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the importance of an institution that represents the expellees, but for her it is the behavior of the BdV she considers disturbing. “This heritage has to be administrated, intellectually as well as regarding the personal fates. But the manner in which the BdV reacts is, in my view, more than counterproduc- tive.”
Scheil is referring to the
recent advance made by the BdV regarding the case of Erika Stein- bach. To prevent deterioration of the relations with Poland, the Ger- man Foreign Minister threatened to denounce the nomination of Steinbach, head of the BdV, for one of the places on the board of the Flight, Expulsion, and Recon- ciliation Foundation. After months of arguments, Steinbach agreed to resign from the Foundation – but only if the German government gave up the right to refuse mem- bers proposed for the board. Although she probably
wanted the best for the BdV and the Foundation, with these sugges- tions she also displeased those the Foundation aims to attract. “These negotiation behaviors and black- mail attempts, this attitude that one is allowed to dictate the condi- tions, I think this is very inappro- priate,” says Scheil with obvious anger in her voice. “I do under- stand that they want to continue the conversations about it, that they want people to be allowed to say if they have been expelled. But to believe that they have the right to have an impact on negotiations
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and say how it should be and set conditions, this is not my view.” The Flight, Expulsion, and
Reconciliation Foundation could serve as an opportunity to gain new momentum in the efforts to educate the public about expellees, especially through the involvement of young people like Scheil, like Schröder, like Wetzel – the young descendants of expellees. These youth seem to be the only people who have found an uncomplicated approach to the topic, who are aware of the inexcusable German debt but do not close their eyes at the suffering of expellees. The Foundation could in-
creasingly incorporate young peo- ple like Przemyslaw as well, repre- sentatives that suffered the most during World War II, who know about the concerns in their coun- tries but are open and willing to discuss the plight of the other vic- tims of the war that Adolf Hitler started. Maybe involving young citizens of Poland like Przemyslaw could transform the Flight, Expul- sion, and Reconciliation Founda- tion from a source of discord into an invaluable asset. “We should discuss the past
together to build up the present,” says Przemyslaw. “I hope that future generations of Poles and Germans will not create such situ- ations any more. I hope that we will live together in peace and un- derstanding of painful history.”
Email Jasmin Wertz
jasmin.wertz@dispatchesinternational.org
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