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| The Centre Against Expulsions have been supported by many ] activists, historians, political scientists and authors as well as other people. Among them first UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Dr. ], ] laureate ], ], former ]n crown prince ], well known German rabbies ], ], and historians such as ], ], ], ] and ]. The Bavarian Prime Minister and chairman of ] ] argued that "the place for a museum showing the dreadful fate of expelled Germans is in the German capital". Former German Foreign minister ] commented on Steinbach, and her initiative for a Centre Against Expulsions to ''...have caused serious damage to German-Polish relations. Not amongst extremist nationalist forces that do exist in Poland, but amongst old friends and major agents for reconciliation between our two countries.'' | The Centre Against Expulsions have been supported by many ] activists, historians, political scientists and authors as well as other people. Among them first UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Dr. ], ] laureate ], ], former ]n crown prince ], well known German rabbies ], ], and historians such as ], ], ], ] and ]. The Bavarian Prime Minister and chairman of ] ] argued that "the place for a museum showing the dreadful fate of expelled Germans is in the German capital". Former German Foreign minister ] commented on Steinbach, and her initiative for a Centre Against Expulsions to ''...have caused serious damage to German-Polish relations. Not amongst extremist nationalist forces that do exist in Poland, but amongst old friends and major agents for reconciliation between our two countries.'' | ||
| It did, many pro-German Polish journalists and activits partially lost their credibility or changed their views. | It did, many pro-German Polish journalists and activits partially lost their credibility or changed their views. | ||
| ] the last living leader of the ] responded to the idea of the Center by saying that''To label as victims the millions of ethnic Germans who were expelled from their homes in Eastern Europe after the defeat of the Nazis is to make a mockery of the Holocaust(...) The push to build a center dedicated to German expellees is nothing more than a nationalistic, chauvinistic move. It seems that the conviction that Germans do not have enough Lebensraum keeps smoldering in Germans' subconscious. How else to explain an effort to reclaim German heritage in Eastern Europe other than as a Drang nach Osten?'' | ] the last living leader of the ] responded to the idea of the Center by saying that''To label as victims the millions of ethnic Germans who were expelled from their homes in Eastern Europe after the defeat of the Nazis is to make a mockery of the Holocaust(...) The push to build a center dedicated to German expellees is nothing more than a nationalistic, chauvinistic move. It seems that the conviction that Germans do not have enough Lebensraum keeps smoldering in Germans' subconscious. How else to explain an effort to reclaim German heritage in Eastern Europe other than as a Drang nach Osten?'' | ||
| {{wikiquote}} | {{wikiquote}} | ||
Revision as of 21:53, 21 May 2006
Template:Mergesection Template:Mergesection Template:Mergesection The Centre Against Expulsions (Template:Lang-de, ZgV) is a planned German documentation centre for expulsions and ethnic cleansing, particularly the Expulsion of Germans after World War II from Eastern Germany and other parts of Eastern Europe following the Soviet offensive and occupation, to be erected in Berlin.
- All victims of genocide and expulsion need a place in our hearts and in the historical memory. We want to make it clear that human rights are indivisible.
It was initiated by the Federation of Expellees, and is supported by the CDU/CSU faction in the German parliament as well as the Chancellor Angela Merkel who intend to support building the centre.
The foundation Centre Against Expulsions with seat in Wiesbaden is headed by a CDU politician Erika Steinbach and SPD politician Peter Glotz, who died 2005.
This initiative, supported by the CDU/CSU fraction in the parliament, has caused controversy. Opponents of the proposed form of Centre object to emphasizing only German suffering. In the petition "For a critical and enlightened debate about the past" left-wing historians expressed concerns the centre would "establish and popularize a one-sided image of the past, without historical context". Well-known intellectuals and politicians, including Germans Günter Grass and Hans-Dietrich Genscher, in 2003 expressed support for a centre devoted to all expelled during the 20th century, located in some place connected with expulsions, e.g. Wrocław (Breslau). However, while Steinbach claims the Centre will represent the suffering of other nations as well, she believes that it is an internal German affair and rejects the proposal of creating the Centre under international control. "All victims of genocide and expulsion need a place in our hearts and in the historical memory. Human rights are indivisible," the Centre points out on its official home page. The Centre's homepage however contains several statements and data that is inaccurate and controversial:
- It claims Gdańsk was founded as a German city in 1224/25. In fact Gdańsk existed centuries before(first mention in 997) and was part of Poland.
- It speaks of Nazi colonists that were part of colonisation effort in Expulsions of Poles from Reichsgau Wartheland area as resettlers, while avoiding mentioning the fact that they were part of colonisation effort during state organised expulsions of Poles from that area.
- It claims Partitions of Poland made by Prussia were supported by territories annexed by Prussia.
- It takes the lowest estimates of Poles expelled by German government while taking the highest estimates when speaking about German expelled. The number of Poles expelled by Germany is listed as 460.000, while Polish historians estimate it at around 2,478,000 milion.
- Also absent is information of expulsion of around 200.000 Polish children kidnapped by German authorities from Poland in order to be Germanised.
- It lists only one expulsion of Poles by German govenrment, from the Reichsgau Wartheland area. It ignores and doesn't present at all, explusions from Zamość, Warsaw, Silesia and Pomerania.
- It takes the estimate of number of Germans who died when expelled from Czechoslovakia many times higher than that in the book by the former head Peter Glotz.
- It lists the Holocaust as Expulsion, but doesn't mention the expulsion/extermination of Roma and Sinti.
- The issue of cooperation of German minority with Nazi regime, or support during aggression of Nazi regime(see Selbstschutz) on other countries is absent from the material on history of German minorities presented by the Centre.
Polish politicians and activists proposed building a Center for Martyrology of Polish Nation (called also Center for the Memory of Suffering of the Polish Nation) that would document the systematical oppression conducted on Polish people by German state and which educate German citizens about atrocities their state and regime conducted on their neighbours during World War II. However this proposal was attacked and rejected by German politicians
The Centre Against Expulsions have been supported by many human rights activists, historians, political scientists and authors as well as other people. Among them first UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Dr. Jose Ayala Lasso, Nobel laureate Imre Kertész, Joachim Gauck, former Austrian crown prince Otto von Habsburg, well known German rabbies Walter Homolka, Eckart Klein, and historians such as Guido Knopp, György Konrád, Hans Maier, Christian Tomuschat and Alfred M. de Zayas. The Bavarian Prime Minister and chairman of CSU Edmund Stoiber argued that "the place for a museum showing the dreadful fate of expelled Germans is in the German capital". Former German Foreign minister Joschka Fischer commented on Steinbach, and her initiative for a Centre Against Expulsions to ...have caused serious damage to German-Polish relations. Not amongst extremist nationalist forces that do exist in Poland, but amongst old friends and major agents for reconciliation between our two countries. It did, many pro-German Polish journalists and activits partially lost their credibility or changed their views. Marek Edelman the last living leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising responded to the idea of the Center by saying thatTo label as victims the millions of ethnic Germans who were expelled from their homes in Eastern Europe after the defeat of the Nazis is to make a mockery of the Holocaust(...) The push to build a center dedicated to German expellees is nothing more than a nationalistic, chauvinistic move. It seems that the conviction that Germans do not have enough Lebensraum keeps smoldering in Germans' subconscious. How else to explain an effort to reclaim German heritage in Eastern Europe other than as a Drang nach Osten?