Warsaw Uprising 1944: September 30 ZOLIBORZ SURRENDERS!

At dawn today, without preliminary artillery fire, German troops made a surprise attack on Polish positions located in Zoliborz, and have seized the "Zgoda", a large housing cooperative situated on Slowackiego Street. The attacks were followed by another barrage of strong artillery fire against Gdanska Street and Wilsona Square. Amid the maelstorm insurgents managed to establish contact with members of the 1st Army of the Polish Armed Forces.  By midday fierce battles ensued for control of individual houses along the lower part of Mickiewicza and Krasinskiego Streets.

Meanwhile several Polish troops were scheduled to evacuate to the right bank of the Vistula in the afternoon and had begun their retreat upon the orders of their commander, Lt. Col. Mieczyslaw Niedzielski "Zywiciel". However bad weather has made it impossible for them to make the crossing. Some Polish troops attempted to force their way through but were stopped.

Col. "Wachnowski"

Amid the fighting negotations have been underway since early this morning for a cease-fire and the evacuation of civilians. Upon the orders of General Komorowski "Bor",  Col. Karol Ziemski “Wachnowski” and Lt. Jerzy Kaminski “Scibor” have been appointed to negotiate with General Erich von dem Bach, and General Kaellner, the commander of the 19th armored division regarding the cessation of operations in Zoliborz.

At 5:00 p.m. Col. “Wachnowski” relayed the terms of capitulation to Lt. Col. “Zywiciel” and at around 6 p.m. the district of Zoliborz surrendered. For the next five hours members of the Armia Krajowa (Home Army) troops have laid down their weapons, and marched to Pionier Park in Powazki under German escort.


Polish emissaries have been negotiating with General Bach in his headquarters in Ozarow for the past couple of days concerning the terms of capitulation and the issue of evacuation of civilians from Srodmiescie. The Polish delegation was able to obtain consent for a cease-fire between 5:00 am and 7:00 pm on October 1st and 2nd during which over 200,000 Polish civilians will be evacuated. The Germans have established five specific points as the evacuation routes - at the western entries of Grzybowska, Panska, Piusa and Sniadeckich Streets at the Institute of Technology, and also in Aleje Jerozolimskie Street.

Since the Uprising began, General von dem Bach Zelewski had approached the Poles on three occasions with surrender proposals, terms which included guarantees and assurances of formal status of combattant rights to the insurgents. Despite the agreement, about 150 insurgents were shot today when they emerged from the sewers. They had been travelling underneath Warsaw and as fate would have it mistakenly merged in the district of Mokotow Sector, which is now in German hands.

Eric von dem Bach

Throughout the Uprising, hundreds of thousands of Poles have been killed, many of them civilians. Upon Himmlers orders, General Geibel had carried out mass murder of countless men, women and children. German soldiers of the Kampfgruppe Reinefarth would routinely surround houses, blocks and streets with the objective of killing as many people as possible. They shot through windows, entrances to houses, and threw grenades. Nobody was spared, all the young, the old, the sick and wounded were massacred on the spot. Houses were set on fire and people were burned alive in their own homes. Gasoline was poured on piles of corpses in the streets and set on fire. In one area, 18 women, all of whom were nurses, were taken and shot. One woman who had just given birth to her child was raped by 8 SS men. She died from the brutal trauma.

Polish Intelligentsia Rounded Up and  Blindfolded by Nazis before Execution 1940
Photo taken secretly by Polish Underground (in Palmiry)

Insurgents Executed - Warsaw Uprising

German soldiers conducted mass execution of Polish hostages in Palmiry in retaliation for an attack on a Nazi police station by the underground organization "White Eagle"

Today, SS Senior Colonel Dirlewanger was awarded the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross for his action against Warsaw, in particular for horrendous massacre of Poles in the districts of Wola and Ochota on August 4th. In the span of a few days the infamous SS Dirlewanger troops and SS RONA brigade slaughtered from 40,000 to 100,000 civilians and POWs, many of them women and children. Although German Command publicly disapproved of the barbaric methods used by Dirlewanger and his troops, he was nevertheless awarded with the highest of honours.  German Command also bestowed honours  to SS Heinz Reinefarth who received oak leaves to his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Reinfarth participated in the Wola Massacres and has been responsible for many other atrocities recently committed in the districts of Powisle and Czerniakow including the murder of POWs and wounded insurgents in hospital.

General "Bor"

At the end of September General Bor sent this message simultaneously to the Polish Prime Minister and the Commander in Chief in London,  “The food situation for the army and civilian population is catastrophic. For some time we have not been eating enough, and within a few days the rest of the stock will be exhausted. We are facing famine, complete exhaustion, and epidemic. Mortality among the children is still on the upswing, case of death from starvation are occurring among adults. The Uprising will collapse for lack of food...”

Despite appeals for assistance, and the frequency of urgent radio message, there was no action taken by Britain or United States.  Throughout the Uprising, there have been over 6,600 messages either received or transmitted. It amounts to 104 messages per day. Most of the demands have been for allied air assistance. However, sources indicate that a second relief flight coded Operation Frantic 8 is being planned by the Americans. Clearance was received just today from the Russian authorities, and cargo is in its last stages of preparation. The flight is scheduled for October.

General Bor, as the commander of the Armia Krajowa has fought tirelessly to defend Warsaw and Poland from the German onslaught, but with the battle now having been lost, the next most grave concern is the future of Poland's independence and sovereignty. It will be a fight to the very last hour.  Bor also stated his message that  “The fighting insurgents and the community expect concrete decisions; not only assistance for Warsaw, but also a clear statement on ways of recovering Poland’s independent existence and sovereignty threatened by the aggressive policy of the Soviet Union...” There has been no comment by either American or British officials.

The BBC in London has reported that Gen. Kazimierz Sosnkowski has resigned, and that the Polish President Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz has appointed General Tadeusz Komorowski “Bor” Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces.

Warsaw Uprising 1944: August 2 - Fighting Heavy in Warsaw

“ON TO WARSAW!" 
This was the headline that exploded on Pravda newspapers today. The article went on to say that, “in an offensive there is a moment when military operation reaches its culminating point and having acquired its necessary pressure and impetus goes ahead (of its own momentum). At such a time, when full strength of the offensive comes into motion, it starts advancing at great strides; then no power can stop its victorious forward march.” This is just what the Polish insurgents needed to hear in anticipation of Soviet cooperation.


In the second day of fighting, Polish insurgents mounted concentrated attacks on various German strong-holds but were unable to overtake them. Each time German troops launched powerful counter-attacks. However, the Polish units did succeed in capturing the State Securities Printing House (PWPW) located in the Old Town Sector of Warsaw. German troops were overwhelmed by the fierce Polish fighters and were forced out of the district.  Meanwhile in City Centre, the Kilinski assault battalion has captured the Main Post Office building on Napoleon Square, and the Arbeitsamt building in Malachowski Square.

In the midst of fierce German attacks, insurgents took over the power station in Powisle, in the southern part of Srodmiescie, and the Social Security Institution building in Czerniakow.  In Zoliborz however, insurgents failed to capture vital German positions.

In Wola the Germans have tried to push back the Polish forces and to break further into the city from the west and from Powązki but the insurgents  have put up a very strong resistance.  In Praga the insurgents have been forced out of the Railway Head Office (Wilenska and Targowa Streets) under heavy German fire.

Most of the Polish units of District V positioned in Mokotow have retreated into the Kabacki Forest during the night.  The insurgents that remained have been able to withstand the German onslaught and have taken over the southern part of the district among other areas. Their capture of a school on Woronicza Street provided Polish units with a considerable amount of arms and ammunition.

Polish Flag on Main Post Office - captured by Kilinski Battalion

Warsaw residents prepare sandbags

In Wola Polish civilians have been working tirelessly setting up barricades and by day-break have been able to close the city from the west. In some areas of Wola, the Poles had to retreat due to heavy losses . Several major German strongholds remain.

Poles fight in Mokotow District

In Mokotow German troops have stormed the prison on Rakowiecka Street and murdered 500 Polish prisoners, and Jesuit priests from the seminary. In a skirmish at Ochota, German troops executed Polish hostages taken during battle.  Casualty figures are not available.

German soldier executes Polish priest and civilians

On the east bank of the Vistula, the district of Praga has been heavily attacked by large numbers of German units. Polish insurgents were forced back and had to take refuge. AK units have failed to establish links with eachother, consequently leaving each district isolated.

Kierbedz Bridge over Vistula River - Old Town in distance burning

General Antoni Chruściel "Monter"

General Monter has issued a assessment of this second day in the Uprising, What was intended to be an offensive operation quickly became a defensive one. He blames the AK for failing to achieve the most important objectives, a failure due largely to insufficient supplies of weapons and ammunition.  Because of the shortages in weapons, Polish insurgents are no match for the formidable power of the German war machine.




 

General Pelczynski

Polish insurgents failed to overtake Pawiak, where German troops were dug in and heavily armed. The entire area was fortified with pillboxes constructed of concrete and steel, and German troops armed with heavy machine guns, posted atop the tall towers and all around the perimeter. A battalion of German police and the SS defended their positions fiercely. One Polish unit has no machine gun and only one small mortar. The situation is desperate.  General Pelczynski, deputy commander of the Armia Krajowa (Polish Home Army) has sent a radio message to the Polish Government in Exile in London demanding that weapons and ammunition be airdropped to the AK immediately.

 

Crash of Halifax Handley Bomber (location unknown)

A Halifax plane no. JP283 (GR-G) on a supply mission en route to Warsaw was shot down today by a German fighter plane near Szantes, about 150 km southeast of Budapest. Lost were W/O Lewandowski and Sgt. Szejnowski. But P/O Domanski, W/O Wolski, W/O Chinaruk, W/O Ptoszek, F/Sgt Raflewski survived and were taken prisoners.  

Himmler arrived in Poznan today along with several reinforcements in an attempt to quash the Uprising. In addition to a police unit and a reserve regiment under the command of Lieutenant General of SS and Police, Heinz Reinefarth, there were two other units whose reputation is infamous - the Storm Brigade RONA under the command of SS General Kaminski, and the SS Brigade Dirlewanger, named after its Commander SS Senior Colonel Dirlewanger. Kaminski was born in Poland, but considered himself Russian. About half of Dirlewangers units were common criminals, and forty percent were former citizens of the Soviet Union.

 

Krystyna Krahelska

Krystyna Krahelska (pseudonym "Danuta") was a paramedic  of the “Jeleń” command.  She was seriously wounded in the “W-Hour” operations yesterday and died today in a field hospital. She was trying to save a wounded colleague.   She wrote the popular song, “Hej, chłopcy, bagnet na broń!” which has become one of the most popular fighting song in Warsaw.  Before the outbreak of war she had written many songs and poems. The face of the Warsaw mermaid statue was modeled after her image.

Hej chłopcy, bagnet na broń (00:02:06m)