The Krakow Post NO. 17 WWW.KRAKOWPOST.COM AUGUST 30-SEPTEMBER 5, 2007 WEEKLY Germans want Goethe out from under Polish thumb A librarian at Jagiellonian University holds a book from the Berlinka Library collection, which was left in Poland after World War II. The status of the collection is now under dispute. PHOTO/LUK Agency Danuta Filipowicz sicist Movement of the late 18th and early Silesian city of Grussau, which at the time THIS WEEK STAFF JOURNALIST 19th centuries. Bach’s religious and secular was part of Germany. works for choir, orchestra and solo instru- Delegates to the Potsdam Conference, Dell sends 400 Germany has for decades asked Poland ments were the zenith of Baroque music. which was called in 1945 to deal with the to return priceless original manuscripts of Beethoven, a crucial figure in the transi- aftermath of World War II, transferred Sile- giants of German writing and composing tional period between the Classical and Ro- sia to Poland. Grussau’s name was changed Poles to Limerick that the Nazis hid in Poland during World mantic eras in Western classical music, was to Krzeszow. Four hundred Poles who will be- War II to prevent Allied bombs from de- one of the greatest composers ever. The Berlinka collections ended up in the gin working at a new Dell Com- stroying. Mozart was a prolific and influential Jagiellonian University Library in Krakow puter factory in Lodz have begun The issue of these treasures, which have composer of the Classical era. He is still – or the Biblioteka Jagiellonska – at al. been at Jagiellonian University in Krakow one of the most popular European compos- Mickiewicz 22. That’s where they remain. training in Limerick, Ireland 3 since the end of the war, lies dormant for ers, his works part of the standard concert “It was fortunate that in 1945 a team of periods of time, then resurfaces. Recently repertoire. Polish librarians found part of the Prussian German and Polish news organizations The German manuscripts are known as Library collection containing about 100,000 Warsaw promo to have resurrected it. the Berlinka Collection because the Prus- items in the Benedictine monastery,” said At the heart of the debate over whether sian State Library was in Berlin. Professor Zdzislaw Pietrzyk, director of the launch in England Poland should return the collection are the In the center of the debate is a question Jagiellonian University Library. The City of Warsaw and easyJet issues of cultural loss and war reparations of Poland’s rights to the former Germanic That discovery probably saved many of and restitution. Cultural Heritage collection and Germany’s the most important items in the collection are planning a promo campaign in About a month ago the authoritative Ger- accountability for cultural losses inflicted because “15 of the 505 wooden chests with England to attract foreign tourists man daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Poland during World War II. documents were already missing,” he said. to the nation’s capital 4 helped rekindle the debate by referring to Before the war the Prussian library was Along with manuscripts of Goethe, Mo- the manuscripts of the former Prussian State one of the most important in Germany. It zart, Beethoven and Bach, the collection Library as “the last German war prisoners.” was closed in mid-1943 to protect its trea- contained manuscripts of Friedrich Schil- Dog therapy in The collection is gigantic, with tens of sures from Allied bombing. Nazi officials ler, the German poet, philosopher, historian thousands of documents. They include orig- ordered the manuscripts sent to Eastern and and dramatist, and of the composer Robert Krakow hospitals inal manuscripts – some autographed – from Central Europe at the end of 1943 and the Schumann archives. such world-famous writers and composers beginning of 1944. The public still does not know the scope Compared to Western Europe as Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Johannes Se- Most of the collection was hidden in cas- of the entire collection because a list of all and North America, dog therapy bastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and tles and monasteries, places Allied bombers the documents has yet to be published, ac- is not common in Poland, even Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. would be unlikely to target. The most price- cording to a library official who asked to Goethe is one of the giants of German lit- less manuscripts were hidden in the Bene- remain anonymous. though its benefits have been erature and a key figure in the Weimar Clas- dictine Abbey and its two churches in the See GERMANY on Page 8 known here since 1987 7 2 The Krakow Post POLAND AUGUST 30-SEPTEMBER 5, 2007 R E G I O N A L N E W S Two Poles killed, three hurt in Austrian hiking accident Poles charged with 2,310 crimes in Two Poles were killed and three others in- jured late last week after falling in a crevice while hiking in the Grossglockner region in central Austria, police said. The five hikers, London, highest rate among foreigners who were roped up, all fell into the crevice while crossing a glacier at over 3,000 meters the krakow post number of offenses. altitude. They were making their way up to Half of the crimes by Italian and French the Erzherzog Johann mountain hut on the London’s Metrpolitan Police force re- nationals were drug related; the Irish Adlersruhe. Police said human error prob- vealed startling crime figures between (with 403 offenses) were charged with the ably caused the accident. January and June 2007. highest number of burglaries; Romanians, “All five members of a roped party fall- The Daily Mail reported that foreign with severely restricted working rights in ing into the crevice, I had never seen that citizens commit more than one out of five the UK, were mostly charged for theft or before,” a local police officer told the Aus- crimes in London. handling (695 offenses). tria Press Agency. The glacier is littered Foreign nationals have been charged Gazeta Wyborcza daily noted that so with crevices due to warm weather. Austrian with committing 22,793 crimes. many crimes are committed by Poles be- television ORF also reported that the group Statistics show that a total of 106,678 cause tens of thousands of Polish workers had been warned about the dangers of hiking arrests were made for severe offenses. have been moving to the British capital in the region. All five Poles were recovered Britons were charged with carrying out during the last few years. from the crevice in a rescue operation lasting 82,459 crimes with another 1,426 com- The Polish community makes up a no- several hours and involving four helicopters. mitted by persons of “unknown” nation- ticeable percentage of the city’s inhabit- Two of them were brought to a hospital with alities, leaving foreign nationals respon- ants. According to the Office of National serious injuries, while the third was only sible for the remaining offenses. Statistics Data, foreigners make up 31 slightly hurt. (AFP) Of those committed by foreign citi- percent of London’s inhabitants, but they Rallying: 49-year-old Czech zens, Poles carried out the highest number commit 20 percent of overall crime. of crimes. The consulate in London is aware of co-driver dies after crash Poles were charged for 2,310 crimes: Poles being frequently detained by city A 49-year-old co-driver, competing in a 583 violent crimes, 32 sex offenses, 201 police. “Local authorities must inform us three-day rally in the eastern Czech city of burglaries, 635 robberies and 626 drug of arrests within three days,” said Consul Zlin, died from injuries after his car skidded offenses. Michal Mazurek. He concedes that the off the road and into trees, the local fire ser- The figures reflect that about one in ten number of Poles detained in Great Brit- vice announced late last week. The competi- crimes was carried out by Poles, about 2.1 ain is quickly growing. According to data tor, named by rally web sites as Ludek Koc- percent of all crimes committed in Lon- from the Polish Ministry of Foreign Af- man, was taking part in the three-day Barum don. fairs 1,340 people were arrested in 2006. Rally Zlin in which around 100 teams, many Polish offenders were followed (in British prisons held 252 Polish inmates in foreign, were competing. The competition order of most to least offenses) by Ja- December 2006. was halted after the accident. (AFP) maicans, Irish nationals, Somalians and The majority of offenses are concerned Romanians, accused of having committed with loud behavior, store thefts and drunk Two Germans probed over over 1,000 crimes. driving. “More serious crimes also occur, Poland, Ireland, Romania, Lithuania, but this makes up a minority of offenses,” World War II massacre France, Portugal and Italy are the seven informed Consul Mazurka. “Poles are not Two elderly Germans could face mur- EU member states with unrestricted travel associated with delinquency here. They der charges over the massacre of 63 Czech to Britain, a point noted on a list of 20 are taken rather as hard workers who are civilians in the small Czech town of Velke nationalities responsible for the highest earning money honestly.” The Daily Mail reported that foreign citizens commit more than one out of five crimes in London. Mezirici at the end of World War II, pros- ecutors in Stuttgart said late last week. “The massacre took place on May 6 and 7, 1945 at the end of the war. Residents of the town were apparently executed,” Bettina Vetter, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office in the southern city, told AFP.