Germany WW2 row: Angela Merkel told to admit Holocaust responsibility
Old wounds and bitter grievances were reopened when a veteran of Polish politics suggested the topic of World War Two should take centre stage during Mrs Merkel’s visit. Kornel Morawiecki, the Polish Prime Minister’s father and a key figure in Poland’s anti-communist political scene of the 1980s, suggested all other topics should be swept aside. Speaking on Monday morning, he said during her visit today, Chancellor Angela Merkel should once again underline Germany is responsible for the Second World War and the Holocaust. The statement follows a controversial Polish bill which makes it a criminal offence to suggest Poland was in any way complicit in the Holocaust.
The contentious legislation has escalated relations between Israel and Poland over suggestions Warsaw was attempting to rewrite history. Many now expect Mrs Merkel to mediate the situation on what is her second foreign trip since taking office for a fourth term on Wednesday. The German Chancellor is scheduled to speak to Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki this evening. Polish Government spokeswoman Joanna Kopcinska said Warsaw is looking forward to a “good and pragmatic cooperation with Berlin”.
GETTY World War Two row: Angela Merkle was urged to accept blame for the Holocaust
During her visit today, Chancellor Angela Merkel should once again underline, that Germany is responsible for the Second World War and the Holocaust Kornel Morawiecki
Among the discussed topics today, the Chancellor is expected to address issues of tensions within the EU, migrant quotas and economic cooperation. But Mr Morawiecki has now spoken out to suggest there are more pressing matters to address. He said: “For me, the most important topic would be for Chancellor Angela Merkel to once again speak the truth in the conflict about who is responsible for the Holocaust. “For her to say that Germany is responsible for the second world war and the Holocaust, and that Poland is in no way guilty of this.”
GETTY Millions of people perished at the hands of the Nazi Holocaust in World War Two
Prime Minister Morawiecki will entertain the German entourage later today at 5.20pm GMT (6.20pm local time), before addressing a press conference at 6pm GMT (7pm local time). Mrs Merkel will then head to the Belweder Palace where President Duda will engage Mrs Merkel on issues regarding NATO, Russia and relations with the US. The German Chancellor last met with her Polish counterpart on February 16 in Berlin. Earlier in January the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) blasted suggestions Poland was complicit in the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Nazi state.
Chilling images reveal Jewish women and children walking towards their deaths Tue, February 28, 2017 Rare archive photographs revealing the inside of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp have been revealed in a new book, 'Images of War: Auschwitz and Birkenau'. Play slideshow 1 of 25
In a statement IPN said: “For several dozen years, Poland has been repeatedly slandered and portrayed as Hitler’s accomplice, therefore, defending the good name of our nation against statements that have nothing to do with historical truth seems to be an obvious and necessary stance.” Historians who have delved into the Holocaust row have admitted several Polish people were complicit in the murder of Jewish people, but underlined that the majority aided those in need. The US Holocaust Memorial Museum estimates at least three million Jewish citizens in Poland were murdered by the occupying Nazi forces and at least 1.9 million non-Jewish Polish civilians were killed during the occupation. Historian Dr Anna Mlynik-Shawcross said: “The Holocaust was a genocide perpetrated during the second world war by German Nazis in Germany and German-occupied lands.
GETTY The German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Warsaw on a diplomatic mission