that's how willy brandt described the moment that's come to be known as the genuflection of warsaw. it was an act of atonement for the sins of the nazis of the nearly half a 1000000 jews and present in the was so ghetto most were killed in total nearly $6000000.00 poles perished today a plaque commemorates the historic gesture the square where it happened renamed in honor of the german chancellor half a century later the meaning of that moment still echoes throughout warsaw. he was begging forgiveness to make this guest had to ask our forgiveness for all the germans what they did to us during the war. you know this was a person who broke into booze a person who broke barriers he was brave enough to make this extraordinary. show the 1st of all it paved the way for dialogue between germany and poland that marked the beginning years after the end of world war 2 when there was still a lot of animosity on posts. at home brands gesture was met with hostility nearly 50 percent sort as a sellout of national interests at a time when many still sought to reclaim former eastern territories dog