80: Warsaw Uprising

Warsaw Uprising

80 years ago today (August 1, 1944) the Warsaw Uprising in German-Occupied Warsaw, Poland started.

The 1944 Warsaw Uprising should not be confused with the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (where 56,065 Jewish Men, Women and Children fought and were killed by the Germans.)

The Warsaw Uprising tried to liberate Warsaw from the Germans before the Soviet Communists arrived.

The Uprising lasted 63 days (ending with a German Victory on October 2, 1944.)

Stalin stopped the Red Army on the outskirts of Warsaw at the start of the Uprising so the Germans could kill all the “Anti-Communist Poles” making it easier for the Soviet Union to occupy Poland and place a Pro-Soviet Communist Government in Poland from 1945-1990.

From August 4- September 28, 1944 the Western Allies (the British, the South Africans and the Americans) carried out the Warsaw Airlift to supply the Polish Resistance with supplies and weapons. 360 Allied Airmen were killed.

The Soviet Union refused to let Allied planes land on Soviet Territory forcing the planes to take off and land in Allied-Control Italy.

The Airlift dropped 350 tons of food, medical supplies and weapons on Warsaw.

The Sewer System was used by the Polish Resistance to move Troops and Wounded around the City.

The Germans carried out multiple Planned Massacres of Polish Civilians (Men, Women and Children) during the Uprising.

On August 5, 1944, the "Zośka" Scouting Battalion of the Home Army's Radosław Group, led by Ryszard Białous and Eugeniusz Stasiecki, attacked the Gęsiówka Camp (holding Jewish Prisoners) , which was being liquidated by the Germans.

Rescued from certain death were 348 Jewish Prisoners who had been retained by the Germans as Slave Labor after the Germans' 1943 Liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Most joined the Uprising and were killed.

At the start of the Uprising there were over a million Poles in Warsaw.

In Polish-Controlled Territory, during the first weeks of the Uprising, People tried to recreate the normal day-to-day life of their free country. Cultural life was vibrant, both among the Soldiers and Civilian Population, with Theatres, Post Offices, Newspapers, etc.

Boys and Girls of the Polish Scouts acted as Couriers for an Underground Postal Service, risking their lives daily to transmit any information that might help their People.

Near the end of the Uprising, lack of food and medicine, overcrowding and indiscriminate German air and artillery assault on the city made the Civilian situation more and more desperate.

The Polish Underground was forced to surrender to the Germans on October 5, 1944.

The Underground Members were treated as Prisoners of War.

The Germans then went street-by-street, building-by-building and destroyed Warsaw.

90% of Warsaw was destroyed by 1945 (including 100% of its Railways and Bridges, 95% of its Theaters and Cinemas, 90% of its Industry, 90% of its Hospitals, 90% of its Historical Buildings and Monuments, 725 of its Housing, 70% of its Educational Buildings,

 

 

Casualties:

15,000 Polish Resistance Members were killed.

225,000 Polish Civilians were killed.

10,000 German Soldiers were killed.

700,000 Polish Civilians (Men, Women and Children) were deported by the Germans out of Warsaw after the Uprising 90,000 were sent to Labor Camps and 60,000 were sent to Death and Concentration Camps.

 

From 1945-1990: The Warsaw Uprising was highly censored by both the Soviet Occupiers and the Polish Communist Government.

Most of those who participated in the Uprising and returned to Poland after the War were jailed by the Communists in the Gulags.

Since 1990: When Communism ended in Poland the truth about the Warsaw Uprising was finally allowed in Poland.

One Season of the Polish Series “Czas Honoru” (“Time of Honor”), from 2014, tells about the Warsaw Uprising with the other Seasons dealing with the German Occupation during World War 2, the Soviet Occupation during World War 2 and the Soviet Occupation after World War 2.