-Caveat Lector-
Liebensraum 2000 ...
"As the first German leader without any personal memory of the Nazi era,
Schroeder has been trying to assert Germany's role as a major European power
less encumbered with the bitter memories associated with Nazism and the war.
"Schroeder said Germany must remember its past aggression against Poland
in order to build stronger ties with it today ..."
German Leader Makes Push for Poland
By BEATA PASEK
.c The Associated Press
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder ended a mostly
symbolic, 2-day trip to Poland today, a trip that commemorated the Nazi
invasion of Poland 60 years ago and stressed his country's support for Poland
to join the European Union.
During Schroeder's stroll today through Warsaw's Old Town, one woman he
passed recalled five years she spent as a slave laborer for the Nazis.
However, she said, Schroeder's visit was a good sign for future Polish-German
relations.
``Life goes on and we cannot live in hatred. It's good for young people,''
said Jadwiga Rzeczkowska, 75. ``I went through many painful things, but I've
accepted that as the past.''
The walk concluded a visit that focused on the past and the future. On
Friday, he placed flowers at a memorial to Nazi war victims and attended a
concert commemorating the German invasion of Sept. 1, 1939, that started
World War II.
Schroeder also met with President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Prime Minister
Jerzy Buzek to pledge his support for Poland's goal of joining the European
Union in the year 2003. While calling the date ambitious, Schroeder said
Germany would do everything it its power to help Poland succeed.
Several former Soviet bloc countries, including Poland, are negotiating to
join the European Union, but economic issues such as subsidies for 4 million
Polish farmers have complicated their applications.
As the first German leader without any personal memory of the Nazi era, the
55-year-old Schroeder has been trying to assert Germany's role as a major
European power less encumbered with the bitter memories associated with
Nazism and the war.
On Friday, Schroeder twice said Germany must remember its past aggression
against Poland in order to build strong ties today. But sticky issues linked
to the war remain unresolved, including compensation for people forced into
slave labor by the Nazis and the return of art work the Nazis took from
Poland.
A report today in Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland's largest circulation newspaper,
said Schroeder and Buzek agreed their governments would turn over
centuries-old archival material to each other, a possible first step toward
ending the art work dispute.
Also today, Schroeder held a 30-minute meeting with leftist opposition leader
Leszek Miller that focused on cooperation between their parties and
German-Polish relations, including German exiles' claims for property
returned to Poland after World War II.
Under a draft restitution law approved this week by the Polish government,
only Polish citizens would be eligible for compensation for property seized
by the Nazis and communist rulers. Miller said Schroeder told him Poland
should consider talking to some of the German exiles seeking compensation.
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