ABSTRACT
Gonlulka's assertion of Poland's economic interests abroad was part of a strategy to balance Poland's relations between the two blocs and the two Germanies. Ulbricht was adamantly opposed to this "Titoist" foreign policy, especially a rapprochement between Bonn and Warsaw. The Gomllka-Ulbricht summit did not result in significant improvement in East German-Polish relations, however. At a press conference in Berlin in July, Hermann Matern told reporters that the Socialist Unity Party of Germany was still nervous about developments in Poland and had to watch them closely. In the fall of 1957, the East German Embassy reported that 36,000 tourists had visited Poland in 1956, and that 33,000 had already come in the first half of 1957. The Polish sailors' behavior at Sassnitz confirmed the wisdom of Socialist Unity Party of Germany strict policy of controlling personal contacts between East Germans and Poles. Polish and East German exchanges dropped dramatically in early 1957.
