September 2, 2019

Anna Murray 

On September 1, the related world leaders gathered in Piłsudski Square in Warsaw to attend a ceremony for the 80th anniversary of Germany’s invasion of Poland. German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier publicly apologized for Adolf Hitler’s mass killings in Poland in 1939. Under the remorseful atmosphere, the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, still angrily pointed out World War II wouldn’t have happened if Europe had decisively resisted against Hitler’s cruelty. He exclaimed, “Turning a blind eye is not the recipe for preserving peace,” hoping everybody there remembered the historical cataclysm and was brave to stop unreasonable attacks.  

 
Another event on Westerplatte Peninsula was led by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Frans Timmermans, the first vice-president of the European Commission. In Morawiecki’s speech, he mentioned the issue of compensation but German officials have insisted on not paying reparations. Timmermans reminded us not to forget the “unspeakable horrors”; as he described, one life out of five was taken in the war. Of course, they held an event in Wieluń, 70 percent of which was destroyed by the German air force on September 1, 1939.

 
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, wasn’t invited to the commemoration this year. US Vice President Mike Pence encouraged Poland on behalf of US President Donald Trump, who had to cancel the original schedule due to the fast-moving Hurricane Dorian toward the US. Pence praised the Polish people’s determination to make all the difference.

Photo:Webshot.