Warsaw at war

May 17, 2025

Warsaw has seen more than its share of warfare. The incursions of Catherine of Russia and Frederick of Prussia (with the Austro-Hungarian Empire getting in on the show) between 1772 and 1795 effectively erased the country from the map of Europe until after the struggles of the First World War.

The invasions by Stalin and Hitler in 1939, with the ensuing violence, was in a class of its own.

A monument to those lost during the Soviet occupation in 1939 sits alongside a busy Warsaw thoroughfare.

During the Nazi occupation, the Jewish population was all but liquidated, and Poles were killed in the thousands. Memorials to the Polish underground are tucked into locations all over the city.

A year after the Warsaw ghetto uprising, in 1944, the Soviet army arrived on the opposite banks of the Vistula and called for the citizens to rise up against the German occupation. W Hour was 5 p.m. on August 1.

The excellent Warsaw Uprising Museum covers the turbulent 63 day action that all but destroyed the city and resulted in the deaths of over 265,000 people, most of whom were civilians.

As a former Girl Guide and guiding leader, the role played by Girl Guides and Boy Scouts immediately caught my eye. Many acted as couriers for the postal service, delivering key messages across the bombarded city. Others took an active role in the resistance.

The print shop also captured my imagination as I know how to use the equipment. I envisioned a role for myself printing underground papers through the occupation and uprising, and into the Soviet era.

The reality, of course, is that I would have been unlikely to survive. Most did not, and some are remembered o walls of photos.

Throughout the operation, the Allies attempted to drop supplies behind the German lines. But as Stalin refused permission to land in the Soviet-occupied zone this was a significant undertaking. There was never enough food or weapons.

And the risk was high. The remnants of a plane that was shot down bring this home. Especially for us on reading that the weapons found at the crash site were traced to a Canadian crew including George Chapman, Arthur G.W. Liddell, and Flight-Lieutenant Arnold P. Flynn who never made it to the drop zone.

In the end, the uprising was doomed to failure. The Soviets were content to let the residents of Warsaw and the Germans destroy each other, waiting to walk in and "liberate" what was left.

The insurgents agreed to a truce with the Germans and were put into forced labour or imprisoned. When the Soviets did roll in, they also treated the insurgents as criminals, using the same prison as the Nazis.

The Poles are rightly proud of their indomitable spirit, and have build impressive monuments commemorating their heroes.

Perhaps the most moving is the tomb of the unknown soldier. Once part of a much bigger structure, what remains surrounds the grave and is the only segment of the palace that avoided the otherwise total destruction of 1944. Today it is guarded by two Polish soldiers and crowds flow past paying their respects.