Gabriele Lesser
|
|
Gabriele Lesser (born January 10, 1962) is a German historian and journalist, who specializes in the history of World War II.
As Warsaw correspondent of daily Kieler Nachrichten, she wrote commentary criticizing an initiative of German Federation of Expellees (BdV) to build a monumental Centre Against Expulsions, devoted to German victims of WWII. That initiative, advanced by BdV president Erika Steinbach, caused fierce controversy among the Central European public. Lesser also accused Steinbach of having destructive influence on Polish-German relations.
Recently, Erika Steinbach, in the name of BdV, sued Gabriele Lesser for alleged defamations. Because other German journalists have expressed similar views in other articles, this raised a concern that Erika Steinbach is trying to set up an example case, winning the Centre Against Expulsions controversy by silencing her opponents. Some believe that under pressure from Steinbach, the newspaper decided to constrain critics of the Federation of Expellees and its leadership. Such an outcome is seen by some as a threat to freedom of opinion in Germany.
Particularities of the litigation include expressions Lesser used, whether the Centre will be a counterweight to Holocaust Memorial, and how BdV responded to the message of Polish bishops of November 1965 calling for reconciliation.