Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki took part in commemorations in Wieluń, the first Polish city to be bombed by the Germans at 4:40 a.m. on September 1, 1939.
Meanwhile, President Andrzej Duda, along with officials including Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak, took part in ceremonies on the Westerplatte peninsula in the northern city of Gdańsk.
Nazi Germans 'wanted to destroy Polish state and nation'
Addressing those gathered in Wieluń, the Polish prime minister said that World War II started when, 84 years ago, German planes "dropped bombs on the innocent Polish town of Wieluń, which had no military significance."
He added that "the purpose of the attack was to murder civilians" and "intimidate the Polish people."
He told the gathering that "the German Third Reich wanted to destroy the Polish state and nation" during the war.
The first bombs of World War II fell on a hospital in Wieluń, killing 32 people, including 26 patients. In all, the Germans killed around 1,200 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.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speaks at the commemorative event in Wieluń, central Poland. Photo: PAP/Marian Zubrzycki
'We demand reparation': PM
Morawiecki stated, as quoted by his office: "84 years after the outbreak of World War II, when we talk about executioners, victims, punishment and suffering, when we use the most important words like good and truth, we demand not only memory, not only truth. We demand reparation."
He added: "Today, Poland and Germany are partners in the European Union, but in order for us to function normally in the future, we must close this black chapter of World War II."
Morawiecki also said, according to the Polish Prime Minister's Office: "Today we live in free Poland, but then we lost our development opportunities forever. World War II decided who is the winner and who has to chase the stolen time of the past. We have to ask ourselves: Can a reconciliation between partners without reparation exist?"
'Extraordinary heroism of Polish soldiers': president
The Gdańsk commemoration, meanwhile, traditionally started at 4:45 a.m., the time on September 1, 1939 that the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein began shelling a Polish military depot on Westerplatte in the first battle between Polish and German soldiers of WWII.
Sirens wailed and the Polish national anthem was played at a monument honouring those who defended the Polish coast.
During the ceremony, the Polish president said that the defence of Westerplatte by the Poles against overwhelmingly larger German forces in the early days of WWII became a symbol of "the extraordinary heroism" and patriotism of Polish soldiers.
He noted that the German forces could not break the defenders' resistance for a week even though they were far more numerous.
"Exactly 84 years ago, on September 1, 1939, World War II broke out after Nazi Germany invaded Poland," Duda said.
President Andrzej Duda attends the commemorations at Westerplatte on Friday. Photo: PAP/Marcin Gadomski
Almost 6 million Polish citizens, including 3 million Polish Jews, lost their lives in World War II, officials said in marking the anniversary.
The country emerged from the war completely destroyed and looted, and its economy lay in ruins, they added.
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Source: IAR, PAP
