Consensus beyond divisions in the Bundestag. Only the AfD did not support the monument to Poles

The Bundestag passed a resolution on Wednesday calling on the German government to immediately begin the planning phase and build a monument in Berlin to the Polish victims of National Socialism and the German occupation of Poland in 1939–1945.

According to the resolution prepared by the coalition factions of the Christian Democrats CDU/CSU and the social democratic SPD, the federal government is obliged to announce a competition for the project with the participation of Polish experts. The winning project will be presented to the Bundestag.

Parliament decided that the most suitable place to erect a permanent monument will be the location of the former Kroll Opera House, where the temporary monument is locatedunveiled in June in the form of a Memorial Boulder. At the Kroll Opera House on September 1, 1939, Adolf Hitler announced the attack on Poland.

The resolution emphasized that “knowledge about Poland, awareness of its history and our common history are not very widespread in Germany.” The monument in the center of Berlin, dedicated to Polish victims of World War II and German occupation, is intended to serve educational purposes.

The authors of the resolution claim that the creation of the monument would be a “gesture of reconciliation.”

The federal government was also obliged to, together with the Berlin authorities, find a suitable building or plot in the city center to create a Polish-German House. The initiators intended it to be a Polish-German place for discussions and meetings, as well as an educational center.

The vote in the Bundestag was preceded by a debate lasting over half an hour with the participation of representatives of all parliamentary factions.

– This debate, this motion, mark a very special moment in relations with our great eastern neighbor, Poland. (…) We want to say this: “Polish neighbors and friends, we mourn your victims, we honor their memory and we know about German guilt. We want a worthy monument,” said Knut Abraham, the German government's plenipotentiary for cooperation with Poland.

– We want this monument quickly – he added.

The voice of Goetz Froemming, an MP from the populist-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), stood out in the debate. He said that the debates around the monument had not made “Polish demands for reparations quiet” and that “strained relations with Poland had not improved, but worsened.”

Froemming further postulated that There should be a place in the Polish-German House for a story about German victims of World War II.

– About 12 million Germans lost their homeland as a result of flight, expulsion or deportation, two million Germans died – he emphasized. Why are “new monuments still being built commemorating German crimes, or rather crimes committed in the name of Germany?” – he asked rhetorically.

The deputies of the CDU/CSU, SPD, the Greens and the Left present in the plenary voted in favor of adopting the resolution. Two AfD deputies were against, and the rest of the party's parliamentarians abstained from voting.

The adoption of the application by the CDU/CSU and SPD by the Bundestag is an important signal to the German government that the parliament expects to accelerate work on a permanent memorial site for Polish victims. However, the resolution does not include a specific timetable or amounts. In practice, implementation time depends on government actions.

Abraham told PAP that the competition for the monument is to be announced at the beginning of 2026 and the amount allocated for it may range from PLN 750,000. up to EUR 1 million. The funds allocated for the construction of the monument will be determined in the federal budget for 2027 or 2028.

The vote on the resolution took place two days after German-Polish government consultations in Berlin. The Polish side has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the monument for improving bilateral relations. However, over the years it has not been possible to erect a permanent monument for the Polish victims in the center of Berlin.

From Berlin Mateusz Obremski (PAP)

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