German President asks Warsaw Uprising veterans for ‘forgiveness’

The armed uprising against the German occupying forces broke out on 1 August 1944 and lasted two months before being crushed by the Nazis. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier met with veterans of the Warsaw Uprising on Wednesday 31 July and asked them “pardon”during a visit to Poland on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the revolt. Nearly 200,000 people, mostly civilians, died during the 63-day battle. And the Polish capital was reduced to a pile of rubble. “There are no words to do justice to this horror… I ask, here and now, forgiveness”said Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

This doomed revolt, led by some 50,000 fighters against better-equipped Nazi occupiers, is considered one of the most tragic episodes in Polish history. According to the Warsaw Uprising Museum, established to commemorate the uprising, 400 veterans are still alive.

During his visit to Warsaw, the German President mentioned a plan by the German government to create a memorial in Berlin to honour Polish victims of the Nazis. “Many other efforts are underway, particularly in favour of the last survivors of the German occupation. Our two governments are in close contact on this subject.”he said. The German president did not, however, detail possible compensation measures, which have been requested by the current pro-EU Polish government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The latter has in fact urged Germany to offer financial compensation for the losses suffered by the country at the hands of Nazi troops during World War II.