At the commemoration of the 86th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War, held on Monday at Westerplatte in Gdańsk, President Karol Nawrocki declared that Poland must unequivocally pursue war reparations from Germany. 

In his speech, President Nawrocki reflected on the ideological roots of the war, tracing them back to late 19th-century German theories that laid the groundwork for Nazism.

He spoke of the contempt shown towards Poles in German writings, of the rise of anti-Polish, anti-Slavic and antisemitic doctrines, and of Hitler’s brutal command in August 1939, urging the Wehrmacht to show no mercy in destroying Poland. 

“The German word was spoken again and again, inscribed on the pages of successive books and philosophical treatises in the latter half of the nineteenth century. First, those great theorists imagined a world without God – a world in which God was to die. And if God no longer exists, then man himself must become God: deciding over life and death, determining who may live and who must not,” the Polish President said. 

He recalled the Polish soldiers who fell at Westerplatte, including remains discovered only in recent years by archaeologists, discoveries he said restored the dignity of those who had long been forgotten.

The president vowed that Poland would always bring its fallen soldiers home promptly, honouring them with proper military burials. He underlined the present-day challenges posed by Russian neo-imperialism and insisted that Poland’s partnership with Germany must be built on truth and justice, which, in his view, requires the question of reparations to be settled.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz warned against becoming desensitised to war, pointing to atrocities in Ukraine as a reminder that supporting Kyiv is essential for Poland’s own security. Gdańsk’s deputy mayor, Piotr Grzelak, too, invoked the legacy of Westerplatte, linking the outbreak of the Second World War with today’s full-scale war in Ukraine.

The ceremony concluded with prayers offered by Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant military chaplains. During the event, President Nawrocki awarded state decorations to archaeologists who have, for years, worked to uncover and preserve the memory of Westerplatte’s fallen. Earlier, state officials had laid wreaths at the Military Cemetery on the peninsula.

Source: PAP

Photos: Mikołaj Bujak/KPRP

Tomasz Modrzejewski