The Warsaw Commune: Betrayed by Stalin, Massacred by Hitler. Zygmunt Zaremba 1947
For the insurgents, the fall of the Old Town was threatening news. Without weapons the most heroic effort led to nothing. Every sacrifice was useless if we remained isolated. Obviously, we were not spared declarations of sympathy and solidarity from abroad, expressed in the warmest terms. These declarations began to get irritating, for they were not accompanied by any actions. Each day devoured ammunition which we were less and less able to replace with captures from the enemy. There were no further parachute drops. Since the Old Town had been cut off from the centre, liaison with those areas situated on the other side was interrupted, and Warsaw received no more equipment. Every day the Council of National Unity and the Council of Ministers [1] were alerting the Allies and the whole world by means of telegrams, urgently requesting help. Our government in London, along with the Polish organisations abroad, spared no means to overcome the difficulties standing against aid for Warsaw. All this was to no avail. As soon as one obstacle was overcome, another immediately arose. The Allies had already agreed to send Flying Fortresses from Italy to Poland, but the USSR always refused the use of its air bases. The British Cabinet agreed to help, but the Allied High Command did not decide to go ahead, on account of the poor weather conditions.
We were abandoned to our own devices, which was all the more painful when we heard reports of the happy outcome of the French events. The Allied armies, supported by the Free French forces, were approaching Paris, which they broke into in the midst of an uprising of liberation. We listened enthusiastically, but with rage in our hearts, to the radio that announced to us the news from France.
Soon Paris was liberated. The Council of National Unity – the clandestine Polish parliament – decided to send a telegram of congratulation to the capital of free France. Warsaw at war felt itself to be an integral part of the world struggling against Hitler. So our isolation seemed all the more bitter when one unexpected fact only emphasised it: doubt was cast upon the rights of the fighters of the Home Army! This army, which for five years had struggled on all fronts, in the air, on the ground, and at sea, on account of Russian intrigues suddenly saw itself placed outside the law and treated like a band of outlaws. It is impossible to understand so criminal an absurdity. Nonetheless, this problem took up diplomatic debates stretching over many days. Russia intrigued in order to cover up its guilty conscience. At the same time it was disarming the Home Army on Polish territory, which was a breach of the laws of war in a case in which the rights of combatants were recognised. But diplomacy required us to treat the USSR tactfully. So after our army had been defrauded of its rights, the question remained without a solution. Nobody was able to understand these diplomatic subtleties. And when the truth finally came to light, world opinion was disgusted by this shabby game.
Energetic action from the workers’ and democratic organisations influenced all the honest elements, and soon the British and American governments recognised the rights of the fighters of the Home Army. So the question was resolved. But what bitterness this incident left among the Poles! They felt the extent to which they had been abandoned in their struggle more than ever before.
Moreover – an ironic outcome! – the Germans officially announced that they considered the soldiers of the Home Army to be regular combatants... So only Russia continued to maintain its initial point of view, and to treat the Polish troops as an outlawed formation.
In the meantime, the German forces, relieved by the fall of the Old Town, turned their attention to the northern part of the centre and the Powiśle quarter. [2] A rain of iron and fire poured over these districts. Houses burned on Napoleon Square and in the adjoining quarters. Warsaw’s largest and most beautiful buildings fell into ruin. The 16 floors of the Prudential building burned like an immense torch. The streets, avenues and alleys of the capital that had once been called ‘Little Paris’ were transformed into piles of rubble. Fires raged everywhere, and water was lacking to put them out. Blocks of houses fed the flames. German aircraft finished off what fire spared.
At Powiśle, on the quay of the Vistula, stood the Warsaw Electricity Works, a proud citadel since the beginning of the uprising. Working devotedly, it provided the power and at the same time drove off enemy attacks. Finally, the bombing and continual artillery fire completely demolished its installations. The lights went out, and the last motors stopped. And as if the citadel had relinquished its reason for existence, which was now solely military, it collapsed and fell into the hands of its assailant. Its fall determined the fate of the second district. For Powiśle, deprived of its chief military post, could not resist a combined attack coming from three sides.
After having exhausted all their ammunition, the insurgents had to abandon the battlefield. This second blow deeply affected Warsaw. The shadow of defeat loomed.
Throngs of people, whom the fires and demolition of buildings were driving from one refuge to another, blackened by smoke, covered with building dust and maddened with terror, fled through the streets. Creeping in vain along the barricades, they were looking for a little rest and quiet. The cellars and shelters were everywhere crammed full. There was little or no water for washing. It was with difficulty, and then not always, that some was found for cleaning wounds. Food was scarce, and even if you found a little flour there was no possibility of making a meal out of it.
Only night brought a certain calm. But the gleam of fires, the crackle of flames and the crash of collapsing buildings reminded you of what would happen the next day. Tomorrow, roofs would go up in flames again; tomorrow the bombs would again fall with an obscene howling, laying waste the buildings, and burying us all under the ruins... Tomorrow and the days to follow, without any change. For we are alone, abandoned by all, and despairing. But if many people have given up, there are still some who are hoping, despite everything, that help will finally arrive. Since we have waited for five weeks, we can hold on for a few more days: the world will finally understand our position, and the obstacles will be overcome...
Nonetheless, a part of the population could no longer bear the terror of the enemy and the distress of isolation. When the commander of the German troops invited the inhabitants to leave the city, and ordered a cease-fire for a few hours, 10 000 people left the line of barricades, and gave themselves up to the enemy. Stripped of all that they had been able to carry, they were scattered all over the country, or sent into German camps.
The spectre of surrender appeared before the insurgents.
The Germans proposed an armistice. Their conditions were harsh: the civilian population would be evacuated towards the west, and the soldiers made prisoners of war. A tragic decision was necessary: should they give up after a five-week struggle, when the reinforcements so long expected could arrive at any minute?
The Polish Red Cross, in agreement with the rebel authorities, entered into negotiations with the besiegers. The result of it was that the civilian population were to be directed to the camp of Pruszków, where they would be under the protection of the International Red Cross, and of Polish welfare organisations.
We postponed the idea of surrender day after day. Yet again the Council of National Unity addressed desperate appeals to all the Allies. One last hope remained that delayed the decision.
1. The Council of Ministers (KRM), set up in May 1944, was a de facto cabinet based in Warsaw, its members being chosen by the Delegate in Poland of the London Government-in-Exile. [Editor’s note]
2. Powiśle is a southern district of Warsaw, and its population was over 40 per cent workers and over 30 per cent white-collar workers. [Editor’s note]