The Warsaw Commune: Betrayed by Stalin, Massacred by Hitler. Zygmunt Zaremba 1947
After the seizure by the Nazis of the western part of Warsaw, situated beyond Wolska and Chłodna Streets, as well as the Saxon Gardens where the City Command was to be found, the Old Town was clamped in the German vice. The enemy then put into operation a plan of attack with a view to destroying our resistance district by district.
Under the pressure of overwhelming forces, we lost the main road of Leszno, an opening into the Old Town, which was very difficult to defend. After this setback, the defence of the Old Town was restricted to two great thoroughfares (Przejazd and Tłomackie Streets), including the Telephone Exchange and the Bank of Poland, Theatre Square, where the City Hall was transformed into a fortress, and Palace Square, where the insurgents lay in wait behind the ruins of the Royal Castle. Further on, the Vistula formed a natural frontier. The quays were dominated by the Mint building, which, after being taken by the insurgents, enabled them to control the left bank of the river between the Kerbedź bridge and the citadel. In this square were surrounded a handful of insurgents – no more than 3000 men, including those who were barely armed. In addition to the combatants and the district’s population, there were also dug in fugitives from the districts that had been taken and burned down by the Germans. Everyone resisted with courage and spirit.
The besieged men and women rapidly transformed the fragile barricades into powerful ramparts resistant to the heaviest tanks. Houses at the edge of the area became blockhouses where the defenders dug in ready to meet the attack of the enemy. This was not long in coming. They delivered the assault supplied with the most modern equipment. They had brought up heavy cannon, the Goliaths used, so it seems, for the first time at the siege of Sebastopol in 1942; [1] the entire rich arsenal of the Germans was directed against the Old Town.
Old houses, masterpieces of sixteenth century architecture, were consigned to destruction. Fleets of bombers skimmed the roofs, and systematically pounded these old houses. Artillery fire increased daily. ‘Big Bertha’ heavy shells, mines, called ‘lowing cows’ on account of their characteristic noise, and thousands of grenades rained down on the Old Town in a deluge of iron and fire. Aircraft incessantly skimmed the roofs. The number of demolished houses increased. After eight days of bombardment of this beautiful and picturesque district, there remained only a mass of ruins. Several thousand souls were living in cellars, where they created new forms of existence as troglodytes of the twentieth century.
However, the enemy did not succeed in subduing the resistance. Each time they attempted to occupy a demolished barricade or the ruins of a house, they fell under volleys of fire. Often the Germans fled after an engagement, leaving their dead and weapons which the insurgents collected up under the cover of night.
Lack of ammunition made extreme economy necessary, and there was only firing when it was certain to reach its target. The roar of German artillery made itself constantly heard. But the fortified Old Town remained quiet, hoarding its shots. On many occasions the fighters proved that there was no force capable of breaking their will to win. Here is one example among a thousand: One day, one of the ‘toughest’ days, a unit of the Socialist Militia was sent to an advanced post. A bomb fell upon the fortification, burying several men under the ruins. Some of them were wounded. Only a few of them, including their leader, were uninjured. Sure of victory, the Germans counter-attacked. The defenders lay in wait in the ruins, and opened fire when the enemy came close. Their shots were so effective that the Germans were forced to retreat, leaving several dead.
In such a way did the Old Town defend itself amid ruins and debris. But every day cost a great number of victims. Every day the brave nurses picked up more of the wounded under the fire of grenade launchers.
There had been no electricity for a long time. Water was running out. Ammunition and supplies were absent. There was no lack of hands to take the weapons. But what can hands do without weapons?
In spite of the courage and sacrifices of our units, the Germans put more and more pressure on the besieged square. In order to save this district, a link had to be established with the centre of Warsaw, and the entire insurgent garrison had to be reinforced. Help could therefore only come from outside: substantial arms parachute drops, the bombing of the German heavy artillery, and strong anti-aircraft fire alone could help Warsaw.
Unfortunately, the sporadic parachute drops, started during the middle of August, came to an end. The war machine of the enemy continued to function incessantly, demolishing the defences of the Old Town. Under overwhelming Nazi pressure, the fortress of Stawki, the most advanced position in the north, fell. The Mint, which had formerly dominated the Vistula, now only amounted to a pile of ruins. The Germans got further in across the ruins of the royal castle, burning down St John’s Cathedral. Some of the barricades in the streets of the Old Town resisted the attacks of several tanks, and forced the enemy to withdraw with heavy losses. However, the pressure upon the ruins of the City Hall was so strong that our units beat a retreat. We also lost the Telephone Exchange. V1s, launched for the first time, demolished the Bank of Poland. [2] Defeat and exhaustion threatened the defenders of the Old Town.
The Central Command vainly attempted on two occasions to send reinforcements from the centre. They came up against the German forces concentrated in this sector, and suffered heavy losses. The Old Town Command thus found themselves confronted with a dilemma; to defend themselves to the end, so condemning the soldiers and many thousands of civilian inhabitants to death under the ruins, or to make a retreat, leaving the civilian population at the mercy of the Germans.
The second solution was forced upon them. The attempt to break the front to join the centre, weapons in hand, had not succeeded. So the commander gave his units the order to evacuate through the sewers, along with those who were only lightly wounded and able to walk... In this way all the combatants were able to leave the Old Town.
For days after this evacuation, the Germans were still firing onto the silent barricades. They only approached them cautiously, in order to ascertain that they were finally in charge of the Old Town.
1. Remote-controlled shells advancing on wheels and exploding in contact with any obstacle.
2. This seems unlikely. The V1 was not a tactical weapon, it was extremely inaccurate, and would not have been used in this sort of fighting. The Luftwaffe did have air-launched missiles that were generally used against shipping. [Editor’s note]