The Polish pastorate in Berlin in the years 1945-1961 in the light of the documents in the Diocesan Record Office in Berlin

Abstract

Starting from the second half of the 19^th century Berlin was one of the places with the greatest Polish population abroad, and the immigrants from Poland developed a rich religious life in the city. In the years 1945-1961 the Polish Catholic life was only a weak echo of the earlier times, when Polish services were celebrated in many of the city churches. The small Polish community was not able to struggle for their rights and was dependent on the kindness of the diocese authorities and of the local priests. The diocese authorities did not show much of this kindness. In fact the only expression of it was keeping Father Nowakowski in Berlin and introducing the pay for the priests who took care of Polish Catholics, which, however, happened only at the end of the 1950s – after over 10 years of the pastorate’s work. The Polish community was more lucky with kind and well-meaning priests, and probably this is why it survived. First a Dominican coming from Poland and identifying himself with Poland took care of it without getting any pay for it, and then a diocesan priest, also coming from Poland and well-meaning did the same. At that time the community was faced with an ordeal: an unfriendly priest. His presence and the lack of friendliness from the curia, was a serious threat for the community's development. Luckily, this ordeal only lasted for two years, and then it was ended – unfortunately not by the Berlin Church authorities, but by the GDR Communists, who separated the Polish Catholics from the unkind priest with the Berlin Wall.