184 TURNING THE TIDE 1943–1944
When the Soviets pushed the Germans back into Poland in July 1944,
General Bor-Koromowski, commander of the Polish Home Army,
decided to launch an operation to liberate Warsaw. With the Red
Army approaching the Vistula river on August 1, 1944, about 37,000
Polish insurgents fell on the German garrison, which was caught
off balance. Although lacking armaments—only one in seven had
weapons—the resistance fighters rapidly took key parts of the city.
The Germans held key strategic positions such as railway stations,
and on August 25 launched a counteroffensive. Some 20,000 heavily
armed German troops, supported by aircraft, fought street battles
with the Home Army. In the rubble of destroyed houses, and moving
through makeshift tunnels, the Poles resisted for five weeks before
surrendering on October 1. All this time, the Soviet army paused its
offensive and offered no help, even denying the Western Allies access to
airfields to resupply the insurgents. The Home Army lost 17,000 fighters
and effectively disbanded, and Warsaw was destroyed on Hitler’s
orders. When the Soviets finally captured the city in January 1945,
former resistance members were arrested, deported, or killed.THE WARSAW
UPRISING
In 1944, the main Polish resistance movement, the Home
Army, embarked on an uprising to liberate their cities
before the Soviets arrived. For nine weeks, resistance
fighters battled the superior German forces.
△ Insurgent’s weapon
Polish insurgents made thousands
of weapons in secret factories,
including copies of the British
Sten Mark II submachine gun.△ Prisoners of war
The suppression of the Warsaw Uprising was brutal; in the first few days, 40,000 civilians were
massacred. The Home Army fought back fiercely, despite being outnumbered; here, German
prisoners captured by the Polish resistance are forced to wear swastika-emblazoned shirts.US_184-185_F_The_warsaw_uprising.indd 184 22/03/19 3:16 PM