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Speech by Józef Cyrankiewicz (7 December 1970)
Caption: On 7 December 1970, Józef Cyrankiewicz, President of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of
Poland, welcomes the signing, that day in Warsaw, of the Treaty which lays the foundations for the
normalisation of diplomatic relations between Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).
Source: The Treaty between the Federal Republic of Germany and the People's Republic of Poland. Bonn:
Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, 1971. 200 p. p. 24-29.
Copyright: (c) Press and Information Office of the Federal Government
URL: http://www.cvce.eu/obj/speech_by_jozef_cyrankiewicz_7_december_1970-en-
30e985da-7976-42da-b8f7-07fc95884419.html
Last updated: 24/11/2016
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Speech by the Polish Prime Minister Józef Cyrankiewicz in the Palais of the Council of
Ministers (7 December 1970)
After the Federal Chancellor has laid wreaths at the monument to the Unknown Warrior and at the memorial
to the Warsaw ghetto and has paid a visit to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's
Republic of Poland, Mr. Cyrankiewicz, at 12.30 p.m. in the Palais of the Polish Council of Ministers the
Polish and German Heads of Government and the two Foreign Ministers sign the Treaty concerning the
Basis for Normalizing their Mutual Relations.
After the signing of the treaty, at a Luncheon in the Council of Ministers' Palais the Chairman of the Council
of Ministers, Józef Cyrankiewicz, makes the following speech:
Mr. Chancellor, Mr. Vice-Chancellor, Honoured Guests,
Today we have signed a treaty that is of fundamental importance for the relations between the People's
Republic of Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany. Also supported as an act within the framework of
the general détente in Europe it was awaited, and because of this detente it is an act of great value for the
consolidation of peace and security in our continent.
May the future, both the near in which we ourselves can operate actively and also the more distant, confirm
the durability, and thus also the historic role of the treaty, which concludes a certain phase in the historical
development of Europe and finally recognizes and sanctions the European realities as existing for a long
time, in particular the western frontier laid down at Potsdam.
Mr. Chancellor, it is the moral obligation of our generation, a generation which has lived through the Second
World War, that we do not leave as a legacy to this young generation any matters resulting from this war —
even only ostensibly — that are not brought to an end or even smoulder and sometimes become the festering
germs of further conflicts.
That, Mr. Chancellor is how I understand the signatures we have today placed under this treaty in the name
of our Governments and States.
The treaty is the fruit of long and stubborn efforts. In the course of the activity, the good will on both sides
had to overcome the problems — by no means so simple — that had accumulated in the past. In our efforts
we have allowed ourselves to be guided by the conviction that in place of the previous wrong paths and
beyond ravines, new ways are necessary and had to be built and opened together by filling in the gulf, so
that in the process of the normalization of the relations between the two States the result will be a better
understanding conducive, both for us and for the whole of Europe, to advantageous cooperation.
We allowed ourselves to be guided by the conviction that — if it is only in our power — the tragic chain of
wars, suffering and injustice with which the history of Polish-German relations has been burdened up to now
is finally broken, so that the gulf between the Polish and the German peoples that was torn by the hands of
Hitler's barbaric intruders and occupiers in the period of the Second World War disappears.
The second German State, the direct neighbour of the People's Republic of Poland, the German Democratic
Republic, twenty years ago, together with the People's Republic of Poland, signed the Görlitz Treaty which
confirmed the Polish-German State frontier along the Oder and Lausitz Neisse laid down in the Potsdam
Conclusions and helped to find a way to bridge this gulf.
This became the foundation of the process of normalization of the relations, the development of the peaceful
cooperation, between Poland and the German Democratic Republic, not to speak of the alliance that is based
on common ideological prerequisites — but that is naturally another matter.
And only on this basis, the recognition of the inevitability and inviolability of Poland's western frontier
along the Oder and the Lausitz Neisse laid down in the Potsdam Conclusions, has it been possible to sign
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today this treaty which pioneers the way to the normalization of the relations between Poland and the second
German State which arose out of the ashes of the Third Reich — the Federal Republic of Germany.
It would appear that through the treaty signed today we are creating a real and solid basis for the process of
normalizing the relations between our two States which is to embrace various spheres of life, in particular
the stimulation of the economic, technological and cultural relations, for the well-understood benefit of both
countries. We are also agreed that immediately after the treaty enters into force, diplomatic relations will be
established between the People's Republic of Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany.
We hope, after the entry of the treaty into force, that, as was the case with the Moscow Treaty, a more
intensive normalization process will be initiated without complications and inhibitions, and we believe that
this is also the wish of your Government. We would also like to think that this important matter will also
meet with the good will of all intelligent political forces in the Federal Republic, because any resistance to
the treaty, and therefore to the perspectives it opens, would contradict in a striking manner the endeavour of
the nations, the vitally necessary normalization of relations, détente and peace in Europe.
We see in the treaty a sign and a significant share in the normalization process for improving relations
between the socialist countries and the Federal Republic of Germany which started with the important
Moscow Treaty of August 12. We expect this process to be continued and also to include a normalization of
relations with Czechoslovakia, about which the Chancellor has already spoken.
We believe that the framing, the normalization, of the relations between the two German States will be of
fundamental importance and unusually advantageous for peace and cooperation in Europe, in the first place
on the basis of respect for the independence and sovereignty of both countries, with full equality of status
with all other countries. With the greatest conviction, therefore, we give the fullest support to the question of
the early accession both of the Federal Republic of Germany and of the German Democratic Republic to the
United Nations Organization.
Already throughout Europe and all over the world, the treaty we have signed today has been regarded as a
new, important step towards overcoming the odium of the Cold War in a sphere so sensitive to peace as
Europe. With this step, we are helping to remove one of the most prominent and potentially dangerous seats
of tension and, at the same time, promoting the process of the rapprochement of countries of various social
conceptions, signs of which have already for a long time been noticeable in our continent.
We are realizing the prior conditions for a general security and cooperation in Europe. We are convinced
that there are further opportunities for cooperation in this great question, including also the preparation and
execution of a European conference.
Poland's share in the development of the European peace order is characterized by the fundamental treaty of
friendship and mutual aid with the Soviet Union and by treaties with other fraternal, socialist States, as well
as by numerous initiatives towards strengthening the trends towards reducing tensions in our continent.
The basic idea behind our policy, all our actions, is the effort to promote relations in Europe on the principle
of peaceful coexistence. The prior condition is the coexistence of peoples and States in peace, freed from the
burdens of the past and all the present great differences. A prior condition is also cooperation on all sides,
particularly in the economic sphere, which is indeed the material basis for the development of the relations
in other spheres.
Mr. Chancellor, Honoured Guests, in signing the present treaty on the normalization of relations between
our two countries we have realized something to which not only was prominence given by our country and
for the activation of which a new platform was created through the initiative of Vladislav Gomulka, who
now heads our country. This initiative, which is rooted in Poland's consistent peace policy and accords with
the vital interests of security and cooperation in Europe, prepared the way for the talks.
We are fully conscious of the significance of the fact that in the name of the Federal Republic of Germany
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the signature under the treaty is set by a man who already at the outset of his assumption of power
recognized the infinite misfortune that can result for the people of Germany, the peoples of Europe and
peace in the world, through fascism. We also appreciate the impression of good will and the eloquence of
these political forces which have evolved and are today realizing the present orientation of the Federal
Republic.
In this we appreciate, Mr. Chancellor, your personal influence and that of Mr. Foreign Minister, Walter
Scheel.
The possibilities of peaceful cooperation between our countries results from the wording and the spirit of
this treaty.
They will be realized by the Government and people of our countries with the awareness of the significance
of the treaty and the historic responsibility it imposes on our two States, their Governments and their social
forces.
I would like to drink a toast to the treaty we have signed today and to its full realization, to you, Mr.
Chancellor, to Mr. Foreign Minister Scheel, and to all the guests who have accompanied you, Mr.
Chancellor, here from the Federal Republic of Germany, to the peaceful coexistence and security of our
continent, to the peace that is so necessary in the world.
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