Warsaw - Former German president Richard von Weizsaecker on
Monday visited the 1944 Warsaw Uprising Museum commemorating the
doomed World War II Polish partisan revolt against Nazi German
occupying forces.
'We can only be thankful this museum was created - it has great
meaning for all Germans,' Weizsaecker said, adding it served as a
reminder of the tragic fate suffered by Polish partisans at the hands
of the Nazis.
Weizsaecker, who is due to meet Polish President Lech Kaczynski,
delivered a speech focused on German-Polish relations within the
framework of a united Europe during the visit to the museum.
He called for the EU to maintain a strong security alliance with
the United States and speak with one voice on matters of foreign
policy especially regarding Russia, which he termed a 'difficult
neighbour, but not an enemy.'
The former German president is a Christian Democrat. As the German
head of state between 1984-1994 his term in office saw the dramatic
collapse of communism in eastern Germany and German reunification.
Weizsaecker's visit precedes the arrival of German Chancellor
Angela Merkel in Poland later this month, when she is expected to
rally support for reviving work on the proposed EU blanket
constitution in talks with President Kaczynski.
The 1944 Warsaw Uprising remains one of the most tragic chapters
in Poland's difficult history.
Fought in a bid to secure the country's post-war independence, the
uprising was launched by AK commanders loyal to the Polish
government-in-exile in Britain on 1 August 1944 by a largely unarmed
force of nearly 40,000 Polish partisans, including children.
Despite minor victories, it was crushed by the Nazis after 63 days
of fierce fighting. Nearly half of the AK insurgents and at least
100,000 civilians were slaughtered. The rag-tag partisan units had
fought a well-armed force of 50,000 Nazi troops.
The battle is widely regarded as the bloodiest in Poland's
turbulent history.
The 1944 Warsaw Uprising Museum was created in 2004 to mark the
60th anniversary of the revolt, which was marginalised in the post
war period by Poland's Soviet-imposed communist regime due to its
drive for Polish sovereignty.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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