On 8 September, as part of the project "8 x reconciliation", a meeting was held with Dr Annemarie Franke, author of the book "These are not enemies, these are people. Ewa Unger (1926-2020)". The discussion, moderated by Dominik Kretschmann (Head of Memorial Site of the Krzyżowa Foundation), was an opportunity to look at the history of Polish-German relations from the perspective of an extraordinary woman, co-founder of the Krzyżowa Foundation.
Dr. Annemarie Franke presented Ewa Unger's life story, illustrating it with archival photographs and documents.
By learning about this very interesting biography, we could see how personal contacts, experiences and attitudes of concrete people shaped the process of reconciliation between Poles and Germans.
Read more: ||REPORT|| People of reconciliation. "They are not enemies, they are people. Ewa Unger...
It has been 30 years since the signing of the German-Polish Neighbourhood Treaty, which has facilitated relations between Poland and Germany on many different levels. Almost as long, young people have been supporting the Krzyżowa Foundation as volunteers. Initially, these were mainly young Germans doing their civilian service in Poland, in Krzyżowa, and later volunteers from Germany, Poland, Ukraine, but also from Portugal and Spain. The anniversary of the signing of the agreement was an opportunity to ask former volunteers what they remember from their stay in Krzyżowa and what they took away from that time.
Enjoy the film. [The film is available in Polish and German.]
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On 4th of September, Krzyżowa celebrated the 30th anniversary of signing the German-Polish Treaty of Good Neighbourhood and Friendly Cooperation. As part of the project '8 x reconciliation' carried out by the Krzyżowa Foundation since May this year, there was an opening of the exhibition 'Neighbours in Europe' and a solemn concert with the participation of musicians of the Krzyżowa-Music Chamber Music Festival.
On that special day, Krzyżowa hosted many people from Poland and Germany, including representatives of state and local authorities. They all emphasized the importance of cooperation between both nations and strengthening of already developed ties.
The opening of the exhibition "Neighbours in Europe" was attended by Dr. Marek Mutor - Director of the Centre "Memory and Future" in Wrocław, who was a co-author of the exhibition. The concert of Krzyżowa-Music was preceded by speeches by Dr. Robert Żurek- Managing Director of the Krzyżowa Foundation, Katja Meier- Minister of European Affairs of Saxony, Krzysztof Bramorski- Plenipotentiary of the Lower Silesian Marshal for International Relations and Beata Moskal- Słaniewska- Mayor of Świdnica.
We would like to thank all the guests and participants of the event as well as all those who followed our celebrations via social media.
Krzyżowa Foundation for Mutual Understanding in Europe
together with
the “Remembrance and Future” Centre
and partners
the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
Freya von Moltke Foundation for the New Kreisau
invite you to
opening of the exhibition and a ceremonial concert
on the occasion
30th anniversary of the Polish-German signing
A treaty of Good Neighbourhood and Friendly Cooperation.
Krzyżowa, 4 September 2021
The Krzyżowa-Music concert will also be available LIVE on the website of the Krzyżowa Foundation and on the social profiles of the Krzyżowa Foundation.
[Polish version – Facebook, German version: Youtube.com]