Polish-German Reconciliation Foundation

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The “Polish-German Reconciliation” Foundation (Polish Fundacja “Polsko-Niemieckie Pojednanie” [FPNP]) is a foundation under Polish law with its seat in Warsaw . It was founded in 1992 as part of German compensation payments to Polish Nazi victims. Her main fields of work are the provision of humanitarian and financial aid for victims of the Nazi dictatorship as well as the areas of historical education and Polish-German encounter projects.

History of the foundation

founding

The establishment is closely linked to the history of German compensation payments to Polish Nazi victims. The first compensation payments by the Federal Republic, which were made from the 1950s on the basis of the Federal Compensation Law passed on September 18, 1953, were initially unable to reach Polish victims due to the bipolar world order. It was only with the end of Soviet hegemony over East Central Europe and the democratic change in Poland at the end of the eighties / beginning of the nineties that the question of compensation payments arose again. The question of compensation became a key issue in the bilateral negotiations for the 1991 treaty on good neighbors and friendly cooperation between the reunified Federal Republic and Poland. In the end, as part of these negotiations, it was agreed that Germany would pay Poland DM 500 million for use in humanitarian aid programs. For the disbursement of these funds in Poland, the foundation of the foundation was arranged, which from then on dealt with the processing of aid requests and the disbursement of the funds. As part of this activity, an extensive archive was created which, in addition to the applications from Nazi victims, also contains many original documents.

Payment of compensation

According to the Foundation, the payment of financial support is primarily to be regarded as humanitarian aid, even if the various donors of the Foundation use terms such as “compensation” and “reparation”. This understanding is derived from the practical insight that many beneficiaries use the financial aid they receive from the foundation to pay for necessary medication and treatments. In addition, terms such as “compensation” appear inappropriate when dealing directly with victims, as they suggest that one can compensate for injustice experienced in some way.

In the course of the foundation's work, financial aid was paid out from different countries, sometimes with differently defined groups of eligible victims:

  • 1992: Creation of start-up capital from the transfer of 500 million DM by the German federal government (a total of 417.3 million PLN)
  • 1992 to 2004: Payment of a total of PLN 732 million to 584,745 eligible persons from the funds of the start-up capital and the reserves created from it
  • 1998 to 2002: Disbursement of a total of nine million USD to 23,000 eligible persons from funds of the Swiss Fund for the benefit of needy victims of the Holocaust
  • 2001 to 2006: Disbursement of a total of EUR 975.5 million (PLN 3.5 billion) to 484,000 eligible persons from funds from the “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” foundation
  • 2001 to 2005: Disbursement of a total of 42.7 million euros (155 million PLN) to 22,689 eligible persons from funds from the Austrian “Reconciliation, Peace and Cooperation” fund and foundation reserves;
  • 2001 to 2005: Disbursement of a total of 93 million PLN to victims of National Socialism from joint funds of the “Fund for Victims of National Socialist Persecution” (the so-called “Fund of London's Robbery Gold”) and the Foundation.

After an application for compensation, forced laborers in agriculture received 2,200 DM, forced labor in industry 4,400 DM and ghetto inmates received 15,000 DM.

documentation

Over a million requests for compensation have been made to the foundation. There is a file for every application with photos, work cards, letters and testimonies. Thus, an extensive documentation about the individual fates and the extent of the forced labor was created.

Job profile

Humanitarian aid

As part of the foundation's humanitarian aid programs, free operations for victims of National Socialism with severe joint problems and prostheses have been organized since 2002 with the support of an initiative by German and Austrian orthopedists. In addition, spa stays were made possible in the spring of 2003 and funds from the “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” foundation were used to finance stays in a sanatorium and orthopedic aids in 2006/2007. In addition, in November 2007 a joint project with PKO BP to support veterans of the Polish Home Army was launched . As part of its humanitarian aid, the foundation also offered the reimbursement of costs for medically necessary drugs and treatments and provided care items such as special beds, walking aids and wheelchairs.

Around 30 volunteers from Poland and Germany also work in direct social work, who meanwhile personally look after a total of 40 survivors in Warsaw.

Historical education and publications

The foundation organizes permanent and traveling exhibitions on the subject of Nazi history, in particular with regard to the Second World War, the German occupation of Poland and the history of Polish slave laborers in the Third Reich . The traveling exhibitions are shown in Poland as well as in Germany and the main exhibition on the forced labor of Polish citizens in Germany is available on the Internet. The foundation also publishes books on this subject. In addition, the foundation supports scientific work on request by providing help with research.

Encounter programs

Through contacts with former forced laborers, the foundation used the opportunity to set up an encounter program that enables young people in Poland and Germany to come into direct contact with contemporary witnesses. Talks with Polish contemporary witnesses at German schools are also organized in this context.

Volunteers

The involvement of volunteers is an important foundation. Particularly with regard to the financial disbursements from Germany that have ended, the involvement of the volunteers is an opportunity to provide free help to the victims of National Socialism in their everyday lives. Volunteers from the organization Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste , the Initiative Christians for Europe and the European Voluntary Service have the opportunity to participate in various work areas. A total of 10 volunteers from European countries are currently working in these programs in the foundation. The work is largely divided into office work, work in the archive and social care for Nazi victims at home or in an old people's home.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Juliane Preiss: Forbidden Friendship. In: Hamburger Abendblatt, April 10, 2013, p. 6.
  2. ↑ Juliane Preiss: Forbidden Friendship. In: Hamburger Abendblatt, April 10, 2013, p. 6.
  3. ↑ z. B .:
    • Tomasz Szarota - "The Germans in the eyes of the Poles during the Second World War"
    • Erna Putz - "Boży dezerter. Franz Jägerstätter (1907–1943)"
    • Bogdan Bartnikowski - "A childhood behind the barbed wire"
    • "Preserving memories. Slave and forced laborers of the Third Reich from Poland 1939–1945"
    • "Atlas Forced Resettlement, Flight and Expulsion. East Central Europe 1939–1959"