05/10/2023
Opole, September 23rd, 2023
Press Release
On behalf of the Silesian Bridge Foundation, I would like to emphasize that our mission is broadly understood as Polish-German relations. Fulfilling our mission, the largest project so far, that we have been working on for several years is the verification of the War Diary. This is a very complex and long-term process. This project, as we like to call it - the War Diary, led us to the Minkowskie Palace and several other locations, as you all might have read about in the past. Acting in the name of science and uncovering the truth, we have responded positively to the request in the e-mail from September 21st, 2022, from the "Odkrywca" magazine:
"On behalf of the Institute of Historical and Sightseeing Research LLC, publisher of the monthly magazines "Odkrywca" and "Archeologia Żywa", I am applying for consent to perform an inspection and an expertise of the so-called "War Diary" which is in your possession. (…)”. Signed: Krzysztof Krzyżanowski.
At this point, I would like to quote to all interested parties, including the authors of the e-mail (Odkrywca magazine) to the Foundation from September 21st, 2022, the definition of the word "expertise" from the Polish language encyclopedia:
"expertise [fr. < Latin], examination by appraisers of material evidence or facts in order to issue a judgment;
expertise [fr. expertise < Latin "expertus 'experienced'], all research activities performed by a person specializing in a given field or an institution established for this purpose (e.g., a research institute), carried out on behalf of another entity."
This clearly allows you to understand what task the authors of the monthly “Odkrywca” magazine set themselves and what the Silesian Bridge Foundation was expecting from such a declaration.
The Diary was made available on September 23rd, the inspection lasted several hours, and we, as the Silesian Bridge Foundation, were patiently waiting for the above-mentioned expertise. Initial expertise was very positive, the report (*.doc file) sent on October 31st, 2022, was also positive, however incomplete. To our surprise, without receiving a complete expertise, the January issue of "Odkrywca" magazine, after only months-long "expertise", published an article clearly stating the falsity of the War Diary.
On January 19th, 2023, I sent an e-mail to "Odkrywca" magazine inquiring for a complete "expertise", the following response was received:
"What you call 'expert opinion' is:
- description of the content of the Diary’s pages (*.doc file, the first version of which I already sent you);
- arrangements regarding the book itself (i.e., publishing house and primary entries - included in the article);
- analysis of the content of the Diary with reference to individual pages (also included in the article). (…)”.
Signed: Krzysztof Krzyżanowski, message from January 20th, 2023.
Shortly after the January 2023 publication of the “Odkrywca” article we began analyzing it. We note that their clear assessment, after less than three months of their research, is based only on the similarity of the sentences and facts described on one page of the Diary and in the book "Die Flucht (...)" by Rolf O. Becker. Below I present four of the six sentences which, according to their experts, are identical "word for word", which furthermore, clearly proves that the Diary is forged:
(Diary) P. Löbe, der über Zopte) bereits nach Ullersdorf selbst flüchtete, kennt unsere deutsche Lage.
(Die Flucht) Im Telegraf, Nr. 51 W, 2. Jahrgang, schildert ein Zeuge den die ganze Welt kennt, das Eintreffen der Russen: Reichstagspräsident Paul Löbe, in Berlin ausgebombt, zum Zobten evakuiert und von dort im Februar 1945 narb Ullersdorf an der Biele geflüchiet:
(Diary) Noch die Chaussee Breslau-Klettendorf-Jordansmühle, Heidersdorf ist noch offen.
(Die Flucht) Aber die Front um den Kreis zieht sich bedrohlich zusammen. Als sich der Ring um Breslau immer enger schließt, bleibt am Ende nur noch ein schmaler Korridor an der Chaussee Breslau-Klettendorf-Jordansmühl-Heidersdorf offen. Am Morgen des 12. Februar sind einige Frauen von Jordansmühl nach Breslau gefahren, um ihre nach dort zum Volkssturm eingezogenen Männer zu besuchen. Sie kehren nicht mehr zurück. In den Mittagsstunden ist Breslau ganz eingeschlossen...
(Journal) Die Krupp-Widia-Werke werden verlegt
(Die Flucht) “...Die Besetzung der Krupp-Werke bei Markstädt in der Nähe von Breslau durch die Russen hatte einen Zuzug von 1000 Arbeitern in den Kreis zur Folge. Sie wurden von dem nach Langenbielau verlagerten Widia-Werk der Firma Krupp, das über umfangreiche Barackenunterkünfte verfügte, aufgenommen. Bei diesem Werk lagerte der gesamte in Deutschland befindliche Vorrat an Wolframarz.
(Journal) Die Gräfin berichtet, daß E. Brix von den Russen erschossen wurde
(Die Flucht p328) Aus Bad Dirsdorf berichtet Gräfin Isa von Pfeil, wie die Russen den Kaufmann Erich Brix erschießen.
Quotes from "Die Flucht" can be easily checked using Google Books and then translated using Google Translate for comparison. We agree that the facts in the book and in the Diary validate each other. We clearly notice that they confirm their truth, however, these are widely known facts from the events that took place at the end of the Second World War.
To quote an American analyst who has been cooperating with the Silesian Bridge Foundation for over a year now:
“Odkrywca "experts" employed by the monthly magazine discovered, using a highly skilled and innovative "Google search" method, that "Die Flucht" also documented several widely known facts of the Journal in over 350 pages of witness statements (Germans expelled from Silesia).”
The question of whether these sentences are identical "word for word" can be easily answered by anyone after a short acquaintance with the materials cited above. The conclusion, after such a short analysis and based on circumstantial evidence, disappointed and surprised us greatly. It's hard to argue with someone who uses such rationalization and then draws such an absolute conclusion based on it. We do not find here the motive for the alleged forgery, the perpetrator, or even the graphological analysis, only a confirmation of the facts, which rather affirms the authenticity of the Diary, nor its forgery. In line with the analysis, that we have been conducting for several years now, I will quote the words of an American analyst collaborating with the Foundation:
"Thoroughly familiar with the details of the Diary and after examining numerous investigative threads, including circumstantial, tangential, temporal sequence and integrated aspects, I fully conclude that the authenticity at this time cannot be fully concluded, but the corroborative and specific properties of the content have moved the needle towards authenticity.”
Preliminary report received by the Foundation, September 1st, 2023.
Additionally, in a conversation with a representative of "Odkrywca", when asked why such a clear opinion was based only on circumstantial evidence, the answer was that it was intended to attract the attention of the public (internet clicks), which, as we understand it, was also intended to increase the sales of the "Odkrywca" magazine. I believe that it is easy to form your own opinion here, I will leave it to each one of you. My only intention was to cite the facts surrounding this situation and to protect the reputation of the Silesian Bridge Foundation.
At this stage of work, it would be far premature for the Foundation to present the final conclusions of the mentioned research. It should be mentioned that the result of our teamwork is the acquisition of a huge number of historical materials, analyses, expert opinions and other materials (including the book "Die Flucht (...)" by Rolf O. Becker).
I would like to thank everyone interested in for their attention, also I would like to invite everyone to join and work with the Silesian Bridge Foundation in the name of science and the truth.
Kind regards
On behalf of the Silesian Bridge Foundation
Roman Furmaniak
