"We Germans have no thought about Poland," said the satirist initially showing the map of Belarus as Poland. Giving dates from Polish past – partitions, regaining independency in 1918, planet War II, the creation of Solidarity with Lech Wałęsa or Poland's accession to the European Union – illustrated them by random, triggering loose associations with historical facts of photographs.
Referring to German crimes, Boehmermann recalled that the Germans murdered six million Poles, half of whom were Jews. He besides mentioned the problem of war reparations.
Satyrik recalled jokes about Poles popular in German media in the 1990s, including Harald Schmidt's appearance, frequently referring to car theft.
The author of the program praised Poles for "getting conclusions from history". He stressed that Poland, long before Russia attacked Ukraine on 24 February 2022, warned against Kremlin's aggressive policy. Boehmermann cited the words of Lech Kaczyński in 2008 that after Georgia, Russia would attack Ukraine, then the Baltic States, and later it is possible to attack Poland.
Poland as a top safety officer
The programme underlines that Poland spends the most of all NATO countries on armaments. Prime Minister Donald Tusk was quoted, saying that Poland would be safer if it had its own atomic weapon.
"Poland forces us to look the fact in the face," says the satirist.
Boehmermann polemates with German pacifists parodying German philosopher Richard David Precht, an opponent of military aid for Ukraine.
The author besides referred to the upcoming presidential elections in Poland. He described the PiS as a right-populist organization – "Polish AfD, but other Russia", and simultaneously supporting Donald Trump, who is "putin's friend".
Poles want Germans to arm themselves
Boehmermann's speech in the ZDF studio was supplemented by a study from Wrocław presenting its inhabitants. A middle-aged man, asked about the state of Polish-German relations, replied that "if Poles want Germans to arm themselves, it's okay now".
The ZDF Magazin Royale programme has been broadcast since 2020 on Friday evening. ZDF is the second German public tv programme. A 44-year-old satirist has Polish roots.
In 2016, the German prosecutor's office implemented an investigation against Boemermann in connection with the suspicion of insulting Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The proceedings have been dropped.
