„A united Europe was not achieved and we had war"
Episode 5: Against the fatalism of hostility (European and German-Polish reconciliation)
(...) Polish-German reconciliation was a very difficult process due to the scale of Nazi crimes against the Poles. Moreover, after the war, Poland was a communist country, separated from the democratic Federal Republic of Germany by the Iron Curtain. In this situation, the citizens, mostly the Catholics and Evangelicals, took matters into their own hands. They managed to change the attitudes of most of their fellow citizens and to convince the political elite to drop the logic of confrontation and to enter the road of reconciliation instead. The proclamation of Polish bishops to the German bishops with the memorable words “we forgive and ask forgiveness” passed into history. (...)
Project: „A united Europe was not achieved and we had war"
Episode 5: Against the fatalism of hostility
Script: Dr Robert Żurek
Narrator: Dr Robert Żurek
Production: Aleksandra Furtak, Katarzyna Maziej-Choińska
Cooperation: Dominik Całka, Dr Tomasz Skonieczny
Music: "Empty Moments", Grzegorz Jurczyk
Translation: Agnieszka Żegańska
Language consultation: Maciej Pliszka
Film made by the Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe with the support of the European Commission's Regional Representation in Wrocław.
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On the Polish website of the project, there are materials extending the topic discussed in the episode - podcasts with the participation of experts and links to sources with publications on a given topic.
