WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Solemn ceremonies started early Sunday in Poland to mark the 85th anniversary of German Nazi forces invading and bombing Polish territory at the start of World War II.
President Andrzej Duda attended observances in Wielun, the first civilian town targeted by German bombs in the small hours of Sept. 1, 1939.
Meanwhile, at a monument on the Baltic Sea’s Westerplatte peninsula, where a military outpost was shelled by a German warship just minutes after Wielun was attacked, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz laid wreaths and attended a memorial roll call for fallen soldiers. At the time, the outpost’s outnumbered troops fought for seven days before surrendering to the Germans, becoming a symbol of heroism and patriotism.
In more than five years of war and brutal German occupation, Poland lost 6 million citizens or a sixth of its population, of which 3 million were Jewish. The country also suffered huge losses to its infrastructure, industry and agriculture.
Poland’s previous right-wing government demanded $1.3 trillion in damages from Germany, while Tusk’s current Cabinet has toned the demand down to some form of compensation that could serve to strengthen the ties between the two neighbors.
