The document says that while looking forward to the future, historical realities must not be forgotten or underestimated.

Michal Kubicki reports

The declaration speaks of progress in reconciliation between the two nations but also points to attempts to distort history, stressing that the church will confront all such attempts. The bishops recall that World War II began with the ‘criminal aggression of Nazi Germany’ and condemn all war crimes, including ‘the wrongs and loss of homeland inflicted by Germans due to expulsions’ but stress that the context of these expulsions and the order of events must not be forgotten. 

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