EUROPE : Bitterness Sullies Polish Plans for Reconciliation : Some hoped to heal wounds with Germany and Russia on 50th anniversary of Warsaw Uprising. But invitation to leaders of those former enemy countries has divided nation.

In a year marked by World War II anniversaries across Europe, many Poles wanted their biggest commemoration to serve as an international example of reconciliation between former enemies.

But the deep wounds of history have conspired against such good intentions. The upcoming anniversary of the so-called Warsaw Uprising has served instead as an unsettling reminder of how bitter many Poles remain toward their German and Russian neighbors.

Polish President Lech Walesa has invited both Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin and German President Roman Herzog to the Aug. 1 ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of the rebellion. The move has angered some veteran groups, prompted a nationwide petition drive against the visits and left the Polish electorate deeply divided.

In extending the invitations, which have also gone to British, French and American leaders, Walesa said it is time to reach out to Germans and Russians and put to rest historic animosities, which for many Poles are best illustrated by the tragic uprising.

“We will not forget what happened,” said Andrzej Zakrzewski, Walesa’s top political adviser. “But at the same time we want reconciliation. We do not want to enter into the new world with a feeling of vendetta.”

Polish underground forces mounted the 63-day revolt against occupying German troops in 1944 in hopes of liberating the Polish capital before the advancing Soviet army claimed the territory for itself.

The Nazis brutally crushed the insurrection, killing 200,000 Poles and systematically dynamiting most of Warsaw, including the Royal Castle, a symbol of Polish sovereignty. The Soviets ignored calls for help and watched the carnage from the east bank of the Vistula River, content to see the Nazis put down the largely anti-Communist Polish resistance movement before moving in unhindered months later.

Although the uprising was a military debacle, Poles regard it as a proud moment of national honor: An ill-equipped band of citizens known as the Home Army dared to take on Hitler’s war machine.

“We view the uprising as a victory,” said Jacek Milobedzki, a retired electronics engineer who fought at age 16. “A lot of what followed in Poland, including Solidarity, we believe had its roots in the uprising. Young people were brought up knowing we needed to be independent and not subservient to anyone else.”

A recent public opinion poll shows that half of Poles want neither Herzog nor Yeltsin to attend. Urszula Krassawska, a pollster with the Center for Surveying Public Opinion, said Poles still revere the uprising and are slow to forget “the hurt of that time.”

Yeltsin declined his invitation but promised to send a high-level delegation, which is equally unacceptable to opponents. Herzog readily accepted but offended some Poles when he confused the uprising with the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, a 1943 revolt in the city’s walled Jewish quarter that was also suppressed by Nazi troops.

In protest, some Home Army veterans plan to boycott the official ceremonies, and the Confederation for an Independent Poland, a nationalist opposition party, has undertaken a petition drive demanding the Germans and Russians not attend. The effort has been organized by 30-year-old party activist Tomasz Szczepanski.

“It is premature for gestures like this one,” Szczepanski said. “The Warsaw Uprising was not just a battle like Normandy, it wasn’t even just an attempt to conquer the Home Army. It was an attempt to annihilate Warsaw and the center of Polish culture.”

Supporters of Russian and German participation say they are not disheartened by the protests, describing them as a healthy byproduct of Polish democracy. Only a few years ago, Poles were not even allowed to publicly commemorate the uprising because the Communist authorities viewed it as anti-Communist.