Willy Brandt's Forgotten Ostpolitik | Jan. 2, 2014 |

Recently I have had the great pleasure of participating in an event commemorating what would have been Willy Brandt's 100th birthday in Berlin. During the conference we elaborated on his legacy together with his old friend Egon Bahr. The discussions were very inspiring, however they led to the sad conclusion that Willy Brandt is not enough remembered in Central and Eastern Europe.

Willy Brandt was indeed a very peculiar figure in the politics of his time; not eager to join the Cold War, sensitive to social injustice and prepared to dare more democracy. The fact that he was an Anti-Nazi activist during World War II for long was not recognized in Germany. He was often offended by his political opponents as a child of an illegitimate relationship or of being detached from Germany due to his long time in exile.

Several determined attempts finally resulted in him winning the German federal elections of 1969. However, this was just the beginning. The Kniefall in Warsaw in 1970 is one of the most iconic gestures of modern European history. Ironically enough, the one who took the blame was in fact beyond guilt, actively opposing Nazi terror and the atrocities of World War II. Poland took a special place in Brandt's political agenda - as a moral center of his politics. This gesture of German recognition of responsibility for the Holocaust and the atrocities committed in Poland by the German occupation forces showed political and personal class. This moment, important as it was, was, however, primarily symbolic. What counts most are Brandt's political actions. Experience gained while governing besieged West Berlin - an island of freedom and democracy in the sea of Stasi GDR - was a valuable lesson learned about the iron curtain, the Soviet Union and the Cold War.

The Ostverträge proved Brandt's understanding for the ultimate goal of peace and security in the region over nationalistic ambitions and historical amnesia. Egon Bahr's strategy of `change through cooperation' (Wandel durch Annäherung) created a new quality in international relations, opening more doors than the arms race. The Treaty of Warsaw - at first so controversial in German society and so unbearable for conservatives tirelessly demanding reunification with Silesia - turned out to be the beginning of new era in Polish-German relations. After all, the main goal was to abolish the iron curtain and Poland as a socialist but relatively independent state had the potential to be the forerunner. Unfortunately, change took longer than Brandt would have wanted.

One has to keep in mind that parallel to redefining ties with Poland and balancing relations with the USSR, Germany still remained divided internally. This was naturally Brandt's biggest concern, to reunite `what belongs together'. This perspective shows the double importance of the treaty with Poland. Brandt was legitimizing the border of East Germany being the Chancellor of the West. The CDU's reluctance and stubbornness in a accepting Willy Brandt's politics was very short sighted - the chance for restoring the old status quo was minuscule if there at all. Brandt's pragmatism ended the time of temporary ceasefire. Rightfully so, one of the SPD's election slogans was `So that you can live in peace also tomorrow' (Damit Sie auch morgen in Frieden leben können, 1969).

50 years since Willy Brandt's historic gesture in Poland

On December 7, 1970, German Chancellor Willy Brandt fell to his knees at the memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto. The "Warsaw Genuflection" opened the way to reconciliation, but some today dismiss it as an "empty gesture."

'Sapere aude'