Kniefall von Warschau

The term Kniefall von Warschau, also referred to as Warschauer Kniefall , refers to West German Chancellor Willy Brandt kneeling and giving a moment of silence during a visit to a Warsaw Ghetto Uprising memorial in 1970.The event took place on December 7, 1970, in Warsaw, Poland , during a visit to a monument to the German occupation-era Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. After laying a wreath, Brandt unexpectedly, and apparently spontaneously, knelt. He remained silently in that position for a short time , surrounded by a large group of dignitaries and press photographers. Brandt had actively resisted the early Nazi regime, and had spent most of the time of Hitler's reign in exile. The occasion of Brandt's visit to Poland at the time was the signing of the Treaty of Warsaw between West Germany and Poland, guaranteeing German acceptance of the new borders of Poland. The treaty was one of the Brandt-initiated policy steps to ease tensions between West and East during the Cold War.

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