“Today will go down in history. Symbolically, the chance for these relations to look normal in the coming years, or even decades, has been destroyed,” said Tomasz Sakiewicz, CEO of TV Republika, during a demonstration organized in front of the German embassy in Warsaw.
Assault on Poles. Demonstration at the German embassy
Members of the Border Defense Movement traveled to Berlin with a cross they intended to place next to a boulder commemorating Polish victims of World War II. However, German police appeared on site and prevented the cross from being erected.
The volunteers sang “Rota” and then peacefully proceeded with the cross toward the memorial site. At that moment, German police officers moved against the Poles. They brutally knocked them to the ground, kicking and punching them. Another group of officers seized the cross and threw it away without due respect.
In response to this scandalous event, a demonstration was organized in front of the German embassy as an expression of opposition to the behavior of German officers.
During the protest, Tomasz Sakiewicz, CEO of TV Republika, pointed out that the station had decided to stop broadcasting advertisements from all German companies. “The Germans thought we desperately needed their advertisements. We do not. We very much wanted Polish-German relations to be normal, but today will go down in history. Symbolically, the chance for these relations to look normal in the coming years, or even decades, has been destroyed,” he said.
He added that “when people are beaten for wanting to pray for six million victims – victims of Germans who murdered our citizens on our soil, when a cross is thrown to the ground and arrogance is displayed, which we unfortunately know from the times of the Gestapo, from the streets of Warsaw and from the uprising, this is proof of contempt towards Poles”.
“This shows that they can be treated as second-class people simply because they wanted to pray for six million murdered. And this did not happen without reason. It was the anniversary of a disgraceful gesture when Germans mocked those victims by placing a stone as a symbol that was supposed to ‘settle the matter’. Reparations, remembrance of the murdered, and the humiliation experienced by Poles cannot be closed in this way,” he continued.
Sakiewicz pointed out that “as the grandson of a soldier of the Polish Army and the Union of Armed Struggle, murdered in Auschwitz, he believed he had the right to call people here”.
“TV Republika also has the ability to appeal to Poles to remind Germans how history and people who carry suffering in their hearts should be treated. Another generation of Poles feels humiliated by what the Germans have done. We can make it fashionable not to buy German products. Truly, there are many countries in Europe whose goods and services we can use. If we see someone in a store buying a German product, let us draw their attention to it. Let us ask: do you really not mind spending money to support this arrogance? Germany has still not fully settled accounts for World War II. It is clear that the mentality we saw today, even among German police, still exists. Let us not support it. Those responsible for this situation should face consequences, resign, and stand trial. We expect an apology from the German state,” he emphasized.
Tusk government silent
The CEO of TV Republika also pointed to the silence of members of the December 13 coalition government.
“The lack of any reaction from the current government proves that Poland does not behave like a sovereign state towards Germany. That is precisely why Germany allows itself such actions. In fact, the government of Donald Tusk bears greater responsibility for this situation than the German government. The fact that Germany feels it can afford this stems from the policy of the current government. Donald Tusk, Radosław Sikorski, and Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz are responsible for this – and, note, tomorrow he wants to sign a Polish-German alliance,” he concluded.