Polish President Andrzej Duda, Senate Speaker Tomasz Grodzki and Minister of National Defence Mariusz Blaszczak took part in the celebrations of the 84th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II at Westerplatte in Gdańsk. The ceremonies in Wieluń, one of the first Polish towns bombed by the Germans on 1 September 1939, were attended by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
According to tradition, the morning ceremonies at Westerplatte began with the sound of alarm sirens, just before 4.45 a.m. At this hour on 1 September 1939, the German attack on the Polish Military Transit Depot on the Gdańsk peninsula began.
” I am thankful that every year another generation of young Poles bows their heads to this memory. Not only the memory of those who fell, but above all the memory of extraordinary heroism and devotion to the homeland. This is precisely the greatest dignity of Westerplatte and the Westerplatians. This is precisely the greatest dignity of the defenders of the coast and the soldiers who, sparing no effort and blood, defended the Polish Republic”, said President Andrzej Duda.
The President pointed out that today “we must not be late in defending our country, seeing what is happening in Ukraine”. He stated that the attack on Ukraine, is another Russian attempt to change the borders in Europe by force. Do you think it will be the last? Let’s not be naive and fortunately we are not”, added Andrzej Duda.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, speaking in Wieluń, said that to move forward one must ‘close behind one’s difficult past, close a difficult chapter of personal, family history. “I think this analogy can also be applied to relations between nations, between states”, he stressed.
Poland and Germany are today partners in the European Union, but to function normally with each other in the future, they must close this dark chapter of the hecatomb of World War II. It is not enough to say: “We remember”, Morawiecki said.
“We demand not only remembrance, not only truth – we demand reparation! This reparation is necessary to close that page, that chapter of history”, declared the head of the Polish government.
Adrian Andrzejewski