The Polish town of Wielun was attacked on 1 September 1939 as the first target of the German Wehrmacht. 80 years later, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier asked for forgiveness for the German extermination war with millions of dead.
"It was Germans who committed a crime of humanity in Poland," said the Federal President. "I bow to the victims of the attack on Wielun I bow to the Polish victims of the German tyranny And I ask for forgiveness" He repeated these three sentences again in Polish in his speech in German.
Demands for reparations
Steinmeier took part in the commemoration ceremony in the morning together with Polish President Andrzej Duda. At the same time 80 years earlier German dive bombers had attacked the militarily insignificant city. They destroyed about 70 percent, the center was even destroyed to 90 percent. Around 1,200 people died according to Polish sources. The attack took place a few minutes before the start of the bombardment of the Gdansk Westerplatte by the German naval vessel SMS "Schleswig-Holstein".
The raid on Wielun was the beginning of the Second World War with an estimated 80 million dead. In Poland alone it was estimated that up to six million people were killed. Why the Wehrmacht took just the militarily insignificant small town target, is still not finally resolved. It is believed that the Luftwaffe wanted to test its effectiveness. According to the historian Tadeusz Olejnik, this could also have been a targeted attack on the Jewish population. More than a third of the then 16,000 inhabitants were Jews. The surviving Jews from Wielun were later killed in concentration camps.
Poland's President Duda said: "World War II has changed the world, we must never forget that." He thanked Steinmeier for coming to Wielun and facing the truth. The attack on the city had been a terrorist attack and "cruel barbarism".
Before the meeting, the discussion about the demands for German reparations for damages suffered had been revived. In a "picture" interview Duda affirmed his country's claims to German payments. On Thursday, the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had demanded from Germany talks about reparations.
Steinmeier did not respond directly to the claims on German reparations repeatedly made in Poland, especially by the right-wing Polish PiS government. But he said: "We can not undo injustice and suffering we suffered, nor can we offset it."
"Our responsibility does not pass"
Steinmeier said the past does not go away. "And our responsibility does not go away." As German President, he assures: "We will not forget, we want and we will remember, and we accept the responsibility that our history gives us."
Despite the injustice and suffering that had befallen Poland, Germany had offered the hand of reconciliation. "We are deeply grateful for this outstretched hand, for the willingness of Poland to go the path of reconciliation together," Steinmeier said. "The path of reconciliation has led us into a united, united Europe." Germany wanted to preserve this path and continue as a good neighbor of Poland.
Steinmeier and Duda visited three historic memorial sites in the city. Among other things, they laid flowers on the monument of the destroyed All Saints' Hospital, which had been the first target of German dive bombers in 1939.
From Wielun, both presidents want to go to Warsaw in the morning to attend the official commemoration ceremony at the beginning of the Second World War. Chancellor Angela Merkel, US Vice President Mike Pence and about 250 guests from 40 countries were also expected to attend.
