History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]

Because it is not. You just have to respect the basic rules of academic research, which means acknowledging sources that disprove your theory, and to not invent sources to support your own theory. Holocaust deniers usually fail to uphold both, and thus can not claim legitimate research as an excuse.


More like an unrepentant Nazi who made it her life's mission to denigrate and insult the victims of Nazism. But I guess you can only find this revolting if you still harbor some sort of human decency.

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]

I think you are underestimating how run down the East German economy was at the end, and how attractive West Germany was for East Germans. The problem was not simply down to debts, but the rotting infrastructure and antiquated production processes. The Politburo was warned in the middle 1980s that unless there were heavy investments into the crumbling ancient parts of the cities, they would literally rot away until the early 1990s.


I have quite a lot of respect for Thatcher, but it is obvious that she really dropped the ball during the negotiations for the German reunification. She was completely irrationial, unlike her usual calculating self. No wonder she was ousted shortly afterwards by her own party.


That sounds very unlikely. Besides West Berlin was not under the authority of the FRG, but the occupying powers, so legally speaking it would have been impossible for him.


The debts were not really the problem, because even though the GDR could no longer pay them back by 1989, they were relatively low. The GDR needed investments instead, and who would have invested into a country that just failed to uphold their debts?

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]

Why, it is perfectly sensible from his point of view. Steinmeier belongs to the SPD, and the SPD believes since Willy Brandt that talking with your enemies is more effective than enmity. That does not mean that his congratulation was appropiate, but it does explain that the motiv behind it was no antisemitism.

But if something like this already makes your blood boil, you should really check on what e.g. Gedeon has written and said about jews. And while reading this, you always have to keep in mind that this was not deemed enough to expel him from the AfD. I guarantee you that afterwards you will feel very foolish for claiming that the AfD is more caring for jews than other parties.

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]


Claiming that jews were responsible for their persecution throughout history. Claiming that there is no evidence that the Protocols of the Elders of Zions are a forgeries. Claiming that judaism is behind the development of modern institutions like the rule of law, which supposedly perverted the German character. Gedeon is guilty of all of this and more, yet the AfD did not think that this was enough to expel him.


Steinmeier was heavily involved in negotiating the Iran deal, and he is one of those trying to save it because he knows that it is the best chance to secure Israel's safety. In this context did he make his congratulation.

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]


That seems to be a more appropiate description for the attempt to bring up e.g. Steinmeier when I mentioned the antisemitism of prominent AfD members. The AfD is the only party right to the Left party that tolerates open antisemites within its' ranks. That much is undisputable.


That is concerning, because the evidence is there for everybody to see.


Germans were once the worst enemies of the jews, they commited crimes on a scale against them on a scale unmatched by anyone up to this day. Yet they changed (though as the rise of the AfD shows, perhaps not as much as one might have hoped). There is no reason to believe that, given time, Arabs would not go the same process.

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]


And to whom would this be? Egypt and SA have become de facto allies of Israel against Iran.


"Gaffes" like this are so common among the AfD that only the more egregious get attention nowadays. We are talking about a party that has open antisemites in their ranks, and seeks to undermine the rememberance of the Holocaust in Germany. This is far more concerning and pressing for the Zentralrat than some criticism towards Israel (which many of them share). It also helps that Merkel has been a staunch ally of Israel throughout her time as chancellor.

The AfD only cares about the jews (and LBGT, and women and so on) for as long as they can use them as an argument against the radical islam. Once that "threat" were eliminated, they would be next in line.


Indeed. And considering that the AfD failed to expel people like Gedeon and Höcke, their claims that they are concerned for the jews do not look very plausible. Well, they are plausible for people who desperately want to believe them to calm their conscious, but not to someone who looks for more than reassurement.

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]

The sad thing is, you probably really believe this nonsense. You have politicians in your party who are openly antisemitic, are against rememberance of the Holocaust, the Zebtralrat der Juden is warning against voting for the AfD yet you claim that it is really the other parties who are against jews...

History / History of two Neighbors: Poland - Germany Interrelations [283]

And yet they have openly antisemite politicians like Wolfgang Gedeon in leading positions.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Gedeon#Accusations_of_antisemitism

History / Polish and German Borders-Justice for Both Countries or not? [37]

Well, a very quick google search found this entry on the official NPD website. Two NPD politicians recently held a speech in Görlitz:


Translation:

Because politicians from the "established" parties refuse to talk about it until today, are we politicians from the NPD required to mention the legal status of the territories east of the Oder and Neisse, which are German territories under Polish adminastration. Though this topic has disappeared from public discourse, it should nevertheless be deliberately ignored.

Link:

npd.de/gemeinsam-europas-herausforderungen-meistern-gemeinsam-erinnern/

History / Poland - problem for Germany? (historically continual hostility of German state on Poland) [154]


Perhaps the fact that Merkel's government is not in any way a dictatorship, and that the AfD only represents a small minority in the country?

History / Poland - problem for Germany? (historically continual hostility of German state on Poland) [154]

You don't even see the contradiction when you claim that the AfD is democratic, yet you call the other democratic parties "system parties"... .

History / Poland - problem for Germany? (historically continual hostility of German state on Poland) [154]

Well, if what he says is true, it might really be time to have a closer look at our security forces.

History / Poland - problem for Germany? (historically continual hostility of German state on Poland) [154]


As opposed to the real far-right crazies in the Afd? Once the AfD of its' lunatics `a la Höcke we can talk about political cooperation. But before that they should not be considered for political cooperation.

History / Poland - problem for Germany? (historically continual hostility of German state on Poland) [154]


Not even the number of refugees went down that much. From an all-time high in 2015 from 800k to now 180k. Normal migration is still going strong, and considering Germany's need for workers, thankfully so. Poland is also in desperate need for workers, and the Ukrainians fill this gap (who are also not refugees).

Life / Are Poles mentally more Eastern European or Western European? [170]

It was very centralized for its' time at last. There were of course limits of the time (e.g. the still very underdeveloped bureaucracy) but if there is one example of a centralized country in the Early Modern Time period, it is France.

Life / Are Poles mentally more Eastern European or Western European? [170]


Still heavily centralized. In fact the revolution put even more power in the hands of the central government than before, because some local authorities tried to resist the revolution (think of Vendee).

Life / Are Poles mentally more Eastern European or Western European? [170]


It is rather amusing to see that those aspects criteria apply more to Germany during history than e.g. France, a country that I suspect was classified by him as "Latin". Remember it was France that became increasingly centralized since the Middle Ages, while in Germany local authorities became more and more important. Not to mention that the HRE allowed individual rights like the choice of (Christian) confession. Even Bismarck's Empire was more federalized than contemporary France. The only brief time period in which the opposite was true wouble be the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich. And since 1949 it has reverted back to the former.

History / Why are Poles/Poland disliked by Germans? [140]

By then the pro-European youth will have taken power in Poland, so it won't matter by then.

History / Why are Poles/Poland disliked by Germans? [140]

Well, it is true that there are some religious news from Poland that have raised a few eyebrows, like building that ridiculous huge statue of Jesus, but I doubt that this is a significant factor. When many think of a conservative catholic country, they are more likely to think of Ireland, though this might change now. Again, this is probably just a sign of common ignorance.

History / Why are Poles/Poland disliked by Germans? [140]


Unlikely. If you ask most Germans below a certain age, they are rarely aware e.g. about the former German territories. The German article you linked gives imho the most important reason, there is still relatively little exchange between both countries - aside from those who emigrate for work. The language barrier is an obvious problem, and it will take time to change this. Both countries have increased their school and university exchange programs, so the next generation will feel more connected.

That being said, it is not surprising that the current view in Germany is not very friendly towards Poland. I mean what kind of news is the average German likely to hear from Poland? He hears about how PiS is undermining the rule of law, is pointlessly antagonizing Germany over long solved issues (e.g. reparations) and the refusal to help during the refugee crisis has also not gone over well.

News / Pawel Adamowicz, Gdansk mayor, dies after stabbing [354]

Could you translate this?

News / Poland's News sources [59]


What you mean is decent politicians who do not exploit democracy and actually care about the well-being of their country.


Nicely quoted without context. Of course national elections can not be used as an excuse to change economical agreements that were agreed upon with other countries. You might use them to cancel them alltogether, but you can not expect other democratically elected governments to suddenly make concessions. Which is what Varoufakis demanded.

Varoufakis is also a textbook populist. Immediately after gaining power he tried to force through Grexit despite a clear majority being against it, with him later calling a referendum in which he told the people blatant lies (which were even more obviously wrong than the Brexit campaign).

Off-Topic / Ukraine, Belarus, Russia in EU in 2030? [105]


I very much doubt that. It is against the interest of the EU to allow countries with existing territorial disputes to enter the EU. We got already burned with Cyprus, and not insisting on solving the issue permanently between Croatia and Slovenia lead to another unnecessary conflict. The EU will demand a permanent settlement of the issue, including a binding treaty , and since the EU holds all the cards, it seems very unlikely that they will settle for less. Large countries like Germany and Poland - who have experience with border questions - have said so in the past, and there are other countries like Croatia who have even more reasons to not make any concessions on the matter.

Off-Topic / Ukraine, Belarus, Russia in EU in 2030? [105]

If Merkel said that, it would be easy for you to find a link to that.

Naturally the country that wants to join will want to portray things as more positive than they really are. Just like e.g. Serbia continues to claim that they won't have to acknowledge Kosovo, though European politicians have stated the opposite.

As BB explained, this timeline is highly unlikely and thus are probably not from Merkel or her entourage.

Language / Will Germans be able to understand Polish enough? [77]

Well, if you speak Korean you will also be able speak to people in Korean restaurants which habe become quite popular.

But aside from those very specific situations, it is very unlikely. The plan should not be to rely Polish languagr skills for vital information.

Language / Will Germans be able to understand Polish enough? [77]

The German school system simply favours other languages. English is nowadays a pretty safe bet if you are in cities. French is a possibility if youbare in Western/South Western Germany. There are some who still learn Russian in school (even in West Germany), but you would be hard-pressed to find any. Meeting people who speak Polish highly unlikely.

Off-Topic / Russophiles can no longer defend their beloved Russians. [84]

Or station German soldiers in Lithuania to protect them against Russian agression.

It would be great if Germany and Russia were allies (just as France and Germany are allies) because that would end all danger of a large European war. However Russia has rejected the terms under which such an alliance could be possible. Moscow is not willing to respect the independence of its' neighbours and Russia's steps towards a democracy have been undone under Putin. It is impossible for Germany to have an alliance with such a state.

News / Poland's post-election political scene [4080]


They were known as the professor party because they were founded by eurosceptic professors like Lucke. Those relatively moderates have already been purged by more radical elements (who were themselves purged by more extremists after the last federal election).

There is nothing intellectual about their leadership anymore, nor their voters. They instead listen to demented old men like Gauland, or thugs like Bachmann. The fact that their entire believes are based on misconceptions and lies does not speak well of their intelligence. You could make a reasonable argument that the Euro is a flawed construct, and breaking it up would be better in the long run (though most experts disagree). But to rationally believe in the AfD is next to impossible. All the AfD has is scaremongering or lies.

News / Should Poland made an energy bridge deal with Russia? [122]

The EU does not do anything in this case. The EU countries decided to place sanctions on Russia, which have to be approved by all member states every 6 months. There is also no complete ban an alm trade with Russia.