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  • Commemoration: Politics outshines the anniversary of World War II in Poland

The president of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier today apologized to Poland for what he described as "German tyranny" in the act that began the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II.

Steinmeier's speech was the main focus of the event that took place in the Polish city of Wielun, which was brutally bombarded by dozens of planes commanded by Wolfram von Richthofen, the same character who led the Condor Legion that swept Guernica , in one of the initial episodes of that devastating world conflict.

The various waves of airstrikes that followed from shortly before 5 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon destroyed about 70 percent of that small metropolis without any strategic significance, killing 1,200 of its 16,000 inhabitants.

"I bow my head to the victims of the attack in Wielun, bowed his head to the Polish victims of German tyranny and ask forgiveness . I want to assure you that we will not forget and assume the responsibility that our history has imposed on us," Steinmeier said at the event which he chaired with his local counterpart, Andrezej Duda.

The German head of state added that it was "Germans who committed a crime against humanity in Poland. Whoever says that the Nazi reign of terror in Europe is a marginal event in German history, only judges itself."

These last words of the president seemed to be an electoral wink aimed at his own country , where significant votes are held today in the regions of Saxony and Brandenburg, in which some polls have come to anticipate a spectacular result of the far-right party Alternative for Germany.

Steinmeier and Duda, together with the rest of the guests and the residents of this city located 200 kilometers southwest of Warsaw, kept a minute of silence in memory of the victims of that bloody aerial race.

Doubt thanked Steinmeier's words and said they are a kind of "moral satisfaction."

"I can observe a man who has come with humility, to bow his head to pay tribute , to share the pain. Everyone who is gathered here, do you think it is easy to come to a city that has been destroyed by the Germans? Look in the eyes of those who survived? "argued the Polish head of state.

The Wielun ceremony is part of an emotional day in which the Poles will remember the first day of a contest that ravaged their country, one of the most damaged suffered both in human casualties - lost 6 million citizens - as in physical destruction , and that even after the conclusion of the conflict it remained subject to a dictatorial regime sustained by the Soviet Union.

Another group of Western diplomats and representatives attended the Westerplatte Peninsula , where it is considered that the first battle of World War II took place, to a similar event with the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki.

The main commemoration will take place in Warsaw, with the assistance of US Vice President Mike Pence and German leader Angela Merkel.

The conciliatory tone that dominated Wielun's speeches does not forget that Warsaw has taken advantage of the historical anniversary to repeat its demand that Berlin compensate Poland for the ravages it caused in those terrible years.

"We lost 6 million people, much more than any other country that received large compensation. It is not fair," Prime Minister Morawiecki said in a conversation with German media.

Germany maintains that the payment of compensation for damages caused in the conflagration was settled by the agreement in this regard that Poland signed with the then East Germany in 1953.

But Warsaw considers that at that time the country was under the tutelage of the Soviet Union and therefore does not recognize the validity of that pact.

The accused political struggle between the ruling Law and Justice Party (PIS) with local opposition and especially with former Prime Minister Donald Tusk has also partly eclipsed this date.

The transfer of the main celebration from the city of Gdansk - where it was used to be remembered in a traditional way - to Wielun and Warsaw has been understood in the first city as a new nationalist executive's move to the hometown of Tusk, a metropolis known for remain one of the few liberal bastions that oppose the aegis of the exacerbated nationalism that sponsors the PIS and that has not yet recovered from the shock caused by the murder in January of its former mayor Pawel Adamowicz.

"(Jaroslaw) Kaczynski (the strong man of the PIS) thinks he is number two after God. For him Tusk is his main rival and Tusk was born in Gdansk, so he hates Gdansk because he hates Tusk," said Daniel Stenzel, spokesman for the local city council, to this newspaper.

History recalls that the last great anniversary of the beginning of that devastating contest, 70, was organized in Gdansk and was attended by Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel.

"Adamowicz sent a letter to the central government in 2018 to propose that the event be held again here as in 2009, all together and united, but they did not accept it," explained the current mayor, Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, on Saturday at a meeting with a Small group of foreign journalists.

On this occasion the emblematic date will be marked more by the absent characters than by the few leaders who will attend the event.

Warsaw has decided not to invite Putin confirming the growing diplomatic tension that has been generated between the two nations. Moscow replied in its day accusing the Polish government of being governed by a "distorted mentality" and "falsifying history."

The one who will not be present will be Tusk himself, who, as prime minister, was one of the hosts in 2009. The current president of the European Council said he had only received the invitation on Thursday to attend the commemoration.

"If you want to meet someone, if you want that person to attend a ceremony, you should treat them seriously . It is very clear to me that the organizers of this important ceremony have acted in this way to show that they do not want to see me. And never I impose my presence especially when I know I am not welcome, "he said in an interview with a Polish television.

The absence of the US head of state Donald Trump is the main blow for the plans of the PIS executive, who had articulated around his distinguished guest a whole day of pomp and pageantry to enhance the media climax generated by this day. Trump has justified his absence because of the arrival in Florida of a powerful hurricane.

Poland has become one of the closest allies of the American country. Last June, both administrations agreed to increase the contingent of 4,500 US troops deployed in Polish territory by another 1,000 soldiers and Warsaw has even promised to allocate about 1.8 billion euros to the construction of a new base that will be called Fort Trump.

Given the proximity of legislative votes to be held in Poland in October, the opposition to the PIS has taken advantage of Trump's withdrawal in electoral key and Katarzyna Lubnauer, one of the leader of the Civic Coalition, said his lack "weakens dramatically the already low presence of world leaders in a commemoration that the PIS is using to divide the Poles. "

"The PIS wanted to make this visit a key element of its propaganda campaign ," former leftist Prime Minister Leszek Miller seconded.

Opposition arguments do not seem to have found a wide echo among the electorate, according to the latest poll released this Saturday, which indicates that voter preferences continue to favor the PIS by 41 percent versus 28 percent who say they will vote to the Civic Coalition.

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