Warsaw Uprising 1944: September 29 Germans Defeat Famous Kampinos

Since early morning, German troops positioned from the south and the west have been launching massive, general attacks on the district of Zoliborz. Insurgent positions are being hit hard by the German troops of the 19th infantry armored division, supported by strong firepower from several dozen tanks and artillery guns.

Mieczyslaw Niedzielsi

For an entire week a group of AK soliders (Armia Krajowa) in Zoliborz Sector, under the command of Colonel Mieczyslaw Niedzielsi "Zywicel" have been holding off attacks from the 19th Panzer Division and other German units. They have been stranded, hemmed in on all four sides by enemy fire. General Berling had offered to provide assistance to the AK unit in crossing the Vistula to the eastern shore. However, Colonel Niedzielsi refused to evacuate the area or surrender until he finally received orders to do so by General Monter.

After a fierce battle, Polish units of the “Zniwiarz” group have retreated from the “Opel” factory and a covered market on Slowackiego Street. Units of the “Zyrafa” group have left the ruins of the Sisters of the Order of the Resurrection convent on Krasinskiego Street.

German attacks from the Citadel and Gdanski Railway Station have forced insurgents of the “Zaglowiec” group to retreat towards Inwalidow Square. Meanwhile in the sector of Marymont defense, insurgents from the “Zubr” group have been able to hold all their positions.  And to the east, the “Zbik” group is maintaining control of Bohomolca Street. City Centre Sector remains under Polish control. In Srodmiescie, upon German request, a local truce started around 1:00 p.m. in the area of BGK Bank.

The Kampinos Group was defeated in battle near Jaktorow. Massive German assault troops managed to encircle the Polish units killing over 170 partisan fighters and taking about 150 prisoners.  But casualties are much higher as the SS and Gestapo executed many of the prisoners on the spot. 

The Polish fighters didn't have a chance. German Command had been organizing the Sternschnuppe campaign (Star Operation) for a week,with the objective of driving the Kampinos Group out of the forest. Over the past two days heavy enemy artillery, and dive bombers has virtually obliterated partisan camps in the area of the villages of Wiersze, Brzozowska, Truskawka and Janowek.

Kampinos Group - Map - September 27-29, 1944 Warsaw Uprising

Under cover of night partisan detachments began heading in the direction of Marianska Forest in an attempt to break out of the German encirclement but to no avail. Enemy fire has destroyed nearby villages. Despite overwhelming German firepower, the partisans managed to inflict severe casualties on the enemy's camp. Several German tanks were destroyed and one plane shot down. One of the battalions succeeded in killing German troops and destroying their trucks. However further resistance appears futile. Polish troops are suffering from complete exhaustion, lack of sleep and no food yet they continue to battle the enemy.


The partisan groups emerged from the forest in the area of Wiejca and Kampinos with the enemy in close pursuit. After having passed Baranow, Polish troops stopped in Budy Zosine, not far from Jaktorow but instead of crossing the nearby rails, the commanding officer "Okon' ordered the troops to stop. It was a fatal decision. It was not until daybreak that the partisans finally resumed their march and crossed the rails. But by then it was too late. Though they managed to fight off German attacks, a German armoured train arrived in the area - followed by another one.

The armored train launched a torrent of artillery fire at the partisana; tanks were closing in from the other side, and infantry attacking from the flanks. The situation was hopeless but the partisans fought on. They formed themselves into the shape of a quadrangle in preparation for the worst yet to come. Fighting went on, until ammunition eventually ran out.


The partisans were encircled, yet they were still able to fight off repeated attacks, even without ammunition. The men of the Kampinos Groups showed the most astounding example of courage and nerves of steel.  As SS detachments started to make their approach, and just as they came closer, Polish units charged towards them with bayonets. The SS - elite German detachments were completely unnerved by the attack and fled, dropping their weapons.

Kampinos Group-September 1944

Over 1000 partisans succeeded in breaking out from the encirclement but were not able to
re-establish communication links with each other. Many of them continued to fight in other regions of the country, while some returned to the forests, such as Swietokrzyskie (Holy Cross) mountain.

 

Kampinos Group on September 27, 1944 leaving forest
for the march towards Holy Cross Mountains

The partisan group, under the command of Lt. Adolf Pilch, numbered over 2,600 soldiers strong, and had been based in forests in and around Kampinos. Their reputation as fierce fighters preceded them and their stronghold was nicknamed by the Germans as "the Independent Republic of Kampinos." The Kampinos Group had joined the Uprising in the "W" hour on August 1st, 1944 and 1,000 men were later dispatched to join the fighting in Warsaw upon General Bors' orders.

Kampinos Group during Mass - September 1944 Adolf Pilch is # 3

The Germans lost about 1000 soldiers and about 500 soldiers were wounded in the battles with the Kampinos Group.


Since September 13th, Soviet Command had been providing assistance to the insurgents by artillery fire, though it was sporadic and Soviet fighters were spotted over the Warsaw engaged in dogfights with German planes. Insurgents received supplies from Polish Air Force, which was attached to the First Polish Army and also from Soviet Air Force planes. A total of 589 planes participated and flew 2,243 sorties (accounting for 2,501 flight hours over Warsaw).

Despite Soviet assistance, General Tadeusz Komorowski "Bor" has reported a disturbing trend emerging from a series of radiograms that he has been receiving from Polish Underground sectors in the eastern territories of Poland. The Soviet Red Army has been arresting members of the Armia Krajowa (AK). Moreover, the Soviet government is actively setting up numerous "Committees" as a precursor to seizing political power in Poland.

NKVD prison yard filled with corpses of murdered Polish prisoners July 1941

The situation for the insurgents has reached a crisis point. All reserves of ammunition and food have run out.  Some insurgents and civilians are dying from exhaustion and starvation. General Bor has sent a radiogram to the Polish Commander in Chief in London informing him that the remaining food would last for only three more days. He also informed Marshal Rokossovsky of this and asked him again for assistance. General Bor's message was blunt - if he does not receive substantial help by then, he will be compelled to capitulate. But he added that he would resume fighting "in the case of attack by the Red Army within the next few days."

Lt. John Ward

Lt. John Ward is a British soldier, and member of the Armia Krajowa.  Since the start of the Uprising he has been dispatching secret coded messages to London informing them of developments in Warsaw, and making urgent requests for shipments of ammunition and weapons.  His pleas have fallen on deaf ears. 

The Home Army Staff announced this afternoon that the southern group fighting in Warsaw had been forced to capitulate. This leaves only two Polish islands of resistance in the city, one in the north, the other in the centre. The food situation is most critical and even front line soldiers get next to nothing to eat.  

(Received in London on 1st October, 1944.)

Warsaw Uprising 1944: September 27 MOKOTOW SURRENDERS!

General Antoni Chrusciel “Monter” dispatched an order to Lt. Col. Jozef Rokicki “Karol” to immediately return to Mokotow from Srodmiescie. During the night "Karol” and his men had set out towards Mokotow but it was impossible to go through the sewers.

At 8:00 am this morning the Germans launched a strong attack on Mokotow. Small pockets of resistance are still putting up a strong fight, particularly in the area of Baluckiego, Wiktorska and Belgijska Streets.  Polish Command has sent emissaries to begin negotiations with the Germans for the evacuation of civilians and wounded, and to settle the terms of capitulation of Mokotow.

Mokotow surrendered around noon today, though insurgents continue to battle the Germans in City Centre and Zoliborz. German Command has offered to observe the terms of the Geneva Convention and treat Polish insurgents as POWs, instead of executing them on the spot. However, sources indicate that German officers of the Schutzpolizei have been systematically executing Poles on Dworkowa Street.  Most of the 120 dead were insurgents of the Armia Krajowa (Home Army)  who had lost their way in the sewers and emerged from a manhole in German-controlled territory.  They were shot on the spot by German troops.

Members of the Schutzpolizei after liquidation of Lidice 1942

In this photograph some members of the German Schutzpolizei pose in front of the farmhouse in Lidice (Czechoslovakia) that they destroyed.  In June of 1942, the Germans assassinated almost everyone in the village, and deported many others. The town of Lidice was then razed to the ground.  This was in reprisal for the assassination of the deputy leader of the SS.  Such reprisals have been carried out more fiercely against the Poles since the invasion of Poland in September 1939 and have escalated since the start of the Uprising. For every German officer assassinated, hundreds of Polish civilians, men, women and children, have been rounded up and shot.


The Germans have  launched Sternschnuppe (Falling Star Operation) whose objective is the liquidation of the Kampinos Group. The Operation had been in the planning stages for a week.   Kampinos Headquarters, located in the village of Wiersze, about 27 kilometers (17 miles) north-west of Warsaw was heavily bombed by German Stuka planes around 13:00 hours. It was followed by another air raid on the village of Brzozowske at 15:45 hours.  The  combined casualties are 5 soldiers dead and 33 injured.  Polish troops have attempted to hold their positions but were unable to do so.  During the night Major Alfos Kotowski "Perch" has given the order for Kampinos Group to leave the forest. They have repositioned in the area of Roztoka.

Kampinos Headquarters - Warsaw Uprising 1944

Kampinos Group - September 1944

German JU-87 Stuka bombing Kampinos HQ in Wiersze Sept 27, 1944

Kampinos HQ in ruins destroyed by German bombing Sept 27, 1944

German command has proposed surrender of the Zoliborz Sector, but Poles have not responded.  Insurgent groups are literally fighting for every inch of ground and refuse to relent.

Polish and German emissaries have met today around 4:00 pm in the district of Srodmiescie, in the middle of Aleje Jerozolimskie Street near Starynkiewicza Square. A second meeting took place at 5:30 p.m. during which Polish emissaries were escorted far into German positions.

Churchill telephoned USSTAF (United States Strategic Air Force) today to endorse the Poles message and to add his own request for another supply mission “a noble deed” as he called it. President Roosevelt also called upon another mission to Warsaw, but it is unlikely that the United States would undertake a second supply drop. On September 18 the American Air Force had sent 107 Flying Fortresses on a supply mission to Warsaw. It was a mission that went horribly wrong.

Despite allied betrayal, there are however, "men of conscience" in the British Parliament who have spoken out against the ruthless injustice of their own government for appeasing Stalin, as it had once appeased Hitler.

PRIME MINISTER CHAMBERLAIN AND HITLER

PRIME MINISTER CHURCHILL AND STALIN

Mr. McGovern, MP, asked Eden, "Does the Right Honourable gentleman think that there is anything to be gained by covering up the fact that an Ally of ours is both deporting and shooting Nationalists and Socialists in Poland?"


Mr. Eden: "The Honourable Gentleman talks about covering up matters, but I must tell the House that not only are these affairs of delicacy between Allies, but also that there is some difficulty in ascertaining the facts. Therefore we should treat these matters with caution and with reserve at the present time."

Earl Winterton: "Could my Right Honorable friend not make it clear, in reply to my question that His Majesty’s Government can be responsible for the conduct of His Majestys government and cannot be responsible for the conduct of other nations?"


Mr. Eden: "My Right Honourable friend is absolutely correct. That is why I explained that I was asked a question about affairs which concern two of our Allies, for which my responsibility is not direct."


Commander Sir Archibald Southby: "While it is true that these are matters of delicacy, are not matters concerning our responsibility to our Ally, Poland, also matters of principle?"


Mr. Eden: "Yes, Sir and our responsibility has been fully, and I might add gallantly, discharged."

George Orwell

George Orwell, notable English author and journalist published an article in The Tribune condemning the British intelligentsia for the "cowardly" manner in which it has conducted policy concerning Poland.  The following is an excerpt:

It is not my primary job to discuss the details of contemporary politics, but this week there is something that cries out to be said. Since, it seems, nobody else will do so, I want to protest against the mean and cowardly attitude adopted by the British press towards the recent rising in Warsaw.

The Russians are powerful in eastern Europe, we are not: therefore we must not oppose them. This involves the principle, of its nature alien to Socialism, that you must not protest against an evil which you cannot prevent. I cannot discuss here why it is that the British intelligentsia, with few exceptions, have developed a nationalistic loyalty towards the U.S.S.R. and are dishonestly uncritical of its policies. In any case, I have discussed it elsewhere. But I would like to close with two considerations which are worth thinking over. First of all, a message to English left-wing journalists and intellectuals generally: ‘Do remember that dishonesty and cowardice always have to be paid for. Don’t imagine that for years on end you can make yourself the boot-licking propagandist of the Soviet régime, or any other régime, and then suddenly return to mental decency. Once a whore, always a whore.’

Secondly, a wider consideration. Nothing is more important in the world today than Anglo-Russian friendship and co-operation, and that will not be attained without plain speaking. The best way to come to an agreement with a foreign nation is not to refrain from  criticizing its policies, even to the extent of leaving your own people in the dark about them. At present, so slavish is the attitude of nearly the whole British press that ordinary people have very little idea of what is happening, and may well be committed to policies which they will repudiate in five years’ time. In a shadowy sort of way we have been told that the Russian peace terms are a super-Versailles, with partition of Germany, astronomical reparations, and forced labour on a huge scale. These proposals go practically uncriticized, while in much of the left-wing press hack writers are even hired to extol them. The result is that the average man has no notion of the enormity of what is proposed. I don’t know whether, when the time comes, the Russians will really want to put such terms into operation. My guess is that they won’t. But what I do know is that if any such thing were done, the British and probably the American public would never support it when the passion of war had died down. Any flagrantly unjust peace settlement will simply have the result, as it did last time, of making the British people unreasonably sympathetic with the victims. Anglo-Russian friendship depends upon there being a policy which both countries can agree upon, and this is impossible without free discussion and genuine criticism now. There can be no real alliance on the basis of ‘Stalin is always right’. The first step towards a real alliance is the dropping of illusions.

(George Orwell, The Tribune, September 1, 1944)

Warsaw Uprising 1944: August 21 - ALLIES WATCH AS WARSAW DIES

Grave of Polish Soldier

Never before in the history of modern warfare has there been a battle of such magnitude in which the enemies were so unevenly matched. The Germans have been dispatching bombers, self-propelled artillery, railway motors, tanks, armoured trains, and even armoured light boats in an effort to quash the Uprising.  The superiority of numbers and quality of German infantry is evident. Yet despite these overwhelming odds, Polish insurgents have been able to withstand the German onslaught for weeks sustaining indefinitely this horrendous blood-letting. After three weeks of ferocious battles, only 20 percent remain of the original number of insurgents. There are reports which indicate that some units have lost more than 100 men as a result of German bombing. Of the 106 men of the Gieowont Company, only 4 to 6 survived a recent air raid. The German war machine has thrown all its power into the fight for Warsaw but though they are invincible they too have suffered heavy casualties.

Polish insurgents from Kampinos Group and Zoliborz units on Gdanski Station have been fighting bitterly and succeeded today in repelling ferocious attack from a German armoured train. Casualties were very heavy on both sides.  Meanwhile in the Old Town, grenadiers from the 5th SS Armored Division Viking have attacked barricades set up around the Royal Castle. Fighting has shifted to St. John's Cathedral which is currently in Polish hands. Throughout the day German airplanes have been passing overhead every 40 to 50 minutes. They are flying low and dropping bombs at random, some weighing over a thousand pounds each. Sources indicate that several  bombs that did not explode have been salvaged by AK engineers who will defuse them and use the explosives to produce home-made hand grenades.

Kampinos Group Headquarters: L-R:  Cprl "Krzemien", Stanislaw Pilarski (back),

courier Jadwiga Balabuszko-Stawinska "Hanka",  Radio equipment is by the wall.

The tubes in the frontcontain PIAT ammunition; in the back "Bren" machine guns are visible. L-R: 1) Jerzy Baumiller "Żorż" 2) Tadeusz Gaworki "Lawa", 3) Ludwik de Laveaŭ "Bob"
4) Andrzej Berezowski "Trzynastka", 5) Zbigniew Słoczyński "Sum"

The Old Town is still in the possession of the insurgents. Of the 1,100 apartment houses in this historic district of Warsaw half the buildings are in ruins and 300 buildings completely gutted by fires. New fires have broken out in the district. The Arsenal building on the corner of Nalewki and Dluga Streets is on fire.  Polish troops have evacuated the area but only one company from the "Chrobry I" battalion still remains in the building. The insurgents have managed to push the Germans from the right wing of the Bank Polski on Bielanska Street and from the Canonesses Convent, and are fighting back enemy attacks on City Hall and Blank's Palace.

Warsaw Arsenal as it looked in 1938

The Arsenal was constructed by the order of King Stefan Batory in the mid-16th century. Initially the building served as a hostel for Polands' war veterans. Between 1638 and 1643 during the reign of King Wladyslaw IV, the building was reconstructed by General of Engineers Pawel Grodzicki to accomodate the requirements of a city arsenal. The walls of the structure were substantially thickened as protection against direct attacks, and its exterior appearance was classical in design. The Warsaw building has remained as the main armoury ever since.  However, during the 18th century it had to be rebuilt twice: the first time between 1752 and 1754 by Jan Deybel and Joachim Rauch, followed by a second reconstruction between 1779 and 1782, undertaken by Polands most renown architects of the era, Szymon Zug and Stanislaw Zawadzki.

The Arsenal was the scene of heaving fighting during the Warsaw Insurrection of 1794 between the Polish Army and civilians against Russian forces which had occupied Warsaw.  Due to extensive damage to the building it was rebuild in 1817 under the leadership of Wilhelm Minter. Following the November Uprising until 1835 the arsenal was expanded to become a tsarist prison.  Eventually Russian authorities built a huge citadel  and it was converted for the detention of common criminals.  After Poland regained her independence the Arsenal was used as a police precinct. During the interwar years (1935-1938) the building was used to house the city archives. At this time, the main architects Bruno Zborowski and Andrzej Wegrzecki restored its exterior to the original 17th century design.

The building survived the Invasion of Poland in 1939 and continues to function in its pre-war role during the German occupation. In one of the most spectacular actions by the Polish Resistance, in the spring of 1943, the Szare Szeregi fighters liberated a vast number of political prisoners from the Gestapo as they were en route from one prison to another.

Szare Szeregi (00:03:34m)

Insurgents have made another attempt to break out of the Old Town Sector but have failed. Polish fighters had also tried on August 10 but with no success. The situation is desperate yet they continue to fight. After three weeks of battling German forces, about 50 to 80 percent of Polish fighters have been killed or severely wounded.  Field hospitals have run out of supplies and medicines and operations and amputations are being performed without the use of anesthetics. Every day the death toll rises and freshly dug graves line the streets. The dead now lay in the streets and the stench of rotting corpses and burning homes is overwhelming. German attacks are focused towards Krasinski Square and from their positions at Royal Castle they are mounting ferocious attacks on Swietojanska and Kanonia Streets. The battle for the Cathedral continues while insurgents desperately hold on to their positions.

Since this morning in Srodmiescie North the Germans have been shelling positions of the “Chrobry II” group.  Meanwhile SS RONA units are attacking from Aleje Jerozolimskie and Towarowa Streets but by 5 p.m., the attack collapsed. Last night insurgent troops from the Zoliborz District and Kampinos under the command of Maj. Alfons Kotowski "Okon" attacked the Gdanski Railway Station. The attack failed under strong enemy fire and prevented the Poles from linking Old Town with Zoliborz. Polish casualties were severe.

  1944 Warsaw Uprising / Powstanie Warszawskie (00:05:52m)


 

Germans units have blown up Pawiak Prison. Meanwhile another German unit has launched an attack on Sadyba from Wilnow which the Polish troops managed to repel. Their main defensive position is the neighborhood of the Dabrowski Fort on Okrezna Street. Despite the fierce fighting in Warsaw, the Palladium Movie Theater screened the second insurgent newsreel of yesterday's incredible victory - the Polish taking of the PAST building. It is the greatest Polish victory since the Uprising started and raises hopes among Warsaw civilians and insurgents that victory will soon be theirs. The Polish Delegate sent an urgent message to the office of Prime Minister Mikolajczyk to be forwarded to Roosevelt and to Churchill. Here is an excerpt:

 “Gentlemen, we are approaching you for the second time. For the past three weeks, we have been carrying on a bloody fight completely alone, insufficiently supplied with weapons and ammunition, and without air assistance. At the same time, all reports that reach us from Polish territory occupied by the Soviets, from territories that are disputed by the Soviet Union and those that are not, inform us that the Soviet authorities intern, arrest, or detain in Camp Majdanek, Armia Krajowa civilian administrators. This is the AK that so successfully assisted them in fighting the German forces. In this way, after five years of incessant and bloody resistance against the Germans, the Polish nation is being cruelly enslaved by one of its allies. Is it true that the great nations of the United States of America, and Great Britain can passively watch this new tragedy overtaking Poland...their ally? Is it true that even the Polish Air Force under British command is not allowed to come to the assistance of dying Warsaw? Is it true that Poland is going to be a victim of partition based on spheres of interest? We are declaring in the most solemn manner that we are fighting on the ruins of burning Warsaw, and we shall fight...for independence, and...defend that independence against any sort of imperialist. In this fight we have united peasants, workers, and intelligentsia. The Polish nation, seeing the passivity of both great allies toward dying Warsaw, and also their silent approval of the outrages committed under the Soviet occupation, cannot understand and is reacting with bitter disappointment." 

Signed: the Delegate of the Polish Government