Willy Brandt's historic request for forgiveness in Warsaw
Willy Brandt's historic request for forgiveness in Warsaw
In 1970 West German Chancellor Willy Brandt traveled to Poland, where he signed the Treaty of Warsaw and visited a memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail Adrian Grycuk; © 1966 German Features/German Information Center
Transcript
NARRATOR: Warsaw - December 1970. The German delegation has a difficult mission. Twenty-five years after the end of the war Chancellor Willy Brandt has travelled to Poland, the country once invaded by the troops of Nazi Germany. Germany now recognizes the post-war Polish borders in the Treaty of Warsaw. An important step towards reconciliation with Poland. At the end of his trip Brandt visits the memorial for the Jewish ghetto uprising against the German occupation.
MARCEL REICH-RANICKI: "Brandt on the site of the former Warsaw ghetto, on the very square where the lives of my wife and I were decided. That’s where we were led, and we didn’t know if we would go to the left, to the trans-shipment center to be gassed, or to the right where we were allowed to live a little longer."
NARRATOR: This is where the Germans made life and death decisions about the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Jews to the extermination camps. Among the spectators are victims and witnesses of the Nazi occupation. How will the German chancellor, a member of the resistance against the Nazis, conduct himself? All eyes are trained on Willy Brandt.
EGON BAHR: "And as we approached we noticed that it had suddenly become stock still."
NARRATOR: And then the astonishing gesture of humility.
WILLY BRANDT: "As one who, so to say, was not exactly one of the wildest supporters of Hitler, all I could do was give a sign, to ask for forgiveness for my people, and pray that we might be forgiven."
NARRATOR: The chancellor’s gesture wins over those present more than any speech could have done, especially the survivors from the ghetto.
MAREK EDELMANN: "That left a mark, not only in the consciousness of Polish society, but in the whole world, that something had changed in Germany. Willy Brandt had made this gesture not just for himself but in the name of German society, and that was something great."
NARRATOR: Brandt's request for forgiveness had an effect far beyond Warsaw.
WALTER SCHEEL: "The way he handled this symbolic gesture did more for the German reputation in the world than all the good will and politics of the many governments that had gone before."
NARRATOR: Later, Willy Brandt is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his achievements in reconciliation through his Ostpolitik. The gesture at Warsaw left its mark on his image for all time.
MARCEL REICH-RANICKI: "Brandt on the site of the former Warsaw ghetto, on the very square where the lives of my wife and I were decided. That’s where we were led, and we didn’t know if we would go to the left, to the trans-shipment center to be gassed, or to the right where we were allowed to live a little longer."
NARRATOR: This is where the Germans made life and death decisions about the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Jews to the extermination camps. Among the spectators are victims and witnesses of the Nazi occupation. How will the German chancellor, a member of the resistance against the Nazis, conduct himself? All eyes are trained on Willy Brandt.
EGON BAHR: "And as we approached we noticed that it had suddenly become stock still."
NARRATOR: And then the astonishing gesture of humility.
WILLY BRANDT: "As one who, so to say, was not exactly one of the wildest supporters of Hitler, all I could do was give a sign, to ask for forgiveness for my people, and pray that we might be forgiven."
NARRATOR: The chancellor’s gesture wins over those present more than any speech could have done, especially the survivors from the ghetto.
MAREK EDELMANN: "That left a mark, not only in the consciousness of Polish society, but in the whole world, that something had changed in Germany. Willy Brandt had made this gesture not just for himself but in the name of German society, and that was something great."
NARRATOR: Brandt's request for forgiveness had an effect far beyond Warsaw.
WALTER SCHEEL: "The way he handled this symbolic gesture did more for the German reputation in the world than all the good will and politics of the many governments that had gone before."
NARRATOR: Later, Willy Brandt is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his achievements in reconciliation through his Ostpolitik. The gesture at Warsaw left its mark on his image for all time.