It has been officially confirmed that the celebrations commemorating the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II at Westerplatte will be attended by German chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin. The US government was to decide last night whether it would send vice-president Joe Biden or secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

Among those expected to be present at the Westerplatte monument on 1 September are also the prime ministers of Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, the Baltic states, Finland, as well as European Parliament president Jerzy Buzek. France and the UK, which were Poland's allies in 1939, will be represented by foreign ministers Bernard Kouchner and David Miliband. In all, Warsaw is expecting the arrival of 14 prime ministers and 7 foreign ministers.

'Three major anniversary events take place in Europe this year: the anniversaries of 1 September 1939, 4 June 1989, and the anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall,' explained culture minister Bogdan Zdrojewski at a press conference yesterday. 'Two of those events take place in Poland.' Mr Zdrojewski also spoke about the philosophy of the celebrations, which are to span the 1939-1989 period. 'After all, WWII ultimately ended with the June 1989 elections in Poland and the fall of the wall that divided Berlin,' said the minister.

According to Polish officials, everything is 'in trim and set to go.' Andrzej Przewoźnik, secretary of the public Council for the Protection of the Memory of Struggle and Martyrdom, said the Westerplatte celebrations would be divided into two parts. The first part, as each year, at 4.45 when the Schlezwig-Holstein fired the first shots at the Polish outpost, and the second one at 15.00 with the international guests.

According to the official scenario, those present will first pay homage to the soldiers buried in a cemetery at the entrance to the peninsula. Then they will watch an exhibition devoted to the beginnings of WWII. The main celebrations will take place under the Westerplatte monument.

'Speeches are planned are to take place there. How many? That's unclear at this point. Mrs Merkel and Mr Putin will probably speak, as well as president Lech Kaczyński and prime minister Donald Tusk. Besides the politicians, veterans will be present,' says Mr Zdrojewski.

Celebrations will also take place in many Polish cities, such as Wieluń, a defenceless town razed to the ground on the first day of the war by German air raids. Classical music concerts will take place in Gdańsk and Cracow. Mr Zdrojewski pointed out yesterday that the Foreign Ministry had prepared about 100 events abroad commemorating the anniversary of September 1939.

According to Mr Zdrojewski, the perception of history has been changing quickly and favourably in recent months.

'When we started preparing these celebrations and talked to many famous artists, the date of 1 September 1939 told them nothing. Today this has been changing,' said the culture minister.

The celebrations will culminate on 27 September with a major concert at the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw. Earlier, on 17 September in Warsaw, Klaus Schulze, one of the world's most renowned composers of electronic music, will present a piece written specially for the anniversary.

Źródło: Gazeta Wyborcza