• last month
In more than five years of World War II and brutal German occupation, Poland lost 6 million citizens, or a sixth of its population, of which 3 million were Jews.
Transcript
00:00A commemoration marking the 85th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II took place
00:06in the northern Polish city of Gdansk.
00:08Veterans, troops and delegations from across Poland participated in the event alongside
00:14Polish politicians at the location where the war was triggered decades ago.
00:19Nearly 6 million Poles died in the conflict which killed more than 50 million people overall.
00:25Poland's current pro-EU government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk has urged Germany
00:31to provide financial compensation over losses the country sustained at the hands of Nazi
00:36troops.
00:37According to Polish media, discussions between the two countries on financial compensation
00:43to living victims are underway, with Poland estimating up to 70,000 people would be eligible.
00:50Speaking at the ceremony, Tusk said the lessons of the world war were not an abstraction and
00:55drew parallels with the ongoing war in neighbouring Ukraine.

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