 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
World leaders remember WW II outbreak
Gdansk, Poland (UPI) Sep 1, 2009 World leaders Tuesday remembered the 70th anniversary of the start of the most devastating war in human history. It was still dark when the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein, sent by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, opened fire on the Westerplatte military base in Gdansk harbor in the early hours of Sept. 1, 1939. The attack on Poland was the first step to World War II, a conflict that lasted until May 5, 1945 and eventually killed 50 million people, including 6 million Poles. "Germany attacked Poland. Germany started World War II. We caused unending suffering in the world," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday on German television. Merkel was one of many world leaders to attend a wreath-laying ceremony in Gdansk at a cemetery where the 180 defenders of the Westerplatte, who held the naval station for days against 3,500 Germans, are buried. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was also present; Russia in 1939 had signed a non-aggression treaty with Germany that led to the partition of the country. Hitler's Germany occupied western Poland; Russia, led by Josef Stalin, took the east. Putin in the run-up to the ceremony condemned the pact but said it had been Russia's only option. President Lech Kaczynski, playing to a widespread conviction of his fellow Poles, said Tuesday that Russia with the pact had "stuck a knife in the back of Poland." Poland and Russia remain at loggerheads over the Red Army's role in the attack on Poland. The mass execution of the Polish officer corps was blamed on the Nazis, but it surfaced after the breakup of the Soviet Union that they were shot by Red Army soldiers on Stalin's orders. After the war, Poland remained under Soviet domination until 1989. Despite the diplomatic tensions between Poland and Russia, World War II remains Germany's main responsibility. Two days after the Nazi attack on Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Hitler's massive armed forces nevertheless swept nearly the entire western half of the continent in 1940 before turning on Russia as well. The conflict went global when the United States after a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, entered the war. It ended with Germany's and Japan's unconditional surrender in 1945. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links
Gaza fishermen say Israel trawling for informantsGaza City (AFP) Sept 1, 2009 Anyone venturing far from Gaza's shore risks not only gunfire but also blackmail as Israeli warships trawl the besieged Palestinian territory's waters for informers. The Al-Mezan human rights group says it has documented the arrests at sea of hundreds of fishermen who faced pressure to work for Israeli authorities. Local fishermen gave similar accounts to AFP. Ramadan al-Sultan, who has ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2009 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook