On the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, Jacek Czaputowicz and the head of German diplomacy Heiko Maasem took part in a meeting with Polish and German youth in the Warsaw Uprising Museum. The ministers had previously visited the museum exhibition and watched a film about the Uprising.

The Warsaw Uprising was a cry for human dignity, a symbol of rebellion against humiliation and degradation

— said the head of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He pointed out that 50 thousand poorly armed insurgents supported by civilians stood up to the unequal fight against the Nazis.

During 63 days of fighting the insurgents showed that freedom has no price for them

— he marked.

He also drew attention to the population losses suffered by Poland, as well as to the extent of the destruction of the capital.

It is estimated that at least 150,000 civilian inhabitants of Warsaw and 20,000 soldiers and commanders of the Home Army died in the Uprising. 550 thousand people were expelled from the capital city, out of whom nearly 150 (thousand - PAP) were deported for forced labor or to concentration camps. As a result of the fighting and the systematic demolition of the city by the German troops, the buildings of Warsaw were destroyed in 85%

— said the head of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Poland has lost irretrievably part of its national heritage

— added, drawing attention to the destroyed monuments: the Royal Castle, the Saxon Palace, libraries, archives.

The damage done to Poland and Poles has not been compensated by the perpetrator. The Poles themselves, with their efforts and work, rebuilt the destroyed capital city. This fact is a clear illustration of the wider problem that prevents us Poles from considering the issue of reparation as closed

— said Czaputowicz.

The German Foreign Minister stressed that „Germany is responsible for this atrocity”.

This responsibility of Germany does not concern only Warsaw. Also in other parts of the country cities were demolished and whole villages were razed to the ground. People were expelled to create a Lebensraum, the so-called living space for the Germans

— marked Maas.

As he added, „it is difficult to describe in words the crimes committed by the Germans 75 years ago against this city and its inhabitants”.

According to the head of the German Foreign Ministry, the destruction of the Polish capital was a particularly dark chapter of World War II.

It was a visible blow to annihilate everything that made up the Polish identity

— added Maas. However, he judged that „today’s August 1 is proof that the annihilation of the Polish identity thank God did not work”.

I would like to ask the families of the dead and wounded, I would like to ask the Polish people for forgiveness. I am ashamed of what the Germans, acting on behalf of Germany, did to Poland

— said Maas.

I am also ashamed that after the war this guilt was kept silent for too long

— he added.

Tłum. K.J.