Warsaw Uprising

Prelude The Battle Lack of outside support Capitulation Aftermath Cultural representations Military participants Notable people Facts and figures

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The failure of the Warsaw Uprising and subsequent Capitulation agreement left Warsaw almost uninhabited. The city was almost totally destroyed with no major monuments left standing. This, however, was not the end. The Home Army was in disarray and unprepared to deal with the Soviet NKVD which subsequently took control of Poland and sent many of the former insurgents to their deaths in Siberian gulags. Ruins of Bank Polski area during the Warsaw Uprising, see also Image:Uprising bank polski. ... Combatants Poland Germany Commanders Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, Antoni ChruÅ›ciel, Tadeusz PeÅ‚czyÅ„ski Erich von dem Bach, Rainer Stahel, Heinz Reinefarth, [Bronislav Kaminski] Strength 50,000 troops 25,000 troops Casualties 18,000 killed, 12,000 wounded, 15,000 taken prisoner 250,000 civilians killed 10,000 killed... The Warsaw Uprising occurred at a stage of the Second World War when it was becoming clear that Nazi Germany was likely to lose. ... The Warsaw Uprising began with simultaneous pre-arranged attacks at 17:00 hours August 1, 1944. ... The Warsaw Uprising, in 1944 ended in the capitulation of the city and its near total destruction. ... The Warsaw Uprising was ended through a capitulation agreement which guaranteed not only the rights of the insurgents to be treated as Prisoners of War but also was designed to guarantee the fair treatment of the civilians living in Warsaw. ... The representation of the Warsaw Uprising in the media had already become controversial even before it begun. ... This is a list of military units taking part in the Warsaw Uprising, a Polish insurgence during the Second World War that began on August 1, 1944. ... This is a list of notable individuals who were involved in the Warsaw Uprising, a Polish insurgence during the Second World War that begun on August 1 of 1944. ... This page covers facts and statistics about the Warsaw Uprising, a Polish insurgence during the Second World War that begun on August 1 of 1944. ... Combatants Poland Germany Commanders Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, Antoni ChruÅ›ciel, Tadeusz PeÅ‚czyÅ„ski Erich von dem Bach, Rainer Stahel, Heinz Reinefarth, [Bronislav Kaminski] Strength 50,000 troops 25,000 troops Casualties 18,000 killed, 12,000 wounded, 15,000 taken prisoner 250,000 civilians killed 10,000 killed... The Warsaw Uprising was ended through a capitulation agreement which guaranteed not only the rights of the insurgents to be treated as Prisoners of War but also was designed to guarantee the fair treatment of the civilians living in Warsaw. ... Warsaw (Polish: , (?), in full The Capital City of Warsaw, Polish: Miasto StoÅ‚eczne Warszawa) is the capital of Poland and its largest city. ... The Armia Krajowa (Home Army) or AK functioned as the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland, which was active in all areas of the country from September 1939 until its disbanding in January 1945. ... State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Soviet republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ... The NKVD (Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del )(Russian: НКВД, Народный комиссариат внутренних дел) or Peoples Commisariat for Internal Affairs was a government department which handled a number of the Soviet Unions affairs of state. ... An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority, by any irregular armed force that rises up against an enforced or established authority, government, or administration. ... Siberia is also an album by Echo & The Bunnymen. ... Gulag (from the Russian ГУЛАГ: Главное Управление Исправительно— Трудовых Лагерей, Glavnoye Upravleniye Ispravitelno-trudovykh Lagerey, The Chief Directorate [or Administration] of Corrective Labour Camps) was the branch of the Soviet internal police and security service that operated the penal system of forced labour camps and associated detention and transit camps...

The political effect is a matter of controversy. Some claim that without the uprising, Poland would have become an SSR, whilst others claim that the uprising itself was the mistake which enabled Stalin to arrange for his enemies to destroy his inconvenient allies and left Poland fatally weakened. In its final decades of its existence, the Soviet Union consisted of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics (SSR), often called simply Soviet republics. ... Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვილი; see Other names section) (December 21, 1879[1] – March 5, 1953) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and leader of the Soviet Union. ...

Destruction of the city

After the remaining population has been expelled, the Germans started the destruction of the remnants of the city. Special groups of German engineers were dispatched to the city in order to burn and demolish the remaining buildings. According to German plans, after the war Warsaw was to be turned into a lake. The demolition squads used flamethrowers and explosives to methodically destroy house after house. They paid special attention to historical monuments and places of interest: nothing was to be left of what used to be a city. German troops use a flamethrower on the Eastern Front during the Second World War A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to throw flames or, more correctly, project an ignited stream of liquid. ...

One grave was left in the streets of Warsaw after the Uprising

By January 1945 85% of buildings were destroyed: 25% as a result of the Uprising, 35% as result of systematic German actions after the uprising, the rest as result of the earlier Warsaw Ghetto uprising (15%) and other combat including the September 1939 campaign (10%). Download high resolution version (537x653, 169 KB) The only grave that was left in the city center of Warsaw after the Warsaw Uprising. ... Download high resolution version (537x653, 169 KB) The only grave that was left in the city center of Warsaw after the Warsaw Uprising. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... The Ghetto Heroes Memorial The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of the Jewish ghettos established by Nazi Germany in General Government during the Holocaust in World War II. In the three years of its existence, starvation, disease and deportations to concentration camps and extermination camps dropped the population of the... Polish Defence War of 1939 Conflict World War II Date 1 September - 6 October 1939 Place Poland Result Decisive German and Soviet victory The Polish September Campaign (alternatively refered to as the German plan Fall Weiss) refers to the conquest of Poland by the armies of Nazi Germany and the...

Material losses were estimated at 10 455 buildings, 923 historical buildings (94 percent), 25 churches, 14 libraries including the National Library, 81 elementary schools, 64 high schools, Warsaw University and Warsaw University of Technology, and most of the historical monuments. Almost a million inhabitants lost all of their possessions. The exact amount of losses of private and public property as well as pieces of art, monuments of science and culture is unknown. Warsaw University (Polish Uniwersytet Warszawski) - the biggest and one of the most prestigious universities in Poland. ...

The legacy

Due to lack of cooperation and often the active aggressive moves on the part of the Soviets and several other factors, Warsaw Uprising and Operation Tempest failed in their primary goal - to free part of Polish territories, so that a government loyal to Polish government in exile could be established there instead of a Soviet puppet state. There is no consensus among historians if that was ever possible, and if those operations had other lasting effect. Some argue that without Operation Tempest and Warsaw Uprising, Poland would end as a Soviet republic, a fate definitely worse than that of independent puppet state, and thus the Operation succeeded at least partially in being a political demonstration to Soviets and Western Allies. A puppet state is a state whose government, though notionally of the same culture as the governed people - owes its existence (or other major debt) to being installed, supported or controlled by a more powerful entity, typically a foreign power. ...

Bullet holes are still visible on the walls of many buildings in Warsaw

Download high resolution version (480x640, 59 KB)Bullet holes on the walls of one of the houses in downtown Warsaw still visible after the Warsaw Uprising File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (480x640, 59 KB)Bullet holes on the walls of one of the houses in downtown Warsaw still visible after the Warsaw Uprising File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Armia Krajowa soldiers who remained in Poland

Most soldiers of the Home Army (including those who took part in the Warsaw Uprising) were persecuted after the war; captured by the NKVD or SB, interrogated and imprisoned, awaiting trials on various charges. Many of them were sent to Gulags or executed. The NKVD (Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del )(Russian: НКВД, Народный комиссариат внутренних дел) or Peoples Commisariat for Internal Affairs was a government department which handled a number of the Soviet Unions affairs of state. ... Służba Bezpieczeństwa (SB, until 1956 Urząd Bezpieczeństwa, UB) was the name of the intelligence agency and secret police in the Peoples Republic of Poland. ... Gulag ( , Russian: ) is an acronym for Главное Управление Исправительно—Трудовых Лагерей и колоний, Glavnoye Upravleniye Ispravitelno-trudovykh Lagerey i kolonii, The Chief Directorate [or Administration] of Corrective Labour Camps and Colonies of the NKVD. Anne Applebaum, in her book Gulag: A History, explains: Literally, the word GULAG is an acronym, meaning Glavnoe Upravlenie Lagerei, or Main Camp...

Armia Krajowa soldiers who were liberated by the Allies

Most of those sent to POW camps in Germany were later liberated by British, American and Polish forces and stayed in the West, including uprising leaders Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski and Antoni Chruściel, who stayed in London and the United States, respectively. Some chose to return to Poland in the hope of rejoining their families. In many cases, those who returned shared the fate of their comrades who had spent their entire time in Poland. General Count Tadeusz Komorowski (June 1, 1895 - August 24, 1966), better known by the name Bór-Komorowski (after one of his wartime code-names: Bór) was a Polish military leader. ... Gen. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England and is the most populous city in the European Union. ...

Graves of Polish soldiers in Powązki Cemetery

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 399 KB) PowÄ…zki cemetery in Warsaw, Poland File links The following pages link to this file: PowÄ…zki Cemetery After effects of the Warsaw Uprising ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 399 KB) PowÄ…zki cemetery in Warsaw, Poland File links The following pages link to this file: PowÄ…zki Cemetery After effects of the Warsaw Uprising ... Powazki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (Polish Cmentarz powązkowski) is the oldest and most famous cemetery in Warsaw, Poland, which is situated in the western part of the city. ...

Long term effect on Communist Poland

The courage of the Warsaw Uprising, and its utter betrayal by the Soviet Union, kept anti-Soviet sentiment high in Poland throughout the Cold War. Memories of the uprising helped to inspire the Polish labour movement Solidarity, which led a peaceful movement against the Communist government during the 1980s, leading to the downfall of that government in 1989 and the emergence of democracy. The Cold War was the protracted geopolitical, ideological, and economic struggle that emerged after World War II between the global superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States, supported by their alliance partners. ... Solidarity (Polish: Solidarność; full name: Independent Self-governing Trade Union Solidarity — Niezależny Samorządny Związek Zawodowy Solidarność) is a Polish trade union federation founded in September 1980 at the Gdańsk Shipyards, and originally led by Lech Wałęsa. ...

External link:

• Warsaw Rising: The Forgotten Soldiers of World War II. Educator Guide

See also:

• Warsaw Uprising, the main page of this series