, held out his arm to his murderer.
I could not look. Pretending that I had work in the office, I left the room.
After the SS had left the room with the murderer, I returned immediately, and
found Kolbe in a sitting position with his back against the wall, his eyes
open, and his head leaning to one side. The peaceful, pure face was beaming.
"Together
with the barber on the block, Chlebik, I bore the body of this hero to the
washroom. There he was laid into a box and taken away. Thus disappeared the
heroic priest of Auschwitz camp, freely sacrificing himself for the father of a
family, peaceful and still, praying until the last moment. For several months
in the camp, everyone thought of the heroic deed of the priest; the name Kolbe
was mentioned at every execution. The impressions I had of this event will
remain in my memory forever. I could not confide the details of Kolbe's last days
to the priest K. Szweda, since any violation of secrecy about the building was
punished by death. Some time later, the priest Szweda was transferred to
Dachau, and we didn't see him any more. I have just now accidentally received
the December issue from my colleagues Hornika from Chorzow, and decided to
write this letter immediately. With sincere best wishes and Gods blessings, I
remain, Faithfully, Borgowiec Bruno."
Now.
The German occupation troops had already withdrawn from Poland by January -
February 1945. But the last "eyewitness" kept the secret of the
Kolbe's death all to himself until the end of December; that is, no one showed
any interest in the manner of Kolbe's death until then, obviously because there
was nothing remarkable about it. From December 1945 onwards, however, it was
different. The death records — i.e., documents from the internment period —
were unfortunately lost, but a "death certificate" is available.
There was also a last "eyewitness", and he was alleged to have made
this report. I have spoken to a doctor about this report. Here is what he says:
1.
No healthy man, let
alone someone suffering from tuberculosis, could survive 2 or even 3 weeks
naked in a dark cell, on a bare cement floor, without any food or water. Thirst
and cold would have caused very rapid death.
2.
The latrines are
said to have been dry and empty because the prisoners allegedly drank their own
urine due to severe thirst. But if they had done that, they would have died
much more quickly, since all the toxic substances of the body are concentrated
in the urine, which is excreted precisely so that the body may be free of these
toxins. If the prisoners had satisfied their thirst in this unappetizing
manner, they would have re-ingested these toxins into their bodies, and would
have rapidly died from poisoning. (A question from the doctor: if the latrines
were dry and empty, did they also eat their own excrement? Even when they
suffered from diarrhoea, which would have been inevitable?)
3.
After 3 weeks naked
on a cold cement floor with active tuberculosis, Kolbe allegedly continued to
stand or kneel in the middle of the cell, praying loudly, consoling his last
fellow prisoners! And all this time, they never received a drop of water! That
would have been impossible even for a Hercules.
4.
The last 4
prisoners are said to have been killed with an injection in the left hand, with
carbolic acid, no less. This was surely the first time in the history of
medicine that carbolic acid has ever been used for such a purpose; to a doctor,
this is completely incredible.
5.
The witness
reported that any violation of secrecy about the building was punishable by
death, that is, the killing was to remain secret. But carbolic acid is a
strongly-smelling substance which betrays its won presence.
And
now I must add a 6th objection. The death records were lost, of course, but the
X-ray records survived. According to these records, Kolbe was X-rayed on two
occasions, on 28 July 1941 for the last time! The witness speaks of confinement
in a dark cell for 3 weeks, from July to 14 August 1941. That means that Kolbe
was taken out of his dark cell to be given a quick X-ray, just before his
intended murder! What curious people these Germans are!
The
fact that Kolbe was X-rayed on 28 July 1941 proves that his active tuberculosis
was given medical treatment, and that he was not held in any "death
bunker", since it is inconceivable that the Germans would have taken him
out to X-ray him. This therefore proves that the letter from this
"Borgowiec" is a fabrication. The purpose of the fabrication is clearly
revealed at the end of the sworn statement of the person for whom Kolbe
allegedly sacrificed his life. This sworn statement is dated even later than
the Borgowiec's statement, i.e, 25 October 1946, more than 5 years after the
alleged events! It does do not restrict itself to the facts, but extends to
Kolbe's future beatification and canonization, which is obviously the purpose
for which the statement was drawn up and written.
"I drew the lot. With the words, 'oh, my wife and
my children, whom I must leave as orphans....', I went to the end of the block.
I was doomed to go and starve to death in the hunger block. Father Maximilian
Kolbe and a Minority Father from Niepokolanow heard these words. He stepped out
of the ranks went to the camp leader and tried to kiss his hand (!). "What
does the Polish pig want?", Fritsch asked the interpreter. Father
Maximilian pointed to me with his finger, and declared himself ready to go to
his death for me. With a corresponding movement of his hand and the word
"Aus!", the camp leader called me out of the ranks of the doomed, and
Father Maximilian Kolbe took my place. Shortly afterwards, they led them off to
the death cells. They ordered us to go to the blocks. At this point, it was
difficult to resist the overpowering impression which gripped me. I — the
condemned man — was now to go on living, while another sacrificed himself
willingly for me! Was this a dream or reality? ... Among our companions in
suffering at Auschwitz, only voices of admiration were to be heard for the
priest's heroic sacrifice of his own life for me. I grew up in the Catholic
religion, and have kept my belief throughout the hardest times of my life. Only
religion gave me strength and hope at these times. Father Maximilian Kolbe's
sacrifice has further strengthened my religious convictions, as well as my
attachment to the Catholic Church, which is able to produce such heroes. The
only thanks that I can offer my rescuer is a daily prayer, which I say together
with my wife."
The
rescued person whose life had been saved, whose life was now given back to him,
regardless of the overpowering impression which Father Maximilian Kolbe's
sacrifice made on him, felt no immediate impulse to speak of the heroic
sacrifice of the priest from his Church and his people, or to give public
thanks for his salvation, even after the collapse of the German Reich, the
evacuation of Auschwitz, and the liberation of the prisoners. Only one and a
half years later did he sign a statement which was obviously prepared because it
had dawned on someone that the Church needed a new Saint with which to kill two
birds with one stone. First, a closer attachment of the people to the Church,
and secondly, the memorializing of eternal anti-German hatred, since the
simultaneous beatification and later canonization would provide plentiful
opportunity to harp on German crimes. The Kolbe case was intended to establish
German inhumanity even if all the other lies and atrocity stories were proven
false. In so doing, they didn't limit themselves to speaking of the priest's
sacrificial death; they used the opportunity to make renewed accusations of
German crimes. The intent is obvious, and destroys the effect, as Wilhelm Busch
would say.
It
must be stressed that Father Kolbe bears no guilt for this swindle. In Poland,
the Church, God, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the clergy have all been
nationalized and conscripted into the national struggle. And according to the
motto that "Catholic means Polish", the Catholic Kolbe is said to
have been a Pole, just as in the 19th century, the villages of Bamberg were
made Polish right under the noses of the Prussian government. The total
misunderstanding of this process in Germany, and the indifference of Germans
abroad for all the problems of ethnic Germans in Poland, contribute to this
process and are equivalent to aiding and abetting in it.
How
could it otherwise have been possible to confiscate the churches from their
Evangelical believers, not only after the German collapse, but even today?
Evangelical churches are still occupied by the Poles. This became particularly
widespread after Pope Wojtyla's first visit to their homeland! This was
reported in no. 1/82 of the "Anzeiger of the Emergency Administration of
the German East", as well as in some domestic newspapers and on German
television. The reports contained pleas from long-resident Evangelical citizens
of Mazur, weeping over the theft of their churches. Even more shocking was the
impudence of the Catholic clergy, who simply declared that the confiscation of
Evangelical churches in Poland was thoroughly justified and no cause for
anxiety, since there were many more Catholics than Protestants in Mazur!
The
procedure was described by the Lutheran pastor Firlas at Sehesten in answer to
questioning by reporters. Poles gathered in the locality, and then approached
the Evangelical church in the form of a procession. Adults and old people, as
well as children, approached the church carrying candles in their hands. The
locks on the church doors had already been broken open. The churches were
guarded day and night. Signs were posted on the church doorways stating that
entrance was forbidden to Evangelicals. Pastor Firlas says: "We protest
against this thievery and robbery. Relations between Evangelicals and Catholics
have been damaged, because we cannot live in friendship if the Catholic priests
steal our churches. The Catholic Church walks over corpses to achieve its
goals. The Church is fanatical, and this has worsened since a Pole became Pope.
There can be no question of ecumenicalism. A total of 12 churches have been
occupied. The churches are guarded day and night."
A
Catholic priest was also interrogated by reporters on the occupation of
churches. Here is his answer: "The great number of Catholics here in
Poland justifies the actions of members of the municipality, who acted without
my knowledge. The Protestants here have 5 churches, and needed only 1. The
others are empty and falling into neglect. We have so few churches here in the
northern region — and only small churches — and the municipality is a big one.
I believe that the Protestants are satisfied that their churches are now in
better hands. We do not forbid them entrance."
When
questioned by the reporter on the occupation of churches by violence, the answer
was: "Occupation, yes... but a guard is necessary. It ensures that the
Protestants cannot come and try to get in."
Nothing
can exceed the impudence of this "Christian" clerical after this. He
has the stolen churches guarded so that the victimized owners can no longer
gain entrance, and at the same time he claims that entrance is not forbidden to
them! He justifies occupation by violence on the grounds of the great number of
Catholics, and even claims that Evangelicals are glad that the churches were stolen
from them, since they are now in better hands! In view of such shamelessness,
it is superfluous to ask how one can pray in such stolen churches.
The
clergyman Firlas attempted to alarm his brothers in the faith in the West. He
turned to the ecumenical churches of Germany, to the World Association of
Lutherans, and the Evangelical Churches of Germany for support. But they all
refused to intervene, speaking of mere "Polish political conflicts".
This is the cowardly manner in which they abandon their brothers in the faith.
Reverend Firlas sees the increasing homelessness of the Lutherans in Mazur, and
doesn't know what to do. The Poles say anyone who is a Catholic is a Pole, and
that all the Protestants are Germans. But the Germans leave their countrymen in
the lurch, saying it's only a problem of Germans in a foreign country; thus are
Germans abandoned by the faith, and not just in the East. Poland has always
attempted to eradicate minorities. The Catholic Churches now sense that their
power is increasing; against this background, an anti-ecumenical spirit is also
on the rise, particularly, a rejection of minorities: chauvinism and
nationalism are also growing. Intolerance of everything which is not Polish
gives rise to hatred; despite this, their worldwide propaganda claims that they
are a tolerant and highly moral people. They have, so to speak, laid claim to a
monopoly on morals, in an arrogance which is second to none.
The
violent occupation of churches shows the effects of bad spiritual examples,
even decades later. Speaking in Breslau Cathedral, the Primate of Poland,
Cardinal Wszysynski, declared: "When we look at these Houses of God, we
know that we have not taken German soil. It is not the German soul which speaks
from these stones. These buildings have waited and waited, and have finally
returned to Polish hands."
But
history shows that it is not the Polish soul which speaks from one single stone
of Breslau Cathedral, because "Catholic" doesn't mean
"Polish". But the example given above constitutes a free licence for
every kind of thievery, even that of Lutheran churches, since the Polish
majority need them. It never even occurs to them to build churches of their
own. They have no sense left of justice left; these "pious
Christians" have simply set aside the Seventh Commandment.
This
Polish attitude also reveals another aspect to these developments which should
not be overlooked, since it is of enormous importance to us. The Poles advocate
marriage with large families. Seven to nine children are desired by them. Lech
Walesa even has eight children. He is a model to the masses. If this continues
— and that is a certainty, since it is the Germans who feed these blessings in
the form of Polish children — the Poles can look forward to a population of 60
to 70 million people by the year 2000. Here in Germany, by contrast, the
opposite will have occurred: we will have shrunk to 30 million at the most. In
my first publication, I showed, based on a map published in Poland, that German
regions as far north as Bremen and as far south as Munich have already been
declared "originally Slavic regions" by the Poles. There are already
a great many people writing "letters to the editor — in Hamburg, Luebeck,
Lueneberg — in an attempt to support this contention. Since the Catholic priest
at Sehesten justified the violent occupation of the Evangelical churches
through the greater numbers of Catholic believers while Evangelical churches
stood empty, we must be prepared to be treated in exactly the same manner in
Germany. Of course, it will then be said that we are "satisfied to see our
country in better hands"!
This
is the policy which has received the blessing of the Polish Pope with the aid
of German Catholics, who send countless millions and millions of packages full
of valuable goods as love offerings to Polish babies — postage paid! — who will
expel us as soon as they are able to do so, just as they expelled 15 million
Germans in 1945. The German worship of everything Polish blinds us to Polish
realities. German Catholicism cannot be equated with Polish Catholicism,
because German Catholicism lacks any national component, while Polish
Catholicism has given birth to a nationalism, even chauvinism, which recognizes
no borders. A people which, as history shows, has never been able to govern
itself, is following a policy which, in its megalomania and lust for power,
must lead to an explosion of violence between nations. German Catholicism is
jointly guilty in this, since it only sees only the foreground of Polish
economic misery and not the background of the Polish lust for power. Constant
German assistance encourages the Poles to rely upon help from abroad, while
continuing to refuse to work. Germany is occupied territory too, but the German
people work hard. We have no freedom of action either, nor are we sovereign in
our politics, but nobody goes on strike because of it. Our trade unions have
not, so far, demanded 3 years maternal leave for the birth of each child, as
established by Solidarnosc in the Danzig agreement. In Germany, we seem to be
too poor to have children of our own, but the bankrupt Poles, by contrast, can
afford 7 to 9 children per family, and 3 years maternal leave for the mother!
What's the point of talking about working women? 1 child every 3 years, and there
won't be a single day left for any paid work! And the stupid Germans pay for it
all!
And
what thanks will we get? When this "Master Race" runs out of space in
its border territories — which are already stolen land — they will move
westwards, over the border. At this point, it will be too late for the stupid
Germans.
The
whole point of Polish policy is to reverse the Reformation in the Lutheran
areas, as the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Wyszynski, already expressly
indicated speaking of the regions stolen so far. The German people must
recognize this. But the Polish people must also realize that every people has a
right to the type of faith which is compatible with its own ethnic heritage;
that medieval-style religious warfare will not necessarily end with the victory
of the Polish Church. They have already stolen part of the religious heritage
of the Lutheran Masuren, and deprived the rest of their lives of meaning, as
the victims complained on television. This has not helped the reputation of the
Poles, since the theft could not remain concealed. The Germans have always been
prepared for reconciliation and peace, but this presupposes that the opposite
side must call a halt to its attacks and its lies, put an end to its insults,
recognize its artificially generated hatred for what it is, and renounce it;
that it pay a tribute to truth, both past and present; that it recognize the
extent of its own guilt, and call its own criminals exactly what they are, and
bring them to trial, which is what every state with any culture would do. If
Poland wishes to be a European state with any culture, then it must behave like
a state with some culture, instead of allowing criminals to be protected by
priests. As Bishop Dr. Wetter, upon leaving office in Speyer, said to his
congregation in his final address: "We must succeed in reducing
hostilities in the hearts of men, but on both sides. I expressly say: 'on both
sides'; since only then will there be any prospect of peace."
Every
day, the Germans prove — through huge floods of assistance packages — that they
bear no hostility in their hearts. They are waiting for the Poles to renounce
their unjustified hatred and evil libels. This, of course, includes their lie
letters about the death of Father Kolbe. Otherwise, the prospects for peace
will be nil. Greatness is not revealed by hate and libel, as Polish authors
believe. As long as Germans are referred to as "mad dogs" in Polish
literature, we must reject reconciliation, despite our over-abundant
assistance. It is shameless that one side should holds its hands constantly
open to receive love gifts worth millions, while at the same time, the givers
are hated so much that their very language is no longer tolerated. The German
language is strictly illegal in Poland, and anyone who speaks German must
reckon with anything from insults to police arrest. The CDU Bundestag
Representative Helmut Sauer spoke of this before the Bundestag. Sauer, a
Silesian, had taken part in his godfather's funeral in Poland. When the
clergyman, a German, spoke a few words of consolation in German to the mourners
in a German municipality in Poland, he was immediately arrested. His relatives
only succeeded in obtaining his release by saying that he could just as easily
have said a few words in English or French. "Why aren't these things
called by their right name?" Representative Sauer asked the Bundestag. And
I ask the same question. Why is this concealed from the German people? Why do
German government representatives have to conceal the excesses of the Poles?
The Poles cannot impose themselves through a lack of national dignity: in
reality, this can only lead to a contempt for them. And they show their
contempt for us openly, but the Germans are too stupid to notice.
And
if they notice, they say nothing. That is why Dr. Fritz Wittmann, a member of
the Bundestag, expressly stated, in the Danube Schwabian newspaper "Der
Donauschwab" on 2 January 1983, no. 2, that the Polish authorities,
especially the State Security Service, ensure that ethnic Germans receive no
consideration when assistance shipments arrive from private individuals or
charitable organizations.
Bundestag
Representative Dr. Wittmann therefore requested all assistance organizations to
take special care that this discrimination be ended, its existence be
recognized, and made the object of public discussion.
The
myth of the Germans in the Polish popular tradition and literature is strongly
in need of correction. But it is up to us to demand this correction, and to do
so with determination.
Finally,
our politicians should understand that they were elected by the German people,
and not by the Poles, to look after German interests. Even our churches should
understand that religious freedom can only be ensured when German priests —
both Evangelical and Catholic — defend their own people and protect them from
defamation. It is not the responsibility of Christian clergymen to worry about
misery in foreign countries which is the foreigners' own fault, while
neglecting the misery of one's own people. "Brotherly love" means
love for one's neighbour, one's brother, one's friends, without asking which
relgion they belong to, instead of worrying about members of one's own religion
in a foreign country which hates us with all its soul.
My
remarks are intended to serve the truth. Because truth, and only truth, is the
prelude to reconciliation. Only a recognition of historical truth can lead to
peace between the peoples of Europe. As long as lies and defamation prevail,
reconciliation will not be achieved.
Bibliography:
·
Franz Wolff, Ostgermanien (Eastern Germany),
Grabert Verlag, Tübingen, 1977
·
Dr. Kurt Lueck, Der Mythos vom Deutschen in der polnischen
Volksüberlieferung und Literatur [The Myth of the Germans in Polish
Popular Tradition and Literature], Historische Gesellschaft im Wartheland,
Verlag S. Hirzel, Leipzig, 1943
·
Dr. Kurt Lueck, Deutsche Aufbaukräfte in der Entwicklung Polens
- Forschungen zur deutsch-polnischen Nachbarschaft im ostmitteleuropäischen
Raum [German Forces of Construction in the Development of Poland -
Research on German-Polish Relations in Central Europe], Verlag Guenther Wolff,
Plauen im Vogtl. 1934
·
Dr. Enno Meyer, Deutschland und Polen 1772-1914
[Germany and Poland 1772- 1914], Ernst-Klett-Verlag, Stuttgart
·
Pater Franz Lesch, Der Selige Maximilian Kolbe - Held von
Auschwitz [Father Maximilian Kolbe - Hero of Auschwitz], Verlag
"Friede und Heil" Würzburg und M.I. Franziskaner-Kloster, Freiburg,
Switzerland
·
MUT Verlag, Aus dem Archiv der Reichsregierung: 650 Text-
und Bilddokumente zur Vorgeschichte des Zweiten Weltkrieges [From
the Archives of the Reichs Government: 650 Text and Graphic Illustrations on
the Preliminary History of the Second World War]
·
Die Polnischen Greueltaten
an den Volksdeutschen in Polen, im Auftrage
des Auswärtigen Amtes auf Grund urkundischen Beweismaterials zusammengestellt,
bearbeitet und herausgegeben, zweite ergänzte Auflage [Polish Atrocities
Against Ethnic Germans in Poland. On Behalf of
the Foreign Office, based on Documentary Evidentiary Material. Second
Supplemented Edition], Berlin 1940.
·
Heimatbrief der
Katholiken des Erzbistums Breslau, no.
3/1977; herausgegeben vom apostolischen Visitator des Katholiken des Erzbistums
Breslau e.V., Köln [Letter Home from the Catholics of the Archdiocese of
Breslau no. 3/1977, published by the Apostolic Visitator of the Catholics of
the Archdiocese of Breslau e. V., Cologne]
Self-published by Elsie Löser
Kaiserlautern, Auf der Vogelweide 14
1st edition 1983
Translated by Carlos W. Porter.
Sources for all information in translator's notes: 1911 Encycopaedia Britannica
