87th anniversary of World War II outbreak: Nawrocki says Germany did not need Adolf Hitler to despise Poland

At 4:45 a.m., sirens sounded at Westerplatte, marking the moment German forces began shelling the Polish military outpost on Sept. 1, 1939. A Polish flag was raised to the national anthem, followed by the lighting of the Peace Candle and a roll call honoring the dead.

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Westerplatte is one of the most important symbols for Poles and one of the most important symbols of the entire Second World War.

President Karol Nawrocki, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz attended the ceremony. In his address, Nawrocki called Westerplatte one of the most important symbols for Poles and for the history of World War II. He described the site as a model for Polish wartime conduct, saying Polish soldiers fought for the freedom of other nations but died for Poland.

Nawrocki also focused on the cemetery at Westerplatte, saying it had “emerged through pain” and criticizing the failure over successive decades to properly recover and honor the soldiers’ remains. “Truth has its price in the 21st century,” he said, adding that the price was worth paying as he and Tusk honored the Polish troops.

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Truth has its price in the 21st century, and that price is always worth paying.

He cited Wieluń, which German forces bombed while its residents slept, as a symbol of undeserved suffering. Nawrocki said the war brought catastrophe to the Polish nation at the hands of Germany and the Soviet Union, with about 6 million Polish citizens killed, including nearly 90% civilians. He argued that the wartime truth remains insufficiently heard in Germany, Europe and across the Atlantic, and concluded: “Germany did not need Adolf Hitler to despise Poland, Poles and Polishness.”

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Germany did not need Adolf Hitler to despise Poland, Poles and Polishness.