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| "We want to, and we will, remember. And we will bear the responsibility that our history imposes upon us," German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said (AFP Photo/Alik KEPLICZ) |
Warsaw (AFP) - German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday asked Poland's forgiveness 80 years after Germany's attack triggered World War II while his Polish counterpart denounced Russia's recent "imperialist" aggression against its neighbours.
Poland
suffered some of the worst horrors of World War II: nearly six million Poles
died in the conflict that killed more than 50 million people overall.
That figure
includes the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust, half of them Polish.
"I bow
before the Polish victims of German tyranny. And I ask your forgiveness,"
Steinmeier said at pre-dawn ceremonies in the western Polish city of Wielun
where Germany's first bombs fell 80 years ago.
"It
was Germans who committed these crimes against humanity in Poland. Anyone
calling them things of the past, or claiming that the vile rule of terror of
the National Socialists in Europe was a mere footnote of German history, is
passing judgement on him or herself," Steinmeier said alongside his Polish
counterpart.
The line appeared to be a reference to the German far-right, whose co-leader Alexander Gauland once called the 12-year Third Reich a "speck of bird poop" on an otherwise glorious German past.
 |
Polish
Andrzej Duda said the ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the outbreak
of
WWII will "go down in history of Polish-German friendship" (AFP
Photo/Alik KEPLICZ)
|
The line appeared to be a reference to the German far-right, whose co-leader Alexander Gauland once called the 12-year Third Reich a "speck of bird poop" on an otherwise glorious German past.
Polish
President Andrzej Duda for his part denounced Nazi Germany's attack on Poland,
calling it "an act of barbarity" and "a war crime" but also
hailed post-war reconciliation.
Duda later
on Sunday slammed recent Russian military attacks against its neighbours as
"imperialist tendencies" at state ceremonies in Warsaw attended by US
Vice President Mike Pence, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French Prime
Minister Edouard Philippe and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, among
others.
Sanctions
The Polish
leader did not specifically name Russia, but referenced Moscow's actions
against "Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014 that altered borders."
He urged
"the leaders of Europe and the world, NATO and EU members" to guard
against appeasing aggressors.
 |
Tadeusz
Sierandt, an eyewitness to the bombing of Wielun, holds a picture
of the
destroyed town (AFP Photo/Janek SKARZYNSKI)
|
"There
must be sanctions, resolute actions, it must be obvious that any military
aggression will be met with a firm reaction," Duda said.
"Closed
eyes are not a good recipe for keeping the peace; it's a good way to encourage
aggressive personalities, to give the green light for new attacks."
Polish
authorities said they had not invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to
Sunday's ceremonies because of Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
"80
years after the invasion of Poland by the Nazi army, let us remember the
explosion of the Second World War that devastated our Europe," French
President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter.
"The
fight for peace and our values is more important than ever," he added.
Nazi
Germany's attack on Poland on September 1, 1939 came one week after Berlin and
the Soviet Union secretly agreed to carve up Eastern Europe between them by
signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans attended a separate dawn remembrance ceremony on Sunday in Westerplatte, on Poland's Baltic coast, where a Nazi German battleship had opened fire on a Polish fort 80 years ago to the day.
 |
Hitler's
attacks on Poland on September 1, 1939, led Britain and France to declare
war
on Nazi Germany (AFP Photo)
|
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans attended a separate dawn remembrance ceremony on Sunday in Westerplatte, on Poland's Baltic coast, where a Nazi German battleship had opened fire on a Polish fort 80 years ago to the day.
'Demand
compensation'
Hitler's
attacks on Poland led Britain and France to declare war on Nazi Germany. On
September 17, the Soviet Union in turn invaded Poland.
After the
Nazis tore up their pact with Moscow, two alliances battled it out: the Axis
powers led by Germany, Italy and Japan and the victorious Allied forces led by
Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States.
Although it
has been 80 years since the war started, there are still unresolved matters
according to Poland, which says Germany owes it war reparations.
A parliamentary commission is currently working on a new analysis of the extent of Poland's wartime human and material losses.
 |
Map showing
the start of the German invasion of Poland in 1939. (AFP
Photo/Jean-Michel CORNU)
|
A parliamentary commission is currently working on a new analysis of the extent of Poland's wartime human and material losses.
"We
have to talk about, remember and demand the truth regarding those losses. We
have to demand compensation," Morawiecki said on Sunday at the
Westerplatte ceremony.
When it
comes to reparations, however, Berlin believes the case is closed.
US
President Donald Trump had planned to attend the war commemorations but
cancelled at the last minute so that he could monitor Hurricane Dorian.
"We
love our Polish friends, and I will be there soon," Trump told reporters
at the White House on Sunday, confirming a visit was still in the offing.
 |
King Willem-Alexander starts off the festivities. Photo: Anneke Janssen via HH
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Related Articles:
"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
“… 8 - The End of War
The last one is the best. For thousands of years on this planet, Human Beings have warred with each other. If you take a look at the reasons they warred with each other, you will quickly see there aren't any good ones - land, resources, greed. Those are not reasons. That is a description of old energy. Those are not reasons. Reasons would be perhaps defense against an aggressor. But what if there is no longer the consciousness of the aggressor?
When I appeared in my partner's life more than 20 years ago, I said to him privately that the first messages we're going to give will be unbelievable. There would be laughter. We told him that Human nature and consciousness itself would change, and that the seeds of peace would be planted and there would come a time where there is no more war. Indeed, the laughter was great because humans look at history and they see patterns based on an absolute energy called Human Nature. "Impossible! There always has to be war. There always has been. Therefore, there always will be." This is you, in a box, in a black and white potential, where you can only see the black and white of what is and the black and white of what has been. You have no idea the shades of color that are there in your consciousness and the beauty of the love of God.
North Korea is on the edge of change, as we told you it might be. What did this require? The death of the old energy, and I want you to watch this take place. The advisors of the young leader are going to do their best to pull him back into an old energy. This free choice of his will be far different than his father, for he sees some color. Watch for these things. They'll take longer than you want, but it is the beginning of the beginning.
You'll see a fresh unification of South America sooner than not, for what is going to take place potentially this year in Venezuela. You'll see Iran changing. We have no clock. These are the potentials. These can change with free choice. These are not prophecies. This is a reality shift, dear ones, so number eight becomes the propensity not to war again. This is what Humans are going to want. This is what governments are going to want. There is a wisdom factor that will begin to happen on the planet that is grander than what you think is possible. For when you look at government, what do you think about? You see dysfunction, and there is an axiom that says the more people that try to do something together, the worse it gets. It all settles to the lowest common denominator. I'm telling you even those things are going to become old energy concepts. Instead, you're going to watch wisdom become the top potential.
I have no clock. I cannot tell you when. I can just tell you it is in the works, and there will be the seeds of it for you to observe soon - right now, in every single of the eight categories I showed you.
There are those who will say, "Well, Kryon, you're doing a lot more predictions than you used to." I want to tell you what's going on, dear one. I am not predicting anything. I am just telling you what's already there in the potential soup of your reality. That's what Humans are doing on this planet, and for those who believe this communication, you should breathe a sigh of relief and say, "It's about time." ….”
There are those who will say, "Well, Kryon, you're doing a lot more predictions than you used to." I want to tell you what's going on, dear one. I am not predicting anything. I am just telling you what's already there in the potential soup of your reality. That's what Humans are doing on this planet, and for those who believe this communication, you should breathe a sigh of relief and say, "It's about time." ….”
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