Free Republic

GERMANY is publicly recalling its suffering in the confusion after the Second World War when millions of civilians from Eastern Europe were expelled. As the newly liberated Poles and Czechs sought revenge on their former oppressors, many German women were raped, beaten and robbed; some were nailed to cartwheels. Now the suffering of Germans is being remembered in an exhibition opening in Berlin today. For Erika Steinbach, the moving spirit behind Forced Paths, it is the first step towards creating a permanent centre in Berlin to commemorate the 12 million Germans deported from Eastern Europe. “We owe it to ourselves,”...

Lech Kaczynski: Poland wants "pragmatic dialogue" with Russia Polish President Lech Kaczynski said in an exclusive interview with Interfax that his country wanted "a pragmatic dialogue" with Russia and that he "cannot rule out the possibility" of meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in autumn of 2006. "We want to have a pragmatic dialogue with Moscow and implement numerous mutually beneficial projects. After the visit of the special envoy of the president of the Russian Federation for relations with the European Union, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, to Warsaw, we believe that our Russian partners have the same intentions," Kaczynski said. "At...

<p>Poland's decision to spurn the counsels of retreat and re-up for the war in Iraq deserves not only the applause of the Bush administration but tangible military assistance. The announcement was made yesterday by Poland's new conservative president, Lech Kaczynski, on his second day in office. It was his first major foreign policy decision. He approved the maintenance in Iraq of up to 1,500 troops throughout 2006. These Polish troops help provide security to three Iraqi provinces and, while the numbers seem small, this is no minor commitment for a country like Poland that is still recovering from the nightmare of Nazi and Soviet occupation.</p>

Poland prepares to inaugurate new leader VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland - Poland prepared Thursday for the inauguration of its new conservative president, Lech Kaczynski, who rose to power on promises to fight corruption, boost the economy and put the country's communist past further behind it. Soldiers erected flag poles in Warsaw for a military parade that will form part of Friday's celebrations. It is set to be the most pomp-filled transition of power in decades, reflecting Kaczynski's nationalist and traditionalist inclinations. Kaczynski, who has served as Warsaw's mayor since 2002, won a presidential runoff Oct. 23 - a...

Both the European Commission that runs the European Union and leaders of several party groups in the European legislature have warned the new Polish government of President Lech Kaczynski that anti-homosexual initiatives and restoration of the death penalty could cost Poland its voting rights in the E.U., Tuesday's European papers report. But there's not a word of this in the U.S. press, even though the European dailies go to bed five to six hours earlier than their American counterparts. Under the headline, "Polish Leader's Anti-Gay Stance Threatens E.U. Voting Rights," The Guardian's European editor, Nicholas Watt, reports today that, "In...

BRUSSELS, October 26, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The European Union may try to deny Poland its EU voting status because its newly elected President-elect, Lech Kaczynski, opposes the celebration of homosexuality. The EU is calling Kaczynski’s actions as the mayor of Warsaw, where he banned a “gay pride” parade two years in a row, a potential contravention of article 6 of the Treaty of Nice, which states that countries must protect the rights of minorities. He is also under fire for supporting reintroduction of the death penalty. Under Article 7 of the Treaty, a country that violates human rights – as...

Warsaw Mayor mistaken for Unabomber 2005-03-08, 11:19 The prestigious Israeli daily The Jerusalem mistook the mayor of Warsaw for an American terrorist. The daily published an interview with Lech Kaczynski who recently visited Israel. As an illustration to the interview the editors selected a photograph of Theodor Kaczynski, the infamous Unabomber who from 1978 to 1996 sent bomb-letters to universities, airlines and computer magazines killing 3 and wounding 20 people. Lech Kaczynski stated that he did not feel offended although he could not understand how such a mistake could take place.

WARSAW (Reuters) - The mayor of Warsaw said on Tuesday he would cancel a visit to the United States in protest at the U.S. policy of fingerprinting visitors as part of new anti-terror measures. Lech Kaczynski, a former anti-communist activist who now leads a major right-wing party, was supposed to pay a visit in April to Chicago and New York, both home to large Polish communities. "I will go only when there will be no need for taking pictures and fingerprinting," Kaczynski told reporters. Poland had hoped that as a reward for its help in the war to topple Iraqi...