WARSAW, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Poland on Thursday commemorated the 77th anniversary of the start of World War II on the Westerplatte peninsula in Gdansk, north Poland.
Polish President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz attended the ceremonies, and laid wreaths at the Monument to the Defenders of Westerplatte.
The traditional morning commemoration began at 4:45 a.m. (0245 GMT), when on Sept. 1, 1939 that the German battleship Schleswig--Holstein attacked a Polish military storehouse at Westerplatte. It was one of the first events of WWII.
During the commemoration, Duda said that the Westerplatte observances were a tribute to all WWII victims, among them 5.8 million Poles, and said that everything had to be done to prevent this from happening again.
"Today we must do everything, also in cooperation with our allies, to prevent such a situation from ever touching our country, our people or our neighbors," the president said.
