Germans pay Poland visit to rue war's start in 1939

A soldier walks among graves Sunday before a wreath-laying ceremony at the British War Cemetery in Berlin to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Nazi German invasion of Poland, which marked the start of World War II. Polish soldiers who fought alongside U.K. forces are among those buried at the cemetery.
A soldier walks among graves Sunday before a wreath-laying ceremony at the British War Cemetery in Berlin to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Nazi German invasion of Poland, which marked the start of World War II. Polish soldiers who fought alongside U.K. forces are among those buried at the cemetery.

WARSAW, Poland -- Germany's president expressed deep remorse for the suffering his nation inflicted on Poland and the rest of Europe during World War II, warning of the dangers of nationalism as world leaders gathered Sunday in the country where the war started at incalculable costs.

"This war was a German crime," President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Poland's top leaders, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other world leaders at an 80th anniversary ceremony marking World's War II's outbreak.

Also in attendance were Polish war veterans wearing military uniforms and a Holocaust survivor wearing a yellow Star of David and the striped clothes that prisoners wore at Nazi German death camps.

Steinmeier expressed his sorrow over the mass killings Adolf Hitler's regime committed in Poland, which paid a huge price for being the place war began on Sept. 1, 1939. The German president expressed gratitude to Poles for the gestures of forgiveness Poland has bestowed in return.

"I bow in mourning to the suffering of the victims," Steinmeier said. "I ask for forgiveness for Germany's historical debt. I affirm our lasting responsibility."

By the war's end, after nearly six years, about 6 million Polish citizens had been killed, more than half of them Jews.

Polish President Andrzej Duda recalled Poland's immense suffering and he appealed to those assembled not to close their eyes now to imperial tendencies and border changes imposed through force.

"Recently in Europe we are dealing with a return of imperialist tendencies, with attempts to change borders by force, with aggression against countries," Duda said. "Turning a blind eye is not the recipe for preserving peace. It is a simple way to embolden aggressive personalities, a simple way to, in fact, give consent to further attacks."

Polish authorities didn't invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend anniversary events because of Moscow's annexation of Crimea and support for separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine.

President Donald Trump had originally been scheduled to attend the event, but canceled as Hurricane Dorian moved toward the U.S.

Information for this article was contributed by Jill Colvin contributed of The Associated Press.

A Section on 09/02/2019

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