POLITICS | 09.09.2010
Expellee head to leave party role after Polish war comments
The head of Germany's Federation of Expellees has said she will step down from her role on the national executive of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) after she sparked fresh controversy with a comment about the Second World War.
Erika Steinbach, who represents Germans forced to flee Eastern Europe after the war, told a party convention that it was a historical fact that Poland had mobilized its army months before Germany invaded the country in September 1939.
Toelg said the German invasion was a second step in eventsShe made the statement in defense of federation and party members Arnold Toelg and Hartmut Saenger, who have caused controversy with statements that critics say are "revisionist" attempts to justify the actions of Nazi Germany during World War II.
"Unfortunately I cannot change the fact that Poland had already mobilized in March 1939," said Steinbach on Wednesday, in relation to comments made by Toelg. Polish troop movements were used by Adolf Hitler as a pretext for war.
Announcing that she would step down from her place on the party's national executive on Thursday, Steinbach said she had already felt isolated on the right side of the political spectrum. She added that her mind was made up following criticism of her remarks, which were then leaked to the media.
"We can't have a frank debate internally any more without it being gossiped about outside," she told German press agency DPA on Thursday. Steinbach had earlier said that her comments were not intended to justify Germany's role in the outbreak of war.
'Polish actions were justified'
The CDU'S parliamentary leader Volker Kauder had earlier attempted to play down the remark, insisting Steinbach's comments did nothing to diminish German responsibility for the outbreak of war.
Poland had "every reason" to ready its military forces in light of the Nazi threat, Kauder insisted.
However, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, leader of the CDU's coalition partner party, the Free Democrats, said that Steinbach's comments damaged Germany's reputation overseas.
"Ambiguous remarks that put into question the heavy responsibility that Germany bears for the outbreak of the Second World War are not acceptable," said Westerwelle on Thursday.
Hate figure in Poland
The remark was met with outrage in Poland, where Steinbach, who once voted against recognizing Germany's current border with the country, is already a hate figure.
"This is an attempt to shift partial blame for the start of World War II onto Poland," Polish historian Tomasz Szarota told DPA.
Steinbach's organization represents Germans forced to leave Eastern EuropeControversial federation members Toelg and Saenger are both foundation board members of a planned museum to depict the plight of Second World War refugees, including Germans who were forced to leave Poland.
Toelg has claimed that the German attack on Poland was only the second step in events at the beginning of the war, after Poland first mobilized its troop in March 1939. Saenger stirred up controversy with claims that there was a hunger for war among other world powers as well as Germany.
Sixty-seven-year-old Steinbach was born in Poland to German parents who moved there after the Nazi invasion. She was among some 12.5 million ethnic Germans expelled from Eastern Europe at the end of the war.
Author: Richard Connor (dpa/epd/Reuters/AFP)
Editor: Nancy Isenson
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