In the Beginning Was the Word
The 1965 Letter from the Polish Bishops
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
“We grant forgiveness and ask for forgiveness.” This sentence from the Polish bishops to their German counterparts on 18 November 1965 came as a thunderbolt. After the monstrous crimes committed by the Germans against Poland during the Second World War and the injustice of the expulsion of Germans from Poland, the bishops’ letter laid the foundation for reconciliation. It inspired many believers to rethink their views, challenged communist propaganda, and called into question the bloc confrontation in Europe. The German bishops reacted with reserve. Shrewder contemporaries saw the letter as “the most courageous and most far-sighted act in Polish post-war history.” Today, Poland’s church is struggling to define its position on the legacy of reconciliation. Right-wing parties, with which most bishops and lay people sympathise, defame reconciliation as German deception. A return to the spirit of the letter exchange could give new impetus to German-Polish relations.
(Osteuropa 8-9/2025, pp. 79–92)