Editing Axel Springer (section)

=== Brandt's ''Kniefall von Warschau'' ===
{{Main|Kniefall von Warschau}}
Springer's son, Axel Springer Jr. (1941–1980), was the photographer and journalist "Sven Simon", and was for a period chief editor of ''[[Welt am Sonntag]]''. In 1980, at the age of 38, he took his own life. He is perhaps best remembered for his iconic picture of [[Kniefall von Warschau|Willi Brandt kneeling]] on 7 December 1970 before the memorial to [[Warsaw Ghetto Uprising|Ghetto Uprising in Warsaw]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sontheimer |first1=Michael |title=Willy Brandt in Warschau, Kniefall vor der Geschichte |url=https://www.spiegel.de/geschichte/willy-brandt-in-warschau-a-946886.html |access-date=14 February 2021 |work=Der Spiegel |date=6 December 2020 |archive-date=7 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207101235/https://www.spiegel.de/geschichte/willy-brandt-in-warschau-a-946886.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The occasion of Brandt's visit to Poland was the signing of the [[Treaty of Warsaw (1970)|Treaty of Warsaw]] between [[West Germany]] and [[People's Republic of Poland|Poland]]. This recognised the [[Oder–Neisse line|Oder-Neisse Line]] as Germany's final frontier in the east and, on that basis, established diplomatic relations between the Federal Republic and the [[Polish People's Republic|People's Republic of Poland]]. Writing himself in ''Die Welt'', Springer expressed outrage that a democratically elected German government should license a Communist regime in its annexation of a quarter of the country. In ''Bild,'' Boenisch remarked that, while Brandt attempted "kneel away" the crimes of the Nazis, the victims of his Stalinist hosts were being made to kneel by rifle butts to the groin.<ref>{{Cite web|title="Bild" lässt Willy Brandt für sich knien — BILDblog|date=11 July 2007|url=https://bildblog.de/2372/bild-laesst-willy-brandt-fuer-sich-knien/|access-date=24 February 2021|language=de-DE|archive-date=7 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207071923/https://bildblog.de/2372/bild-laesst-willy-brandt-fuer-sich-knien/|url-status=live}}</ref>