German president asks Poles for forgiveness on Warsaw Uprising 80th anniversary

Germany’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has asked Poles for forgiveness during a speech to mark the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. “German nationalism, imperialism and racism led to these brutal crimes,” he declared.

Steinmeier was speaking in Warsaw to surviving veterans of the uprising on Wednesday, the eve of today’s anniversary. The Warsaw Uprising, which was the largest single act of armed resistance during World War Two, began on 1 August 1944.

After 63 days it was finally crushed by the German occupiers, who had killed up to 200,000 Polish civilians in the process, mostly in mass executions. Subsequently, the city’s remaining population was expelled and most of its buildings destroyed.

“The Warsaw Uprising is one of the cruelest chapters of the long history that our nations share,” said Steinmeier at Wednesday’s event, where he spoke alongside his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, and Warsaw’s mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski. “It is also one of the most heroic chapters of Polish history.”

“We Germans must not forget the uprising… It is a symbol of the will to survive, not to give up freedom without a fight, a symbol of pride, of standing up to the aggressor,” he continued. “I bow to the courage of the insurgents…[and] I ask, today and here, for forgiveness.”

Towards the end of his speech, a group of people in the audience shouted “reparations”. Most Poles believe that Germany should pay compensation for the damage it caused during the war. Berlin insists that the issue was closed legally decades ago.

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In his remarks, Duda declared that the “Warsaw Uprising is the moral foundation of our independence”, which Poles fought to regain during the war but only fully achieved in 1989 after the end of decades of Soviet-imposed communist rule.

The Polish president also referred to the current situation in Ukraine, saying that commemoration of the Warsaw Uprising is a way to show “that there is no consent to another occupation – also the occupation of Ukraine or any other”.

Likewise, Trzaskowski said that “Poland would not be a free country if it were not for the Warsaw Uprising, if it were not for the fact that the genes of entire generations were not inscribed with opposition to enslavement, love for the homeland and freedom”.

Steinmeier is remaining in Warsaw today as the main events to commemorate the 80th anniversary take place. They will culminate in so-called “W-Hour” at 5 p.m., the time on 1 August 1944 when the uprising began. At that moment sirens will sound around Warsaw and many other Polish cities.

On Wednesday morning, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced during a speech at the Warsaw Rising Museum that his government would provide 100 million zloty to support the expansion of the museum.

Meanwhile, the US embassy also paid tribute to the Warsaw insurgents, today publishing a film dedicated to them.

“Ordinary, extraordinary people fought for freedom and dignity, facing tyranny. They were able to ignite a spark of hope that guided them through the darkest and most difficult moments,” said American ambassador Mark Brzezinski. “We will never forget your sacrifice.”

Main image credit: Marek Borawski/KPRP

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.