World War II commemoration

Leaders gather to mark the 70th anniversary of World War II

Article published on the 2009-09-01 Latest update 2009-09-01 10:51 TU

Polish PM at World War II monument in Gdansk
(Photo: Reuters)

Poland's president and prime minister are leading a day of commemorations in the Polish city of Gdansk to mark the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II. The leaders of some 70 nations including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin have gathered to remember history's bloodiest conflict which claimed an estimated 50 million lives. These included 6m Jews.

This is the first time a senior Russian leader will be in the city where the first shots of the war were fired on September 1st,1939. Putin's presence comes amid diverging interpretations between Russia and Poland over the reasons for the start of the conflict.

On September 1st, the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on a small Polish fort in Westerplatte, a peninsula on the edge of Gdansk. But many Poles believe that the Nazi-Soviet Non-Agression Pact signed on August 23rd 1939, was the starting point for the German invasion of Poland.

Putin has made appeasing statements in an article published on Monday in the mass circulation Gazeta Wyborcza daily condemning the treaty, but adding that Stalin's USSR had no other choice.

In his speech at today's ceremonies, Polish president Lech Kaczynski underlined his country's point of view by saying that in 1939 the Soviets had "stuck a knife in the back of Poland".

Meanwhile, Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel said her country had unleashed 'endless suffering' by starting the conflict, but she recalled the fate of ethnic Germans expelled at the end of the war.

French prime minster Francois Fillon and his Italian counterpart, Silvio Berluconi are also expected in Gdansk to attend today's commemoration ceremonies.