Vice President Mike Pence will stand in for US leader Donald Trump and give a speech in Warsaw on the anniversary of the German attack on Poland on September 1, 1939, which marked the start of the war.
Polish President Andrzej Duda and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier were delivering speeches at Piłsudski Square in central Warsaw. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was among the guests.
US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday he was cancelling his planned trip to Poland this weekend, saying he needed to stay and monitor Hurricane Dorian as it approached the southern state of Florida.
US Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen arrive at Warsaw airport. Photo: PAP/Rafał Guz
During the commemorations in the Polish capital, leaders will jointly lay a wreath in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They will then, in turn, ring a "Peace Bell" which has been specially cast for the occasion.
When the last peal sounds, bells will ring out in churches across Warsaw.
Sunday’s commemorations started early in the morning, with Poland’s Duda and Germany’s Steinmeier meeting in Wieluń, the first Polish city to be bombed by the Germans.
At the ceremonies, Steinmeier said: "I ask for forgiveness."
The attack on Wieluń was carried out at 4:40am on September 1, 1939. In all, the Germans killed 1,200 to 2,000 civilians in the city that day, according to estimates.
Wieluń, in central Poland, was located close to the Polish-German border before national boundaries shifted after the war.
Nearly 6 million Polish citizens were killed throughout World War II, which broke out when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939.
On Sunday evening, foreign politicians are to attend a concert at National Opera in Warsaw at the invitation of Poland’s Duda.
The concert will see a performance of composer Krzysztof Penderecki’s Polish Requiem, which consists of several parts dedicated to key events and figures in Poland’s often-troubled history.
(pk)