German president recalls war, Leningrad siege with shame, sorrow

MOSCOW. Jan 27 (Interfax) - German President Joachim Gauck has expressed his sorrow in recalling the atrocities of the war Germany was waging against the Soviet Union and extended sympathy to the survivors of the siege of Leningrad in a letter sent to the Russian president on the occasion of the 70th anniversary since the breaking of the siege of Leningrad.

"The thoughts about the destructive war Nazi Germany was waging against the Soviet Union are causing me to feel only deep sorrow and shame. The siege of Leningrad was particularly horrible," according to the letter, which was posted on the website of the German Consulate General in St. Petersburg on Monday.

The German Bundestag is also dedicating a special January 27 event commemorating victims of National Socialism (Nazism) to those killed and affected during the siege of Leningrad, Gauck said....