Germans and Poles a Divided Past, a Common Future?
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Germans and Poles A divided past, a common future? RESULTS OF THE POLISH-GERMAN BAROMETER 2018 A cooperation of: GERMANS AND POLES: A DIVIDED PAST, A COMMON FUTURE? 1 56% of the Poles and only 29% of the surveyed Germans like their neighbouring country. 73% of Poles identify with Europe very strongly or strongly. In Germany, 54% indicated such sentiments. 70% of Germans and 60% of Poles want the focus of both countries mutual relations to be on the present and the future and not on the past. 50% of Poles hold the view that the sacrifices that the Polish people have made throughout history have not been sufficiently recognised by the international public. 17% of Germans share this view. 64% of Poles describe Polish-German relations as good. Only 31% of Germans perceive them like that. 2 GERMANS AND POLES: A DIVIDED PAST, A COMMON FUTURE? Germans and Poles: a divided past, a common future? Results of the Polish-German Barometer 2018 The collapse of the Iron Curtain and the re- view is shared by half as many respondents. unification of Europe have brought Germany and The number of positive responses in Germany Poland closer together. In the face of the heavy has been falling significantly since Poland’s new burden of their shared past, what Germans and government came into power, whereas in Poland Poles have managed to achieve together in Eu- the percentage of positive re sponses has de- rope and for Europe is regarded as a success creased only slightly over the same period. story. Recently, controversy has arisen between the two neighbouring countries, especially with Poles identify with Europe more strongly regard to differing perceptions of the past. than Germans. However, both societies feel the strongest connection with their nation states. What is the current state of the relations between Poland and Germany? Under the “German- The issue of war reparations and recognition Polish Barometer” project, for more than a de- of the sacrifices made by Poland is something cade regular surveys have been conducted on that divides Poles and Germans. Poles them- a representative sample of both societies. The re- selves are divided on the issue of demanding war sults of the surveys show how the growing social reparations from Germany. At the same time, and economic links affect the mutual perceptions however, half of the surveyed Poles hold the view of Germans and Poles. This year’s study focused that the sacrifices that Poland has made in the past on the relevance of history for both nations and have not been sufficiently recognised. Most Ger- the cooperation between the two countries. mans reject the idea of paying war reparations to Poland and believe that there is sufficient recog- Main results: nition of Polish sacrifices. Poles and Germans do not, in fact, know each Despite this, both countries are looking towards other very well. Almost two-thirds of both have the future! The majority of Germans and Poles never visited the neighbouring country after believe that their mutual relations should focus 1989. However, Poles express a fondness for Ger- on the present and the future. mans more often than Germans do for Poles. The Polish fondness for Germans has been growing More information about the survey can be found at: for years, whereas the indicators showing Ger- www.koerber-stiftung.de/german-polish- man fondness for Poles have hardly changed barometer since 2000. Database The predominant associations Poles have The research in Poland and in Germany has been conducted with Germany are connected with Nazism and for the Institute of Public Affairs, the Körber Foundation and war crimes, whereas the Germans mainly have the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. GfK Polonia carried out the a vague image of their neighbours – beautiful surveys in Poland between the 5th and 12th of April, 2018, landscapes and typical Polish food. on a representative group of 1000 Poles over 15 years of age. GfK SE carried out the surveys in Germany between the 6th and 13th of April, 2018, on a representative group of More than 60 percent of Poles regard Polish- 1000 Germans over 14 years of age. Survey method: face- German relations as good; in Germany this to-face interviews. GERMANS AND POLES: A DIVIDED PAST, A COMMON FUTURE? 3 In Poland, the most common associations with Germany are Nazism and war crimes Geography and tourism are in the first place of German associations related to the image of Poland 2018 2018 2016 2016 What do you associate with the neighbouring country? PL TOURISM, CULTURE OCCUPIER, INVADER 23% beautiful landscape; Warsaw; vodka 23% criminals; Hitler; Nazis; 25% concentration camps 21% COUNTRY 20% Eastern Europe; country; COUNTRY 16% EU Member State neighbour of Poland; 25% country/state in Europe; 22% nation, society CHARACTER TRAITS 10% hospitable; nice people; 6% PROSPEROUS COUNTRY stereotypes; not trustworthy reliable/well made cars; 13% good cleaning products; wealth; 19% robust economy POLITICS AND MUTUAL 9% RELATIONS 15% failure to accept refugees; POLITICS AND MUTUAL anti-European government; RELATIONS 15% dismantling of democracy Angela Merkel; influx of refugees; 12% terrorism; ally of Poland; LABOUR MARKET neighbours and yet still enemies 9% good craftsmen; illegal work; care; 9% a lot of Poles in Germany LABOUR MARKET 6% work abroad; high wages 7% DISORDERLY COUNTRY 8% 11% corruption; crime; theft COUNTRY OF LAW AND ORDER 6% rule of law; reliability; discipline 7% PROSPERITY - POVERTY 8% country developing economically; 7% cheap shopping; poverty; cigarettes TOURISM, CULTURE 5% 7% Oktoberfest; football; German language HISTORY 7% 3% war; reparations demands; occupation; Eastern block What comes to your mind when you hear the word “Germans” and “Germany”/”Poles” and “Poland”? Respondents could name up to 3 associations. These were subsequently summarised in groups. Source: 2018: Institute of Public Affairs/Körber-Stiftung/Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung; 2016: Institute of Public Affairs/Bertelsmann-Stiftung/Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung 4 GERMANS AND POLES: A DIVIDED PAST, A COMMON FUTURE? Most Poles like Germans Only one-third of Germans reciprocate the sentiment Polish fondness for the German people has over negative effects of the eastward enlarge- been growing since the year 2000. In 2018, ment of the EU in 2004. more than half of the Poles surveyed (56 percent) agreed that they like Germans. These posi- The level of fondness in both countries is related tive feelings of the Polish people are shared by to whether the respondents have already visited roughly half as many Germans (29 percent). The the neighbouring country: 70 percent of Germans values on the German fondness scale have re- who regularly visit Poland declare that they like mained with small exceptions stable for years, the neighbouring country; among Poles who at approx. 30 percent, whereas the percent- regularly visit Germany, 68 percent share that age on the Polish side has been growing. sentiment. A slight drop in the level of fondness for Germans in Poland was observed after the rule of the However, the percentage of people who have Law and Justice party in the years 2005–2007, never visited the other country since 1989 whereas in Germany such a decline occurred be- remains equally high in both countries: in 2018, it tween 2000 and 2006. A possible explanation was 66 percent of the German and 70 percent of for that development might be found in concerns the Polish respondents. Fondness of Poles Fondness of Germans What is your attitude towards the Germans / the Poles? PL for Germans for Poles 56% 2018 29% 53% 2016 28% 47% 2013 31% 30% 2008 24% 45% 2005/2006 18% 41% 2000 31% What is your attitude towards the Germans / the Poles? Respondents gave answers on a scale ranging from 1 “I like” to 5 - “I dislike”. Answers 1 and 2 have been added up in the diagram. Source: 2018: Institute of Public Affairs/Körber-Stiftung/Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung 2016 & 2013: Institute of Public Affairs/Bertelsmann-Stiftung/Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung 2000 - 2008: Institute of Public Affairs/Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung GERMANS AND POLES: A DIVIDED PAST, A COMMON FUTURE? 5 Only every second German identifies with Europe Poles are avowed Europeans What people identify with affects their perception In Germany, on the other hand, the degree to and their engagement in public, political or historical which people identify with Europe is lower – at debates. In both Germany and in Poland, respon- the level of 54 percent. Still, more than half of dents award their immediate local surroundings Germans consider themselves Europeans. It is an important role for their self-identification. noteworthy that almost one-third of respondents (32 percent) selected a neutral answer (“I neither The historical experience of partitions and oc- identify nor do I not identify”) when asked about cupation determines that Poles identify strongly their identification with Europe. Most German with the nation state. The Catholic faith is also respondents identified with the German nation of key importance for the self-identification of state itself. Considering the historical scepticism 72 percent of the Polish respondents. Acces- of the German public about the nation state since sion to the European Union had been a clearly 1945, this result resembles a remarkable level of stated goal of the democratic governments approval. Possible explanations may be found ei- after 1989 and was consistent with the will of ther in recent events that had a positive impact on the majority of the Polish public, who supported German national self-identification (2006 World the accession. Today, the great majority of Polish Cup, “Willkommenskultur“ in relation to refugees people – 73 percent – identifiy with Europe. in 2015) or by the need for orientation during times of European and global uncer tainty.