“We cannot tell only one perspective, but must represent several – many – and that includes controversies. They are an integral part of it, such as issues of collaboration or the Holocaust, participation in the Holocaust – both with a question mark. Then there is the question of co-guilt, co-participation in the crime,” said Prof. Peter Oliver Loew, head of the German Institute of Polish Affairs, during a 2025 lecture at the Pilecki Institute in Berlin.
Now Loew has been awarded a decoration by Radosław Sikorski “in recognition of services to activities strengthening Poland’s position on the international stage.”
In recent days, Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski granted the honorary “Bene Merito” badge to Prof. Peter Oliver Loew, director of the German Institute of Polish Affairs (DPI) in Darmstadt, “in recognition of services to activities strengthening Poland’s position on the international stage.”
During the ceremony, Jan Tombiński, head of Poland’s embassy in Berlin, spoke about the Institute’s work, “emphasizing its special merits in translating Polish literature and in commemorating in Berlin the Polish victims of World War II.”
Loew described the award as “a distinction for the entire team.”
Former German foreign minister Heiko Maas, who attended the event, remarked that “if we Germans understand how Poles think, and Poles understand how Germans think, this will help avoid many unnecessary conflicts in Europe.”
“After the official part, a debate was held titled ‘Poland–Germany–Ukraine: Joint Efforts for Ukraine’s European Perspective,’ with participants including former Polish foreign minister Jacek Czaputowicz and MEP Róża Thun,” the Polish Foreign Ministry reported.
Loew on “Co-Guilt and Co-Participation” in the Holocaust
Over the years, Peter Oliver Loew has also become known for statements undermining Poland and its history.
In the summer of 2025, at the Berlin branch of the Pilecki Institute, Loew delivered a controversial speech in which he suggested Poles’ “co-participation” in the crime of the Holocaust.
“Polyphony is important – recollections, that is, cultures of memory. We cannot tell only one perspective, but must represent several, many – and that includes controversies. They are an integral part of it, such as issues of collaboration or the Holocaust, participation in the Holocaust – both with a question mark. Then the issue of co-guilt, co-participation in the crime,” said the DPI director.
Former Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki called these words “shameful and shameless.”
Loew later published a statement claiming that “it is outrageous to accuse him of saying that Poland bears partial blame for the Holocaust.”
Defense of Bodnar
In 2021, Loew came to the defense of Adam Bodnar, then Ombudsman for Civil Rights, who, while receiving an award from Polish-German societies, said:
“Polish legal culture and post-1989 transformations were inspired and supported by German legal thought. On that basis we built in Poland a modern rule-of-law state, mechanisms for the protection of human rights and democracy. This was the foundation of our European integration. But this also creates – on the mentor’s side – a special responsibility. As in The Little Prince: if you tame an animal, you cannot later abandon it.”
Loew later pointed out that Bodnar “did not compare Poland to animals tamed by Germans,” but rather reminded listeners “of Germany’s responsibility for the state of the judiciary in Poland.”