Warsaw Uprising: Difference between revisions

The Warsaw Uprising was the armed struggle started by the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) resistance against the Nazi occupiers of Warsaw, capital of Poland during World War II. It started August 1 1944 as a part of a nationwide uprising, Operation Tempest and lasted until October 2 (63 days total). Polish losses were 18,000 soldiers killed, 25,000 wounded and over 250,000 civilians killed. German forces were 17,000 killed and 9,000 wounded. After the fight, estimated 85% of city was destroyed.

Barricade on Napoleon square

The Warsaw Uprising

As well as a direct operation against German occupiers it was intended as a political manifestation of the influences of Polish Government in Exile. The fear was that in the aftermath of the war the allies would omit the legal London-based government. The Soviet Union was not recognising the Government-in-Exile and it was clear that Poland would be 'liberated' by the Red Army).

There were many different opinions as to what should have been the Polish response but it became clear that the nationwide uprising would be too costly and would end the same way as the Lwow Uprising and the Wilno Uprising ended. However, on July 29 1944 Soviet Radio Moscow called on the Poles in Warsaw to revolt. The underground civil and military authorities decided that it would be better to start the Uprising in Warsaw on a fixed date than to let separate groups start it on their own. There was also huge pressure to prove the Soviet propaganda stating that the Poles do not fight wrong. Moreover, for the last several days before the start of the Uprising, large German units were retreating westwards through Warsaw. This gave an impression that the city will be abandoned soon.

There were approximately 50,000 AK soldiers in Warsaw, of which 10% were properly armed, almost exclusively in hand arms. But the order to start the uprising reached only 23,000 of them in time, mostly due to organisational problems.

18,000 of them were killed, 8,000-25,000 were heavily wounded, about 15,000 went into captivity. About 180,000-250,000 Polish civilians died as well, mostly as result of mass executions - eg. after taking Wola (one of Warsaw districts) German soldiers executed approximately 40,000 civilians.

Before the Warsaw Uprising it is believed that some 25,000 Jews were hiding in Warsaw. The vast majority of them died together with other Polish civilians. Many Jews (maybe as many as 1000), including those released by AK from Warsaw concentration camp (Gęsiówka), joined the Home Army.

Initial German garrison was about 20,000 ill-equipped soldiers, not enough to break through Polish lines, 'though there were at least 90,000 soldiers in the area at the start of hostilities. However, when the Uprising started, Heinrich Himmler ordered the city to be recaptured and burnt to the ground, probably for ideological reasons. By mid-September German troops were reinforced up to 50,000 men under SS general Erich von dem Bach. German losses were about 10,000-17,000 killed, 6,000 MIA and 9,000 wounded plus 300 armoured cars and tanks destroyed.

Until mid September Germans were shooting all caught insurgents on spot. The main protagonists of the drama were Oskar Dirlewanger and Bronislaw Kaminski, who committed the most cruel atrocities. After von dem Bachs arrived in Warsaw (August 7), it became clear that atrocities only stiffened the resistance and that some political solution should be found due to the small forces at the disposal of the German commander. The basic idea was to gain a significant victory to show the Home Army the futility of further fighting and make them surrender. This did not succeed, but from the end of September on, some of the captured Polish soldiers were treated as PoWs.

The Uprising was also started on the right bank of the Vistula. The main task of the Area VI (Obwód VI) was to seize the bridges on the river and secure the bridgeheads until the arrival of the Red Army. It was clear that due to situation far worse than in other areas there were no chance for any help from the outside. After some minor initiall success, the forces of lt.col. Antoni Władysław Żurowski were badly outnumbered by the German forces concentrated there. The fights were halted and the Home Army forces located in the Praga area went underground. After the Soviets finally reached the right bank of Vistula on September 10, the officers proposed recreating the pre-war 36th 'Academic Legion' infantry regiment, however they were all arrested by the NKVD and sent to Russia for interrogation.

After the uprising the Germans systematically razed most of Warsaw to the ground. 85% of buildings were destroyed: 25% as a result of the uprising, 35% as result of systematic German actions after the uprising, the rest as result of the earlier Warsaw Ghetto uprising (15%) and other combat including the September 1939 campaign (10%).

One of the main reasons for the failur of the uprising was the lack of support from the Soviet Red Army. Soviet assistance to the Home Army was limited to small collaboration on a tactical level at best, with common incidents of shooting or imprisoning of Home Army soldiers. For weeks Red Army stood on the other bank of the Vistula River, and had not allowed pilots from the RAF and Polish Airforces to use Soviet landing strips. After the initial radio and leaflet propaganda campaign, the Moscow-backed Wanda radio station remained silent until the very end of the fighting. It has been argued that the Soviets deliberately allowed the Germans defeat the AK in order to eliminate a force in Poland which would oppose the communist puppet government which the Soviets planned to install in Poland. This is consistent with Soviet latter treatment of many AK soldiers, who were usually imprisoned, tortured and executed.

Notable people related to Warsaw uprising

Polish

• Witold Pilecki, commander of the fortified area "Great Bastion of Warsaw"
• Antoni Władysław Żurowski

German

• Erich von dem Bach, commander of all troops fighting against the Warsaw Uprising (Korpsgruppe Bach)

See also

• Warsaw Ghetto Uprising - sometimes the name Warsaw Uprising is mistakenly attributed to this earlier struggle of Jews in 1943.

Reference

• Norman Davies. Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw. Viking Books, 2004. ISBN 0670032840. Hardcover, 784 pages.

External links

• Warsaw Uprising Museum in Warsaw
• Warsaw Uprising 1944
• Warsaw Rising: The Forgotten Soldiers of World War II. Educator Guide
• Extensive information on Warsaw Uprising in Polish