Warsaw Uprising 1944: September 6 Communist Takeover Expected

During the night, masses of civilians move from Powisle and Srodmiescie North to the southern side of Aleje Jerozolimskie Street. German armoured trains have been travelling east across Warsaw and 3 west. The Poles have been powerless to disrupt any of this traffic.    

 

Air raids and shelling of Srodmiescie North has continued since early this morning. The insurgent troops have been able to fight off enemy attacks on Nowy Swiat Street from Krakowskie Przedmiescie, on Kredytowa Street from Malachowski Square, on Krolewska Street from the Saski Gardens and on Towarowa Street from the Zawiszy Square area. However, German troops have intensified their attacks with air raids and a general offensive has been launched on Powisle from the north, east and south against the last insurgent positions in the district.   

 

Despite overwhelming German firepower, insurgents continued to fight for the last vestige of territory, engaging the enemy in fierce house to house battles, and sometimes room by room. Polish troops began a gradual retreat to Srodmiescie By evening German troops have taken control of the entire area of Powisle. and insurgents have withdrawn to City Centre sector. The new front line is Nowy Swiat Street. German planes have passed the area dropping leaflets in Polish calling on civilians to leave Warsaw on September 7 and 8th and promise that a cease fire will be in effect during the evacuation. It was signed by von dem Bach.  

 

Lt.John Ward, a British soldier and member of the Armia Krajowa has dispatched an urgent message to London describing the desperate situation of civilians and insurgents and pleaded for help for Warsaw.  
 

Addressed to Colonel P…

Sir, I have seen a radiogram in which it is stated that from four to seven machines daily drop supplies over Warsaw. 

Sir, I can state that these supplies are not dropped in the centre of the city where they are most needed. And I have not heard that there have been any dropped near the city. I have agreed to accept the proposition to act as correspondent to The Times – as communicated to me by E…, subject to your agreement.  
 

The situation in the City Centre is still in Polish hands. After the fall of the Old Town the enemy turned all his artillery and air force against the centre of the city. The attacks are now practically without any break. Many of the streets have been systematically destroyed house by house. The enemy aircraft fly at roof-top height. Electric works which have been in the hands of the Home Army since the first day of the uprising were damaged 47 hours ago. It is doubtful whether the damage will be repairable.  
 

General Bor and the Delegate of the Polish Government dispatched a message to the Polish Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief in London, reporting on the critical situation in Warsaw. In this message he raised the concern about Polands future after the war. In his message he stated this:

 "We think that the defeat of the Uprising of Warsaw will have not only military effects after the war, but political one. If both the Polish Government and its allies could appreciate this now, it might be useful during political bargaining. It is obvious that, after the Uprising in Warsaw collapses, power will pass into Communist hands not only in Warsaw, but also in the whole country. Immediate assistance from you in the form of bombardments and supplies can improve the situation and slightly delay the crisis.”    


 

 

Warsaw Uprising 1944: August 22 - RUSSIAN ARMY SLAUGHTERS POLISH SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS

The Killing Machine - NKVD units

AK Command fears of the possibility of a massacre of their units in the countryside. German and Soviet troops are spread out and hunting them down. NKVD agents are known to be among the ranks of the Red Army and have been begun an indiscriminate campaign of massive arrests of Polish soldiers, as well as civilians. Many Polish POWs have been deported to Russia in areas unknown or shot by summary execution without  trial. Many others have been subjected to mock trials in Soviet courts and convicted of being "enemies of the State" and then shot.  Sources indicate that Polish prisoners are forced to endure the most inhumane conditions, living in over-crowded cells, or holes dug into the ground, which are often flooded with freezing water.  Beatings occur on a daily basis. Executions are being carried out by the head of the jail, Sergeant Bazyli Rogozinski. Those who survived tell the story, "whenever Rogozinski started to drink it was an indication that he would be executing prisoners that night".

General Bor has sent an urgent message advising AK units outside the city that if Warsaw is taken by the Soviet Army, and he is unable to give orders, then they are directly subordinated to the orders of the Polish Government in Exile in London. 

NKVD Slaughtered Polish military and civilians



Armia Krajowa

Stalin sent Churchill and Roosevelt a top secret diplomatic message. In it he said, “Sooner or later the truth about the group of criminals who have embarked on the Warsaw adventure in order to seize power will become known to everybody. These people have exploited the good faith of the citizens of Warsaw, throwing many almost unarmed people against the German guns, tanks and aircraft. A situation has arisen in which each new day serves not only the Poles for the liberation of Warsaw but the Hitlerites who are inhumanly shooting down the inhabitants of Warsaw....Meanwhile the Soviet troops....are doing everything possible to smash these counterattacks of the Hitlerites and to go over to new wide-scale attack in the region of Warsaw. There can be no doubt that the Red Army is not sparing its efforts to break through Germans around Warsaw and to free Warsaw for the Poles.....”




Prime Minister Mikolajczyk has recently made another attempt in reaching a deal with the Soviet Government. Polish General Izydor Modelski, Deputy Minister of National Defence in the Polish Government in Exile was sent to deliver a message to the Soviet official Volkov in London. The letter informs the Soviet Government that the Polish Prime Minister has every intention of forming a government in Warsaw and that he is willing to accept Polish Communist participation. He claims that he has already gained the support of three Polish political parties and the majority of socialist ministers. There is no response as yet from the Soviet government.  

Stalin and Chief Executioner Nikolai Ezhov

In the Old Town Polish insurgents are desperately fighting back an attack of German tanks and infantry on barricades in Nalewki and Długa Streets barring access to Krasinski Square. By evening, after heavy fights, the Germans succeeded in taking up positions in the ruined Arsenal. The remainder of the insurgent troops have already evacuated the building and are stationed near the Simonsa passage on the corner of Dluga and Nalewki Streets. In the northern part of Srodmiescie the insurgents have fought back an enemy attack on Borman’s Factory on Targowa Street. German infantry units have attacked barricades at the entry of Traugutta and Mazowiecka Streets. Polish fighers have captured a German outpost in the “Cristal” restaurant located on the corner of Aleje Jerozolimskie and Bracka Streets. Germans posted there had kept the passage across Aleje Jerozolimskie under constant fire.         


Sabaton- Uprising (napisy PL) (00:04:56m) 
 

   

At about 2 a.m. the Poles mounted a second attack on Gdanski Railway Station lead by insurgent troops from Zoliborz and Kampinos, under the command of Lt. Col. Mieczysław Niedzielski “Zywiciel”. From the Old Town, they were supported by units commanded by Maj. Waclaw Janaszek “Bolek”. However the attack broke failed and by dawn insurgent troops retreated with severe losses. In both attacks the casualties of dead and wounded has reached about 500. The new commander of District V Lt. Col. Jozef Rokicki “Karol” has forced his way through the sewers to Mokotow and has divided the area into Dolny (Lower) Mokotow including vast areas of Sielce, Czerniakow and Sadyba, and Gorny (Upper) Mokotow west of Puławska Street. Fighting in that area is the “Baszta” regiment.    

 

Joseph Rokicki

Baszta Battalion

Warsaw Uprising 1944: August 3 - Polish Prime Minister meets with Stalin

Polish Soldiers with home-made mortars

Polish insurgents launched a fierce offensive against German lines and have captured the City Centre and several other districts located on the left bank of the Vistula River. Despite these early victories the AK has not been able to capture the bridges and airports. In City Centre, the Second Lieutenant “Zdunin” captured Pocztowy Station on Zelazna Street and Blank Palace as well as Mostowski Palace.  As a result Teatralny Square has become the line of southern defense of Old Town sector. Meanwhile, the district of Wola was bombed today. Fighting in Ochota proves to be too powerful – only a few AK units have decided to remain and have taken positions in several buildings. German forces succeeded in surrounding and destroying one Soviet armoured Corps, in East of Warsaw today. The Soviet 3rd armoured corps had to withdraw to avoid encirclement.

In Ochota, Srodmiescie and Wola German forces are using Polish civilians as “living shields” to protect cover their tanks against insurgent fire. Houses in Wola, Mokotow and Ochota have been set on fire and civilians slaughtered. 



Despite the horrible onslaught, the insurgents strike back. In Srodmiescie, the Poles succeeded in capturing strategically important areas: the Postal Railway Station and Aleje Jerozolimskie (near Zelazna Street), the Dom Turystyczny hostel on Starynkiewicz Square and the German police station "Nordwache" at the juncture of Chlodna and Zelazna Streets. In southern Srodmiescie, the Poles also captured a considerable part of the Institute of Technology. Polish positions in the southern part Mokotow are strengthened. Polish fighting in Praga however has stopped due in insurmountable German fire power. The Commander of the Praga District Lt. Co. Antoni Zurawski "Bober" has redeployed his troops to underground work.

Germans strike hard from Poniatowski Bridge towards the Main Railway Station. By evening the Luftwaffe launch the first bombing raids of Warsaw beginning with Wola.

PKWN Manifesto of July 22, 1944

At 9:30 pm this evening, Polish Prime Minister Stanislaw Mikolajczyk met with Marshal Stalin in an effort to make arrangements for Mikolajczyk to travel to Warsaw and begin preparations for the establishment of a new Polish government there. Mikolajczyk added that he expected Warsaw to be free very soon to which Stalin replied, “Pray God!”   But the Soviet leader refused his request on the grounds that the Soviet Union has broken off diplomatic relations with Poland and does not recognize the legitimacy of the Polish Government in Exile. Furthermore Stalin explained that the Soviet government is already assisting the Polish Committee of National Liberation, or PKWN (also known as the Lublin Committee) with which diplomatic relations have already been established. The Lublin Committee was officially proclaimed in July 21, 1944 under the direction of the Soviet State National Council. On July 22, the Committee published a Manifesto announcing radical governmental reforms, the Soviet commitment to fight against Nazi Germany, nationalization of industries, and rejection of the Polish Government in Exile in London.

Stalin also met with the War Council to discuss among other things the future of Poland. He adamantly declared that "We Bolsheviks’ have from the first day of the Great Patriotic War seen the historic liberation mission of the Red Army. Now the moment has come to liberate the peoples of Europe from fascist enslavement. It is our internationalist duty to help the Polish people in the rebirth of a strong, independent, democratic Poland....I repeat, no other power should be recognized except the Polish Committee of National Liberation!"


(1/5) Timewatch Battle for Warsaw World War II (00:10:00m)

 

Jewish Fighers during Warsaw Ghetto Uprising 1943

  The leader of the Jewish Fighter’s Organization, Isaac Cukierman (pseudonym Antek) issued a proclamation today urging Polish Jews to join the ranks of the AK soldiers. He stated that “ We summon all surviving fighters of the ZOB (Jewish Fighter’s Organization) and all able-bodied Jewish young people to continue their resistance and fight; nobody should be allowed to stand aside. Join the ranks of insurgents! Through battle to victory, to a free, independent, strong, and just Poland!” His rallying cry was heard as about 1,000 Jews have enlisted in either the AK or the ZOB. The number may indeed be much higher as many Jews have been using false names and documents to evade German persecution. They were not only Polish Jews, but Jews from other parts of Europe who were arrested and deported to prison camps in Poland. Many of them were liberated by Polish insurgents. Despite the distrust between some of the Poles and Jews, the Jewish fighters are determined to arms themselves and fight the Nazi Germans. After two days of anxious waiting, the pilots of Polish Squadron No. 1586 are still unable to fly to Warsaw due to weather constraints. Their four planes have been dispatched to other missions over Italy.Originally they were called the 301 Squadron "Land of Pomerania" but have since adopted the name of "Defenders of Warsaw". They have participated extensively in bombing raids over France and Germany. Polish HQ decided to disband the squadron on April 7, 1943 due to lack of manpower. 

Polish airmen in front of Handley Halifax Plane (year unknown)

The remaining crews were attached to RAF Tempsford No.138 RAF Squadron flying Handley Halifax planes.   Amidst the fighting, Cadet Jozef Szczepanski “Ziutek” of the “Parasol” battalion wrote lyrics for the song “Pałacyk Michla”  which gained instant popularity and has spread quickly throughout besieged Warsaw. Ziutek was a member of the squad that attempted to assassinate Nazi official, Wilhelm Koppe. Szczepanski was a poet and a soldier of the 1st Platoon of the 1st Company Agat of the Batalion Parasol. On December 31, 1943 he publicly recited his first poem Dzis ide walczyc - mamo (Today, I am going fighting, Mother), in a house on 12 Swietojanska street in Warsaw. Shortly afterwards he became a bard of Parasol. During the Warsaw Uprising he was a squad leader in the Parasol Batalion (mostly composed of youths. Many of them joined from Szare Szeregi the underground scouting group). He took command of the entire unit after its previous commander was killed.    Pałacyk Michla - Chór Studentów Akademii Muzycznej im. Fryderyka Chopina w Warszawie (00:03:17M)