A ceremony was held in the early hours of the morning at the exact time the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein attacked the fort at the Westerplatte peninsula near Gdansk on the north coast of Poland - Nazi Germany's opening assault on the eastern European nation.

Poland's president Lech Kaczynski led the tributes to those who lost their lives.

"It's not Poland that should learn humility, that should fall to others - those who caused the war and those who let this war happen," he said.

Foreign leaders from 20 countries will take part in ceremonies later tonight.

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Source: ABC News Online
September 1, 2009

Photo: ABC News Online