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Steinbach's position as head of the Federation of Expellees arouses much controversy in ],<ref name="expatica.com"/>, where both she and the organisations she is heading are regularly attacked by nationalist politicians<ref>http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4057645,00.html</ref> Some right-wing Polish and Czech politicians are particularly opposed to her work to construct a memorial to the 15 million Germans who became the victims of ] during and after WWII, when they were ] from ] and other parts of Eastern and Central Europe by ]'s communists, or had to flee the advancing forces of Stalin who were brutally massacring civilians. Between 2 and 3 million German civilians died in this process, and it is considered a ] by legal scholars like ]. Steinbach's position as head of the Federation of Expellees arouses much controversy in ],<ref name="expatica.com"/>, where both she and the organisations she is heading are regularly attacked by nationalist politicians<ref>http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4057645,00.html</ref> Some right-wing Polish and Czech politicians are particularly opposed to her work to construct a memorial to the 15 million Germans who became the victims of ] during and after WWII, when they were ] from ] and other parts of Eastern and Central Europe by ]'s communists, or had to flee the advancing forces of Stalin who were brutally massacring civilians. Between 2 and 3 million German civilians died in this process, and it is considered a ] by legal scholars like ].


A 2003 cover montage of Polish newsmagazine '']'' that depicted Steinbach riding Chancellor ] while wearing an ]. <ref></ref> In 2007 '']'', a popular newspaper in Poland, reproduced a leaflet<ref></ref> presenting Steinbach in the succession of the ] and the Nazis, and reminded of the full compensations never paid<ref>http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=ea5cd0b7-e759-445d-a85e-268a8f4415bc&articleId=80eb3e50-fa12-4da7-b2c7-b8f680bae54c</ref><ref>http://remember.org/educate/dingell.html</ref> to Poland for losses caused by the Nazi Germany<ref></ref>. However, Poland has never paid any compensations to Germany either for losses caused by the communist regime in Poland during the Expulsion. A 2003 cover montage of Polish newsmagazine '']'' that depicted Steinbach riding Chancellor ] while wearing an ]. <ref></ref> In 2007 '']'', a popular newspaper in Poland, reproduced a leaflet<ref></ref> presenting Steinbach in the succession of the ] and the Nazis, and reminded of the full compensations never paid<ref>http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=ea5cd0b7-e759-445d-a85e-268a8f4415bc&articleId=80eb3e50-fa12-4da7-b2c7-b8f680bae54c</ref><ref>http://remember.org/educate/dingell.html</ref> to Poland for losses caused by the Nazi Germany<ref></ref>. However, Poland has never paid any compensations to Germany either for losses caused by the communist regime in Poland during the Expulsion and lost German territories.


In 2007, Steinbach compared the regime of the ] twins in Poland to German small far-right parties Republikaner, DVU and NPD<ref>http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2375977,00.html</ref> In 2007, Steinbach compared the regime of the ] twins in Poland to German small far-right parties Republikaner, DVU and NPD<ref>http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2375977,00.html</ref>

Revision as of 17:25, 15 November 2009

Erika Steinbach

Erika Steinbach (born July 25, 1943) is a German conservative politician who has been representing the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the state of Hesse as a member of the Parliament of Germany, the Bundestag, since 1990. She is one of two candidates elected directly from Frankfurt, and is the spokeswoman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group on human rights and humanitarian aid. She is also a member of the national board of the CDU. Since 1998, she is the president of the Federation of Expellees. Erika Steinbach studied music and was a member of concert orchestras before becoming a politician.

Offices

Steinbach was elected president of the Federation of Expellees (Template:Lang-de) in 1998, succeeding Fritz Wittmann. Since 2000, she has been a member of the national board of the CDU (German, CDU-Bundesvorstand). In addition, she is on the boards of the Goethe-Institut, the national broadcasting company ZDF, and the Territorial Association of West Prussia. She also is chairwoman of the Centre Against Expulsions.

Since 2005, she has been a member of the German parliamentary committee for human rights and humanitarian aid and spokesperson for human rights and humanitarian aid of the CDU/Christian Social Union fraction.

Biography and career

Steinbach's father, Wilhelm Karl Hermann, was born in Hanau (Hesse, western-central Germany) but his family had come from Lower Silesia. In 1941 after the German invasion of Poland, he was deployed to the town of Rumia (Template:Lang-de), until 1919 part of Germany, then from 1919 part of Poland (the Polish Corridor) and in 1939 reannexed by Germany. Wilhelm Karl Hermann served there as an airfield technician with the rank of a Luftwaffe Feldwebel. Steinbach's mother, Erika Hermann (née Grote), was ordered to work in the town after the annexation. Steinbach was born there as Erika Hermann.

In January 1944, her father was deployed to the Eastern Front. In January 1945 during East Prussian Offensive of the Soviet Army, Steinbach's mother together with her children, fled to Schleswig-Holstein in northwestern Germany. In 1948 the family moved to Berlin, where Steinbach's grandfather had become mayor of one of the districts.

In 1949, Wilhelm Karl Hermann returned from Soviet captivity. In 1950, the family moved to Hanau, Hesse where Steinbach finished her education and started studying the violin. In 1967 she abandoned her music career due to an ill finger. In 1972, she married Helmut Steinbach, the conductor of a local youth symphonic orchestra. Steinbach graduated from a school of civil administration and moved to Frankfurt, where she started working for a Communal Evaluation Office.

In 1974 she joined the Frankfurt branch of the CDU party. In 1977 she was elected a chairman of the city council and held that post until 1990, when she was elected a member of the Bundestag. In that year she voted against the confirmation of German-Polish borders. In 1997 she criticised the approval of the Czech-German Declaration of Reconciliation.

Federation of Expellees

Steinbach joined the German Federation of Expellees in 1994. In May 1998 she became the head of the organization, and was re-elected in 2002 and on May 8, 2004

The German Federal Expellee Law of 1953 defines as expellee all German nationals and ethnic Germans with a primary residence outside post-war Germany, who lost this residence in the course of the World War II-related flight and expulsions.

Centre Against Expulsions

Erika Steinbach is the founder, along with Peter Glotz, of the foundation Centre Against Expulsions (Template:Lang-de), which is working to establish a museum for the victims of "Flight, displacements, forced resettlements and deportations all over the world in the past century", a project of the German federal government on initiative and with participation of the Federation of Expellees. The museum will contain a permanent exhibition to document expulsions including the expulsion of Germans after World War II.

The federal government established the federal foundation "Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung" which is intended to be the basis a future museum. The Federal of Expellees is entitled to appoint some of the board member, although they need to be confirmed by the cabinet.

On 4 March 2009 the Federation of Expellees decided not to nominate Steinbach to the council and instead left one seat unoccupied, after the socialists threatened to veto Steinbach's appointment to the board. On October 19 2009, after the socialists were ousted from government and replaced by a liberal-conservative coalition dominated by Steinbach's party, Steinbach announced her intention to take the seat at the board. After

In 2006 she was involved in an exhibition on the expulsions in Europe in the 20th century. The exhibition deals with expulsions of German, Armenians, Poles, Turks, Greeks, Latvians, Karelians, Ukrainians, Italians and other peoples - topics many Europeans are unfamiliar with. The last item of the exhibition was a reconciliatory suitcase from Poland dedicated to a peaceful Polish, German and Ukrainian future generation.

Political positions

Steinbach has defined her political positions regarding issues related to the expulsion of Germans as follows: She says that the expulsions are not comparable to the Holocaust, which she says is a unique crime. She further says that it was Adolf Hitler who opened Pandora's box and thus the German expellees are also victims of Hitler's policies, though she does not endorse the thesis of primary responsibility of the Nazis for the expulsions. She renounces claims of the Federation of Expellees to Poland and distanced herself from the Prussian Trust. She endorses the Charta of the German expellees of August 1950.

Perception

Erika Steinbach is much more widely known in Poland and the Czech Republic than in Germany. According to Cordell and Wolff (2005), the political importance the Federation of Expellees has in German politics is overestimated in Poland and the Czech Republic because of its unproportional media presence in these countries and campaigns of "aggressively nationalist politicians".

Criticism in Poland

Steinbach's position as head of the Federation of Expellees arouses much controversy in Poland,, where both she and the organisations she is heading are regularly attacked by nationalist politicians Some right-wing Polish and Czech politicians are particularly opposed to her work to construct a memorial to the 15 million Germans who became the victims of ethnic cleansing during and after WWII, when they were expelled from Eastern Germany and other parts of Eastern and Central Europe by Joseph Stalin's communists, or had to flee the advancing forces of Stalin who were brutally massacring civilians. Between 2 and 3 million German civilians died in this process, and it is considered a genocide by legal scholars like Felix Ermacora.

A 2003 cover montage of Polish newsmagazine Wprost that depicted Steinbach riding Chancellor Gerhard Schröder while wearing an SS uniform. In 2007 Gazeta Wyborcza, a popular newspaper in Poland, reproduced a leaflet presenting Steinbach in the succession of the Teutonic Knights and the Nazis, and reminded of the full compensations never paid to Poland for losses caused by the Nazi Germany. However, Poland has never paid any compensations to Germany either for losses caused by the communist regime in Poland during the Expulsion and lost German territories.

In 2007, Steinbach compared the regime of the Kaczynski twins in Poland to German small far-right parties Republikaner, DVU and NPD

Lecture controversy

In May 2008 Steinbach started a series of lectures about the "German settlement in Eastern Central Europe" at the University of Potsdam. However, the persisting obstructions of some far-left students who protested against Steinbach's allegedly revisionist view on German history by throwing waterfilled balloons and blocking the entrances compelled her to cancel the further lectures. On June 11, 2008 a full meeting of the students council decided (with 146 against 7 votes) to protect the right of freedom of opinion and speech and invited Steinbach again, if necessary under police protection. The local Mayor, supported by several political parties, expressed his displeasure about the incident and requested the university council to invite Steinbach again.

Honours

On July 9, 2009 she was awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit by Prime Minister of Bavaria Horst Seehofer for her work for the rights of the victims of the Expulsion.

External links

References

  1. Template:De icon"Erika Steinbach bestreitet Sinneswandel". Die Welt. Retrieved 2005-11-03.
  2. ^ Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg online
  3. Template:Pl icon Szubarczyk, Piotr (2004). "Erika z Rumi". Biuletyn IPN. 50 (4): 49–53. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  4. ^ n-tv
  5. Template:De icon"BdV-Präsidentin Erika Steinbach mit überwältigender Mehrheit wiedergewählt". Bund der Vertriebenen website. BdV. 2004. Retrieved May 8 2004. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  6. Template:De icon Bundestag (1953). "Gesetz über die Angelegenheiten der Vertriebenen und Flüchtlinge". Juris.de. German Ministry of Justice. Retrieved February 28 2005. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  7. Centre against Expulsions
  8. Spiegel.de, Vertriebenenbund zieht Steinbachs Nominierung zurück
  9. http://www.rp.pl/artykul/379628_Kolejny_ruch__Eriki_Steinbach__.html
  11. ^ Giordano, Ralph. "Erika Steinbach ist keine Revanchistin". Hamburger Abendblatt 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  12. ^ Cordell, Karl; Wolff, Stefan (2005). Routledge advances in European politics. Volume 28. Germany's foreign policy towards Poland and the Czech Republic: Ostpolitik revisited. Routledge. p. 149. ISBN 0415369746. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
  13. Cite error: The named reference expatica.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4057645,00.html
  16. polish leaflet of 2007
  17. http://www.ceeol.com/aspx/issuedetails.aspx?issueid=ea5cd0b7-e759-445d-a85e-268a8f4415bc&articleId=80eb3e50-fa12-4da7-b2c7-b8f680bae54c
  18. http://remember.org/educate/dingell.html
  20. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2375977,00.html
  21. Die Welt, Steinbach sagt Vortraege ab
  22. Spiegel, Studium abgesagt
  23. Märkische Allgemeine, Oberbürgermeister fordert Universität auf sich dem Konflikt zu stellen
  24. http://www.bayern.de/Fotoreihen-.1589.10261791/index.htm
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