- Title: "We all should remember what happenedâ€- Poles commemorate start of WW2
- Date: 1st September 2019
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) 68-YEAR-OLD WARSAW RESIDENT, KRZYSZTOF WOJCIECHOWSKI, HOLDING U.S. FLAG AND SAYING: "I am here first of all to manifest my feelings for the country, my patriotism, and to remind myself about these terrible times like 1939 when Germany attacked Poland, which is marked as the beginning of World War Two." PEOPLE WATCHING CEREMONY ON SCREEN (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) 47-YEAR-OLD CLERK FROM WARSAW, EWELINA KIES, SAYING: "Since my childhood, this day (September 1) has been instilled into our minds that we all should remember what happened. Year by year we should pass it onto the younger generations, just like we were told about this piece of history from our older generation. We should remind the younger ones that memory is important." PEOPLE SITTING ON GRASS, WATCHING CEREMONY (SOUNDBITE) (English) 46-YEAR-OLD VISITOR FROM NORTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES, CHRIS ADAMS, SAYING: "I wish that the rest of the allies would have helped earlier in the war because they fought very vigourously but obviously there was technology difference between the countries and if we could have helped earlier, I think we could have saved a lot more lives."
- Embargoed: 15th September 2019 17:26
- Keywords: Poland WW2 World War Two Mike Pence U.S. Germany
- Location: WARSAW, POLAND
- City: WARSAW, POLAND
- Country: Poland
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA005AUTSVNR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: SOUNDBITE USED IN SHOT 6 IS ALSO INCLUDED IN EDIT 7104
Poles gathered in Warsaw's central square on Sunday (September 1) to remind themselves of a terrible part of the nation's history, as they watched a ceremony marking 80 years since the start of World War Two.
"Since our childhood, it has been instilled into our minds that we all should remember what happened on September 1, 1939," 47-year-old Ewelina Kies told Reuters, adding that the memory of this event was very important and should be passed on to younger generations.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were among delegates from over 40 countries who came to Warsaw to pay tribute to the courage of the Polish people.
Few places suffered the level of death and destruction seen in Poland. It lost about a fifth of its population, including the vast majority of its three million Jewish citizens. After the war, shattered Warsaw had to rise again from ruins and Poland remained under Soviet domination until 1989.
(Production: Dato Chkhikvishvili, Jaroslaw Gawlowski, Malgorzata Wojtunik) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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