🇵🇱 During the #WarsawUprising1944 the Poles raised up against the German occupiers. The battle was extremely violent and ended with the destruction of Warsaw, known at this time as the "Paris of the East".
One of the most epic and tragic moment in European history
If you want to understand why Poles raised up, you must first understand the context.
After the Nazi Germany invasion, Poland had the biggest resistance movement in Europe, it was structured as an underground state (military and civilian structures) and a government in exile
The occupation of Poland was extremely brutal, something we cannot really imagine today.
Hans Franck, the German governor declared that:
"If I wanted to hang posters about every seven shot Poles, then Poland would not have enough forests to produce paper for such posters"
Before the extermination in concentration camps the Jews were packed in ghettos.
In 1943 the Jews from the Warsaw ghetto, knowing what will happen to them, courageously raised up against Germans in a hopeless battle.
The movie The Pianist is about it
After the battle of Stalingrad, Soviet Russia started the counter offensive against Nazi Germany. They once again entered in Poland in 1944.
The tension between the Polish government in exile and Stalin were high, but it sent a message asking Stalin to respect the Polish right.
But at this moment the Polish government in exile didn't know that Roosevelt and Churchill secretly concluded a deal with Stalin giving him all the eastern lands gave by Hitler.
For the West the red army was more important than the Poles.
When the red army advanced in Poland, the Polish resistance was captured or murdered.
When they entered in the Polish town Lublin they placed a puppet administration at its head.
The goal of the uprising was already set in February 1943 between Churchill and the Polish state: Liberate Warsaw from the Germans and establish an independent Polish state to avoid communism.
At the end of July 1944, all German civilians, governor and mayor left Warsaw.
Only 2000 German soldiers remained.
The time was running out and the Russians were getting closer.
The Warsaw Uprising started on the 1st August 1944. 34 000 Poles were ready to fight, but only 2500 were properly equipped.
The German soldiers were now 13000, with tanks and planes.
At this moment imagine the hope for the Poles. The Polish flags were rising again.
The beginning of the uprising was promising for the Poles, they even captured many German soldiers.
But when Hitler heard about the rebellious Poles, and against all the odds, he ordered to reinforce the fight and to raze Warsaw so nobody dare to rebel again.
The Poles had only food and ammunition supplies for 5 days.
Plumbers became gunsmiths, craftsmen made bullets , the mortar were made from gutters.
The propaganda posters were saying "One bullet for one German"
The Warsaw airlift was a British-led operation to re-supply the besieged Polish resistance. But its was incredibly difficult to reach the targets.
At this moment Americans were trying to persuade Russia to join the fight against Japan.
The battle was incredibly violent and difficult, even for Germans:
"This is the fiercest of our battles since the start of the war. It compares to the street battles of Stalingrad." Heinrich Himmler
On August 20 the Poles advanced in the old town. They managed to take the telephone exchange office where Ukrainian fanatics were ambushed. Then, they took the German police headquarters and freed prisoners.
The German soldiers number increase to 30,000 men.
The Germans used the Karl-Gerät mortars. It was a new weapon only used during the siege of Sebastopol.
Each shell weighed 2 tons.
On September 10, under the pressure of Churchill Stalin decided to help. But it was only a few incursions repelled by the Germans.
That will be enough for Stalin. The Soviets will passively watch the massacre.
The Warsaw Uprising lasted 62 days, probably more than 250 000 Poles perished (mainly citizen).
Despite the surrender of the Poles, Germans destroyed all the remaining buildings.
"The city must completely disappear from the surface of the earth" Heinrich Himmler
Were Poles completely crazy at this time?
Well, the Warsaw Uprising wasn't the first uprising in the Polish history. Since Poland lost its independence, each generation has its own uprising.
It's like we were fighting the same war, the war for an independent Poland.
To end on a more positive note, the old Warsaw was rebuilt after WW2 despite that Poland was bankrupt and never received reparations form Germany
The reconstruction is not over though, we know that Saxon Palace and Bruhl Palace will be reconstructed in the future
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