The Warsaw Commune: Betrayed by Stalin, Massacred by Hitler. Zygmunt Zaremba 1947
The Soviet troops were thus advancing towards Warsaw in July 1944. The Germans were falling back in growing disorder onto the left bank of the Vistula. During the last 10 days of the month of July, huge crowds thronged the streets of Warsaw looking intently at strange processions. Carts pulled by broken-down horses were piled high with furniture and miscellaneous objects. The soldiers directing the convoys, haggard and tattered, showed extreme exhaustion. The Germans were hastily loading pillaged valuables into the wagons and trucks stationed in front of the houses in Warsaw requisitioned by the army of occupation. They were trying to carry off the maximum booty before evacuating the capital.
The population clenched its fists at the sight of this final act of pillage. Voices in the crowd asked: ‘Why are we not attacking them? Why are we allowing these thieves to get off scot free?’
Young people became restive, impatient to move into action. No one wanted to be a passive spectator of a retreat in impunity, but wanted to strike at the Hitlerites.
Meanwhile, the Germans were digging themselves in as if Warsaw were a fortress. Every building they occupied was transformed into a bastion. They built concrete blockhouses at strategic points in the capital to serve as machine-gun posts and to be able to maintain control of important districts.
The Poles had very few weapons. The units of the Home Army only had at their disposal a few machine guns and rifles for each detachment, and at the most a grenade per soldier. [1] Several units did not even have so many arms. Taking the German fortified centres spread throughout the city bare handed was hardly going to be an easy task, and required a thoughtful and clever plan.
Taking account of the general feeling, the Germans ordered the mobilisation of 100 000 young Poles to fortify the districts of Warsaw. No one appeared at the mustering points. Reprisals were threatened. The atmosphere became more and more tense: ‘Why are we waiting? Let us strike before they can round us up and carry us off!’ was being said on all sides.
There was no doubt that Nazi power was disintegrating; but this on the other hand encouraged a certain relaxation in the discipline of the illegal organisations. Attempts to mobilise the Home Army still increased the risk of reprisals. Any unwise move could cancel out the advantage of five years’ planning.
Such was the situation when the Soviet troops gained control of the outlying districts of Warsaw. On Sunday, 29 July they arrived in Otwock (a country holiday resort 20 kilometres from Warsaw). On Sunday they occupied świder, and drove towards Anin. They were already at Miłosna, 10 kilometres from Warsaw; they took Wołomin and Radzymin. Strong Soviet units reached Jeziorna, on the left bank of the Vistula. Every night the Soviet air-force lit up Warsaw with incendiaries, and bombed German military targets in Praga and in the eastern part of Warsaw. The German army continued to fall back. During the night ragged and emaciated battalions of the Wehrmacht passed through Warsaw, testifying to the defeat of the Germans.
It was in this atmosphere that action was ordered and W-hour fixed (W for ‘Wolność’ – ‘freedom’) for five o'clock on 1 August.
At the given hour the units of the Home Army assembled at the appointed places. Every group had a particular task to perform.
The battles began from four o'clock in the afternoon onwards. At Żoliborz, where the Germans noticed the preparations early on, fighting was triggered off at about three o'clock. This was the only instance in which surprise was of no use to us. Everywhere else we had the advantage of striking first, which partially compensated for our lack of weaponry. The boldness of the attack and the bravery of our fighters did the rest.
In several of the German positions taken at the start of the uprising, we found weapons and ammunition that enabled us to strengthen and extend our attacks. The other centres of the German defence fell one after the other. What we had counted upon came to pass: we were fighting the Germans with their own weapons. The uprising flared up like a powerful flame.
1. A former AK general reckoned that the insurgents in Warsaw, who numbered around 40 000, had 1000 carbines, 300 pistols, 60 light machine guns, seven heavy machine guns, 35 special carbines and bazookas, 1700 revolvers and 25 000 hand grenades. Ammunition stocks stood at 35 bullets per pistol, 300 bullets per machine pistol, 190 bullets per carbine, 500 bullets per light machine gun, and 2500 bullets per heavy machine gun. There were also 50 armour-piercing shells, but no cannon to fire them. [Editor’s note]