Zakłócona rocznica. Wizyta niemieckich weteranów w Gdaƒsku w 1979 roku w Êwietle dokumentów Słu˝by Bezpieczenstwa
A disrupted anniversary: The German veterans’ visit to Gdańsk in 1979 in light of security apparatus documents

Summary/Abstract: The article takes up the issue of the postwar contacts between Polish and German soldiers who fought at Westerplatte in September 1939 – contacts which have not previously been the subject of in-depth historical analysis. The most important meeting of veterans took place in 1979 in Gdańsk on the 40th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. The author argues that the 1979 visit of the German veterans was the result of an improvement in Polish-German relations. On this occasion the Polish and German veterans exchanged signs of friendship which were duly registered on film by German reporters. Meanwhile, Polish security functionaries engaged in operations to censure information about gestures of reconciliation between the combatants. They also confiscated the film recordings.

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