The 50th Anniversary of the letter issued by Polish bishops to German bishops, known for its famous sentence “We forgive and ask for forgiveness”, was a most fitting moment to open the exhibition titled: “Courage and Reconciliation”.The opening ceremony took place in the Sejm on the 23th of June.
“It is a tribute to those who have shaked the conscience of both nations and opened them up to each other”, said the Deputy Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland.
The exhibition, organized by the Polish History Museum, features a series of images arranged in a maze and organized by key- words such as: “Terror, Contempt, Extermination,” as well as “Hostility, Distrust, Wall”, “Letters, Memoranda, Meetings” and the phrase “The Courageous to Reconcile themselves”.
They all show the difficult nature of the Polish-German past, starting with World War II. Recalling the memorable proclamation of the bishops from 1965, which was initiated by Wrocław’s archbishop Bolesław Kominek, “Courage and reconciliation” is a permanent outdoor exhibition that opened in November last year in Krzyżowa near Świdnica. The exhibition commemorates the 25th anniversary of the famous Mass of Reconciliation (the mass that was celebrated where the anti-Nazi Kreisau Circle took place during wartime).
In the same location 25 years ago, just before the Mass of Reconciliation in Krzyżowa, Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Polish Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki met to pray for peace. Just before moving onto Krzyżowa, Mazowiecki also prayed in the Church of Peace for reconciliation. On November 20th at the Church of Peace (before the opening of the exhibition in Krzyżowa), German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz attended an Ecumenical Mass for Peace in the Church of Peace to pray for the very same reason.
You can see more photos at:
http://www.krzyzowa.org.pl/index.php/pl/component/content/article/44-home/903-wystawa-odwaga-i-pojednanie-w-sejmie-rp
