[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help] 

Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

The Money and Power Behind the Riots: This is No Grass-Roots Movement

D.C. Judge Sides With Trump In Lawsuit Over Control Of Corrupt Foreign Aid Agency

Israel Iran Double Standard

Soros Funneled $8.3M into Leftist Group Trying to Turn Lone Star State Blue

California Democrats Under Fire for Buying Bricks During Protests

ICE Launches Campaign to Crack Down on Marriage Fraud Could Ilhan Omar Finally Face Justice?

Joe Rogan's podcast predicted violent LA riots two years ago leaving viewers stunned

Anti-migrant rioters shouting 'f*** off foreigners!'

Amazing things happen when you actually cut government spending.

25 Vaccine Death Stories To Share In Social Media

The White House just posted this:

US Anticipating Potential Israeli Attack on Iran

Grok Is Using a Far-Left Fact Check website to Smear and Censor Conservative Outlets on X

Over 300 UK Foreign Office staff told to consider resigning if they disagree with government's Gaza policy

Jimmy Dore: Here’s How Israel’s Massacres At Aid Sites Work!

Iran successfully tests missile with 2-ton warhead

Liberal Teachers Union Presidents Rally Behind LA Rioters

Ilhan Omars Daughter Applauds Anti-ICE Riots, Urges Death to Colonial Empire: U.S. and Israel One Oppressor

California Leaders Want United Nations Blue Helmets to Expel Federal Forces from the State

Tulsi Gabbard Warns of “Nuclear Holocaust” in Chilling 3-Minute Plea

LBMA Silver Short Position Now 2nd Largest In History

Chumbawamba - Tubthumping

Something BIG is happening right now in the Middle East, Israel ready to attack Iran

AMERICA ON FIRE: Riots & Chaos as Trump Quadruples ICE Raids!

THE BANKRUPTCY OF THE UNITED STATES (Emergency Banking Act)

In France, young women are starting to buy pet pigs to avoid being harassed by Muslim men

Elderly Veteran kills 3 Home Invaders

Number One Longevity Food

Inflation Highest In Democrat States, Lowest In Republican Deep South

TikToker admits to being paid $150 a day to protest Trump’s deportation policies in LA


History
See other History Articles

Title: Poland remembers World War start (70 years ago today)
Source: BBC
URL Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8230678.stm
Published: Sep 1, 2009
Author: BBC
Post Date: 2009-09-01 18:27:28 by X-15
Keywords: None
Views: 129
Comments: 4

Poland has been holding a day of commemorations to mark the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II.

Leaders from 20 countries laid candles during a ceremony near Gdansk.

Earlier, Polish President Lech Kaczynski criticised the former Soviet Union over responsibility for the war.

His words added to an ongoing row with Moscow, although Russian PM Vladimir Putin said he hoped the two countries could settle their differences.

Mr Kaczynski said Poland had received a "stab in the back" from the former Soviet Union when it invaded and occupied the east of the country as the German army was advancing westwards.

He again criticised the non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in the early years of the conflict, saying it was about dividing Europe.

Mr Kaczynski recalled the Katyn massacre in which 20,000 Polish officers were killed by Soviet forces, saying it was an act of chauvinism and in revenge for Polish independence.

But he also praised the Soviet Union's sacrifice against Nazi Germany.

Speaking at the ceremony on Westerplatte peninsula, Mr Putin highlighted that nearly half of the estimated 50 million people who died during the war were from the Soviet Union.

The Russian prime minister said all pacts that European states agreed with Nazi Germany were "morally unacceptable", including the 1939 Soviet accord.

He added that Russia accepted its mistakes of the past.

Occupation

Differing historical interpretations of events at the start of the war though have caused a strain in relations between Poland and Russia.

Turning his attention to that controversy, Mr Putin said: "We seriously hope that Russian and Polish relationships will rid themselves of the layers of the past."

Earlier, a dawn ceremony had marked the time when a German battleship fired the first shots on a Polish fort in 1939.

The day began with Mr Kaczynski and his Prime Minister Donald Tusk joining war veterans beside a monument to the heroes of Westerplatte at 0445 (0245 GMT).

The ceremony marked the exact time on 1 September 1939 when the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire at point-blank range on the fort.

At the same time, the German Wehrmacht invaded Poland from east, west and south. The attacks triggered Britain and France's declaration of war against Germany two days later.

Just two weeks later, in mid-September 1939, the Soviet armies occupied eastern Poland.

Speaking at the dawn ceremony, Mr Kaczynski said: "On 17 September... Poland received a stab in the back... This blow came from Bolshevik Russia."

He added: "Glory to the heroes of Westerplatte, glory to all of the soldiers who fought in World War II against German Nazism, and against Bolshevik totalitarianism."

In his address, Mr Tusk said the lessons of history should not be forgotten.

"We remember because we know well that he who forgets, or he who falsifies history, and has power or will assume power will bring unhappiness again like 70 years ago," he said.

At the time of the attack by the Schleswig-Holstein - which was moored in the Polish harbour on a friendship visit - Gdansk was known as the free city of Danzig.

The 182 Polish troops defending the Polish fort were expected to resist for about 12 hours. Despite coming under fire from the air, sea and land, they held out against a force of more than 3,000 Germans for seven days.

According to a survey published on Monday, Westerplatte is the most important symbol of Polish resistance in the whole of the war.

Two weeks after the German invasion, the Red Army invaded and annexed eastern Poland under terms agreed in the secret protocol of a Nazi-Soviet pact.

In early 1940, the Soviet secret services murdered more than 20,000 Polish officers in the forests around Katyn. For 50 years Moscow blamed the Nazis and only admitted responsibility for the crime in 1990.

Russian courts have ruled that Katyn cannot be considered a war crime and Moscow is still refusing to declassify documents about the massacre.

The temperature was raised further this week with accusations broadcast on Russian state TV which implied the USSR was justified in its invasion of Poland because Warsaw had been conspiring with Hitler against Moscow.

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest

Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 4.

#1. To: X-15 (#0)

Seventy freaking years later, and we've learned shit.

On and on and on.

All war, all the time.

Lod  posted on  2009-09-01   18:57:40 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: Lod (#1)

America is a war machine. If war disappeared tomorrow, America's economy would evaporate within ninety days. Eisenhower was quite correct to warn us all about the unwarranted expansion of the "military-industrial complex". It's just too damn bad that he spent most of his life helping to build it. But what the heck, that's yet another common syndrome: "great" men who spend their lives creating a monster only to publicly regret the outcome of their life's work once they see the end of their days approaching. Lincoln with the corporations, Rickover with the "nuclear navy", Eisenhower with the Military-Industrial Complex. All manifestations of the same syndrome.

Elliott Jackalope  posted on  2009-09-01   19:11:31 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: Elliott Jackalope (#2)

America is a war machine. If war disappeared tomorrow, America's economy would evaporate within ninety days. Eisenhower was quite correct to warn us all about the unwarranted expansion of the "military-industrial complex". It's just too damn bad that he spent most of his life helping to build it. But what the heck, that's yet another common syndrome: "great" men who spend their lives creating a monster only to publicly regret the outcome of their life's work once they see the end of their days approaching. Lincoln with the corporations, Rickover with the "nuclear navy", Eisenhower with the Military-Industrial Complex. All manifestations of the same syndrome.

All true.

However if all those people were here to face you, each and every one would say it was a necessity of the time.

Cynicom  posted on  2009-09-01   19:26:26 ET  Reply   Untrace   Trace   Private Reply  


Replies to Comment # 4.

        There are no replies to Comment # 4.


End Trace Mode for Comment # 4.

TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest


[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help]