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| Presidential candidate faces Wehrmacht accusation
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Campaigning in Poland’s presidential election turned dirty Tuesday as conservative Lech Kaczynski’s Law and Justice (PiS) party attacked liberal front-runner Donald Tusk with charges that his grandfather fought in Hitler’s army.
Tusk rejected the accusation outright, saying it "overstepped the bounds of decency."
He was answering Kaczynski’s campaign chief Jacek Kurski, quoted by the weekly newspaper Angora as saying "serious sources in the Pomerania region (where Tusk hails from) say that Tusk’s grandfather volunteered for the Wehrmacht."
WWII began when Nazi Germany invaded Poland on 1 September, 1939.
On Sunday, Kaczynski finished a close second to Tusk in the first round of the presidential election and the run-off is set for 23 October.
Claim denied
Tusk said both his grandfathers had fought in the Polish resistance during the war, and had spent part of the conflict in German concentration camps on Polish soil.
"All those who raise a hand to smite the dead are not worthy of respect or power," Tusk said. Although his feelings had been badly hurt, he did not intend to return such "blows below the belt."
But he did add that someone who "couldn’t control his own staff" should not be president of Poland.
Kaczynski sought to distance himself from the accusations attributed by the weekly to his campaign manager.
"I am not responsible for this type of campaigning, and I will pay the consequences of what was said," he told reporters.
"I am going to apologise to Tusk," he said.
Close race
Tusk finished the first presidential round with slightly more than 36 percent of the vote, with Kaczynski nipping at his heels with 33 percent.
A poll published Tuesday showed that Tusk, a free-market liberal, has built significantly on his lead over Kaczynski since the first round, and would reap 56 percent of the vote in the run-off, against 44 percent for his conservative rival.
As Tusk and Kaczynski fight it out for the presidency, their parties are in talks to form a coalition to govern Poland. Kaczynski’s conservative, Roman Catholic PiS finished first in legislative elections held last month, with Tusk’s Civic Platform (PO) just a few points behind.
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