Staying Home

Genscher shows displeasure

The three-day visit to Poland by West German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher was to be the first by a high-level West German diplomat since martial law was declared in December 1981. But only hours before takeoff last week, a testy Genscher canceled his visit. One major reason: a Polish government suggestion that it would be inappropriate for Genscher to visit the grave of Father Jerzy Popieluszko, the Solidarity supporter who was murdered last month. In addition, the Warsaw regime vetoed Genscher's request to lay a wreath at the grave of a German soldier killed in World War II and refused to grant a visa for the visit to the correspondent of Bonn's conservative daily Die Welt.

An embarrassment occurred two days before the planned visit when 192 tourists left the Polish cruise liner Stefan Batory in Hamburg; many of them immediately began the quest for asylum. Their example was quickly followed. At week's end West German authorities reported that an additional 126 Poles had jumped ship from the ferry Rogalin when it docked in Travemuende, a town near the East German border.