Pole loses language discrimination case in Germany; Scandalous!

The District Court in Hamburg has dismissed a discrimination case against the German Youth Affairs Office after it refused to allow a Polish father to speak to his children in Polish.

Thirty nine year-old Wojciech Pomorski, a Polish teacher who has been living in Germany since the 1980s, demanded a written apology and 15,000 euro compensation from the Youth Affairs Office (Jugendamt) in Hamburg because it did not allow him to speak Polish with his two daughters when visiting them.

His original court petition, dating back to 2006, reads: “The petitioner, who fled to Germany in the 1980s for political reasons, has spoken Polish to his daughters since their birth, this being the language in which he is best able to express himself. He argues that the German authorities are seriously infringing his fundamental rights and have failed to respect his cultural and linguistic identity.”

After divorcing his German wife, Pomorski can see his children only under supervision. The civil court did not forbid Pomorski to use Polish in contacts with his daughters but the Youth Affairs Office decided that he must not communicate in the Polish language with them because it cannot always provide a supervisor who can understand the language.

Pomorski is planning to appeal the court’s decision, which has been covered extensively in both the German and Polish media.

According to MEP Marcin Libicki, last year the European Parliament received over 200 complaints from foreign parents concerning discrimination by German Youth Affairs Offices. In 2007, Gilla Schindler from the German Family Ministry, admitted that there were certain irregularities in the Jugendamts.

I don't think the language is the important part in this case, but the fact that he can only see his kids supervised. This probably means there is some history, be this abuse, violence or manipulation. I think that is the main reason as to why he is not allowed to speak Polish to his daughters: because the supervisors when seeing his kids don't speak Polish.

Could be resolved though by getting a Polish speaking supervisor. But he lives in Germany, all the institutions are German, why would they get a Polish supervisor for just one guy?

Could be resolved though by getting a Polish speaking supervisor.

But he lives in Germany, all the institutions are German, why would they get a Polish supervisor for just one guy?

Bratwurst Boy why is it that Poles are not recognized as an ethnic minority in Germany, we've been there for centuries, as you say we integrate well,

Can you spot the differences?

i've heard that originally Germany wanted the workers to be Polish

found the comments on the article hilarious and predictable. If a guy is prohibited from seeing his children without supervision, there must be some reason for that

If a guy is prohibited from seeing his children without supervision, there must be some reason for that.

Instead everybody starts to scream discrimination and all that jazz,

if this guy is living for nearly 30 years in Germany, he should be able to express himself thoroughly in German.

There's none, not even officially.

But for sure Poles would had been the better solution to people from so far away culturally and mentally like Turks.

Too often, not much, if any evidence is needed (many, many examples provided on request).

But I agree...if the wife has the sole right of contact and access and he can see them only under supervision there has to be definitely some history with this guy!
The Jugendamts first duty is the security of the children and youth...

I found the comments on the article hilarious and predictable. If a guy is prohibited from seeing his children without supervision, there must be some reason for that. Instead everybody starts to scream discrimination and all that jazz, simply bypassing the most important point of the article.

This Jugendamt thing is apparently notorious for stealing children of Poles living in,

Sadly, for some reason our government refuses to take any steps about it.

It was strongly suggested that neo nazism is prevalent in the ranks of Judgendant,

the fact remains that in Germany Polish is hardly some rare exotic language like Zulu or Telugu.

It's a disgrace that the office in question is too incompetent to provide Polish speaking staff (or interpreters).

Would an English speaker be treated like this?

Since he has visitation rights, then he should be able to speak to his children in Polish. Shame on Germany for this.

.only Poles or relatives speak it.
It's like Zulu for Germanics...

Everybody speaks english...it wouldn't be as hard to find an english speaking social worker!

Maybe he is raping or beating his children when nobody looks...

But Poland shares a border with Germany. Polish is the fifth (or sixth) most spoken language in the EU. IT doesn't say anything good about Germany if Germans think of it like Zulu.

My point is an English speaker would never meet the kind of discrimination in Germany that Poles routinely meet.

then why does he even have visitation? If it can be proved then he should have no visitation, if it can't be proved then don't micromanage parent-child relations.

I remember a similar case from a few years ago where a judge ruled that one parent speaking Polish to the child could have a harmful effect on their linguistic development.

There are thousands cases, check here:

You don't know much about this case at all?

NeoNazi-Germany must be a horrible place to be for polish subhumans

I don't know anybody who speaks it...only Poles or relatives speak it.