Video- President Obama on the 65th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz and Birkenau

The anniversary was yesterday but got overshadowed by the SOTU.

MSNBC removes Buchanan column from site

Wonder what took them so long? I'm sure my Polish father who fought and was imprisoned in the war that was "Poland's fault" would have a couple choice words for Mr Buchanan. Media Matters has more.

Pat Buchanan has received a lot of criticism recently for his column marking the 70th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of Poland, where the conservative pundit questions whether Hitler has gotten a bum rap.

By extension, MSNBC, where Buchanan is a commentator, has taken heat for promoting the column on its website. In the revisionist piece -- "Did Hitler Want War?" -- Buchanan argues that other countries, such as Poland, should be held responsible for the invasion, and later escalation of World War II. Hitler, he claims, wanted peace and wasn't out for world conquest.

David A. Harris, President of the National Jewish Democratic Council, condemned MSNBC's promotion of the "deplorable" column and urged that it be removed from MSNBC.com.

Well, now the network has pulled it.

EU leaders to honor Poland's WWII efforts

Point of honor for me since my dad was a sailor on a torpedoed ship and in a French POW camp during WWII. Many in our family fought with the Polish Underground too.

GDANSK, Poland, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- A total of 14 prime ministers and seven foreign ministers will honor Poland for the country's World War II efforts against Nazi Germany, an official says.

Polish Minister of Culture Bogdan Zdrojewski said the foreign officials will gather in Gdansk, Poland, Sept.1 to honor Poland's fight against invading Nazi forces at the start of World War II on Sept. 1, 1939, Polish Radio reported Thursday.

"This year there are three great anniversaries commemorated in Europe: Sept. 1, 1939; June 4, 1989 (the first free election in communistic bloc) and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Two of them are being held in Poland," Zdrojewski said Wednesday.

(snip)

Zdrojewski said the ceremony is intended to connect the start of World War II in 1939 with the events of 1989, Polish Radio reported.

"The real end of World War II came with the free election in Poland in 1989 and with the fall of the wall which divided Berlin," the culture minister said.

D-Day

h/t Oliver for the vid, the brutal story of the aftermath here.

Video- President Obama's Speech At Normandy

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LIVE: Obama commemorates D-Day at Omaha Beach with other world leaders

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Video- Obama visits Buchenwald

President Obama Seeks a Proper Invitation for Queen Elizabeth to D Day Memorial

When I first heard that the Queen was left out, I was frackin' livid. My folks were in the UK during the war and my mom often told me stories about how Princess Elizabeth and her mother really, honestly contributed to the "War Effort". Good on the President.

The Obama administration is working with their French counterparts to make sure that Britain’s Queen Elizabeth — reportedly miffed, according to the British Press, at not being invited to the D-Day anniversary festivities in Normandy this weekend, gets a formal invitation.

Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said on Monday that President Obama thinks the queen should be present at the event on Saturday. “We are working with those involved to see if we can make that happen,” Mr. Gibbs said.

Mr. Gibbs’s comments came after Buckingham Palace pointedly noted last week that the queen didn’t get an invite, an omission which has had the British press fuming. Mr. Obama is attending the event (French President Nicolas Sarkozy invited him two months ago) as is British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Mr. Sarkozy has said that the queen is welcome to come to the ceremony, but Obama administration officials say that they would like to see her receive a formal invitation.

Video- Obama's Great Uncle Speaks On WWII And Obama's Grandfather

More of the interview here.