Ksiądz Johannes Gehrmann między Polską a Niemcami. Przełomowe miejsca w jego biografii

Lewandowska, Izabela

Ksiądz Johannes Gehrmann między Polską a Niemcami. Przełomowe miejsca w jego biografii

Abstract

The article presents the life and activism of Father Johannes Gehrmann, who had ties to both Germany and Poland, and who was facilitating reconciliation between the nations. In this biography, three main regions that became the main areas of his involvement have been selected. These are: Warmia (Jaroty, Bartąg), northern Germany (Osnabrück, Fehmarn, Hamburg) and the area of the Reconciliation Movement (Hilter, Ciechocinek, Westerplatte). The article further describes that Gehrmann spent his child- hood in Warmia, where he learnt Polish and was an altar boy. In northern Germany, he was involved in helping Poles and refugees from Eastern Europe in the last years before the fall of communism. The idea of reconciliation began after he had taken over the parish in Hilter and established cooperation with the resort in Ciechocinek, where Polish war veterans were being treated. It was thanks to his efforts that the idea of reconciling Polish and German soldiers who had fought against each other on Westerplatte took shape and was implemented in the early 1990s. In the conclusion, it was emphasized that the places from Gehrmann’s biography portray the difficult Polish-German history and the reconciliation between the two nations.

Keywords

Johannes Gehrmann Warmia northern Germany Polenhilfe Movement (Movement to Help the Poles) Reconciliation Movement

Citation

Lewandowska, I., Ksiądz Johannes Gehrmann między Polską a Niemcami. Przełomowe miejsca w jego biografii, „Biografistyka Pedagogiczna” 2022, t. 7, nr 2, s. 241-266

URI

https://open.icm.edu.pl/handle/123456789/22344

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