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German, Israeli presidents to mark Warsaw Ghetto Uprising anniversary in Poland

17.04.2023 07:00
The German and Israeli presidents will visit Poland this week to mark the 80th anniversary of the World War II Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, officials have confirmed.
Israels President Isaac Herzog and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Israel's President Isaac Herzog and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.Photo: EPA/RONALD WITTEK

Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Israel's Isaac Herzog will meet with Poland's President Andrzej Duda and attend a remembrance ceremony together when they visit Warsaw on Wednesday, according to a statement by the Polish President's Office.

The Warsaw Ghetto, established in the autumn of 1940, was the largest of all the Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Europe during World War II. In the summer of 1942, a quarter of a million of its residents were sent to the Treblinka extermination camp.

A section of the historic wall of the Warsaw Ghetto at 62 Złota Street. A section of the historic wall of the Warsaw Ghetto at 62 Złota Street. Photo: Adrian Grycuk [CC BY-SA 3.0 pl (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/pl/deed.en)]via Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Photo: PAP/DPA

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which broke out on April 19, 1943 and lasted until May 16, was the first uprising in German Nazi-occupied Europe and the largest act of armed resistance by Jews in World War II. It is estimated that about 13,000 insurgents died in the ghetto during the revolt.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which broke out on April 19, 1943 and lasted until May 16, was the first uprising in German Nazi-occupied Europe and the largest act of armed resistance by Jews in World War II. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which broke out on April 19, 1943 and lasted until May 16, was the first uprising in German Nazi-occupied Europe and the largest act of armed resistance by Jews in World War II. Photo: PAP/Tomasz Gzell

Some surviving Jewish combatants later fought in the Warsaw Uprising, launched by Poland's underground Home Army (AK) on August 1, 1944.

The Polish president in December 2018 paid tribute to the last surviving Warsaw ghetto fighter who died in Israel at the age of 94.

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Source: IAR, PAP