17 1000 fallen soldiers, up to 200,000 murdered civilians and a crucial part of the city turned into ruins – specified was the balance of the Warsaw Uprising. On 2 October, in the absence of a chance of victory, the National Army Command decided to sign an act of surrender. However, the offer of talks came from the Germans.
Signing “The Agreement on the cessation of war in Warsaw”. Ożarów Mazowiecki, night from 2 to 3 October 1944 photo: Wikipedia
The uprising slow extinguished. He capitulated the Mokots on September 27. The Żoliborz defended himself with the last force. Downtown was under constant fire from land and air. Almost 250,000 people were crowded in the territory – in addition to soldiers and residents, besides refugees from another parts of the city. Meanwhile, everything was missing – water, food, medicines, electricity...
"The large optimism of August replaced the general depression," writes British historian Alexandra Richie, recalling the testimonies of the drama participants. “We were down erstwhile we realized it was our turn. There was no artificial bravado. They were all afraid of “cows” and raids. We felt that we simply couldn't survive," recalled Janusz Hamerliński, soldier of the AK Battalion “Kiliński”. “ Nights are very cold. People lost their stuff and blankets were taken for the wounded. Ruins and cellars are ice-cold, but you can't burn fire due to the fact that people would die from smoke. any effort to burn fires in the yard, but it is very dangerous due to bombs and missiles.”
Commander AK General Tadeusz Komorowski, “Bór” He struggled with his thoughts. For any time, he was imagining that the Red Army behind the Vistula would, however, attack and aid save the city, but hope was fading under the force of violent reality. The Soviets had no interest in helping the insurgents. They preferred to wait until the “old” troops Poland will bleed out. Finally, it became clear that further opposition does not make much sense. And that is why, on the morning of 28 September, the Germans gave the insurgents a proposal for surrender talks, Bór-Komorowski decided to accept the offer.
First way out of town
The Germans were in a hurry. The uprising was beyond measureAnd all day, it meant immense losses to them. Tenths of troops were being utilized during an impending clash with the Soviets. General Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, commander of German forces in Warsaw, sent the first letter calling for negotiations to Bor in early September. Eventually, however, it remained unanswered. At that time, the A.K. Command might have been dreaming that things would turn out well... A fewer weeks later, the situation of the insurgents became hopeless. And yet von dem Bach-Zelewski was not entirely certain of his own. On 2 October, he noted in his journal: “I am most likely having the most critical day of my fighting in Warsaw today. Either Gen. “Bor” is playing a fraudulent game with me, or he will surrender to me.”
But that's a small later. So far it was September 28th, and the barricade at Żelazna Street was approached by Colonel Zygmunt Dobrowolski, “Zyndram” in the company of the translator. It was his “Bor” that appointed for preliminary talks with Germany. On the another side, German emissaries were waiting for “Zyndrama”. shortly it was transported to the von dem Bach-Zelewski quarters in Ożarów. The German accepted him with an elaborate gallantry. He began divorcing himself over the bravery of the AK, regretted the dying soldiers, guaranteed the rights of civilians. He even made words that could be read as a barely veiled condemnation... of barbarous methods utilized by German officers like Oskar Dirlewanger. "I took command of German forces on the eighth day of the uprising. At the time there were many different troops of the German army. The value of these branches was varied, they were drawn from different places, so The fighting was conducted utilizing uncivilised methods“ He was divorced. “Zyndram” must have known that a cynical spectacle was being played in front of him. And yet he had to trust von dem Bach.
The next talks were held the following day, and the first agreement was signed on 30 September. It active evacuation of civilians from the besieged downtown. To this end, a ceasefire was to take place on October 1 from 5 to nine. However, only 8,000 people left the city that day. Fear of surrendering to the Germans prevailed, but not only. Alexandra Richie: ‘(...) any of the Warsawers considered the outgoing civilians to be “fleeing from a sinking ship”. A young AK-owiec said, “If I saw my parent in this crowd, I would shoot her”, others mocked these people with tired faces and exhausted children, calling them traitors.” But as the author adds to justice, there were times erstwhile the insurgents themselves would escort their loved ones to the gathering places.
Only a fewer minutes after the 19th Germans resumed the hurricane fire of the district. Meanwhile, work on the surrender agreement was coming to an end in the AK headquarters.
“Where will they take the banners?”
The final talks were attended by “Zyndram” and Colonel Kazimierz Iranek-Osmecki. They left for Fire Department at 8:00 a.m. On the spot, the Polish delegation won a tiny victory. Germany agreed that the negotiations should be based on an AK document. "Poles were tough and forced their concessions on Bach 1 by one," recalled Gerhard von Jordan, who attended the talks as a translator. The German commander did not accept only the evidence that the Germans would spare the ruined city. After a long fair he agreed only to include in the final passus agreement about the evacuation of secular and church cultural goods. The Germans had already decided to level Warsaw with the ground so that no trace of it would remain. That was Hitler's order, and von dem Bach couldn't, and I don't think he wanted to argue him.
The surrender was signed on 2 October late in the evening. According to the findings, 2 days later, insurgent troops from the city would begin to leave. As AK was a bit earlier recognized by the Allies as a full-fledged allied armyIts members were to be treated as prisoners of war. Thanks to the stubbornness of “Bora”, their rights were extended to the soldiers of the People's Army and National Armed Forces fighting in the uprising. All residents of Warsaw were besides to leave. However, Germany has ensured that collective work will not be applied to the civilian population.
Warsaw insurgents marching into captivity. fresh York Street (5 October) photo: Wikipedia
Lost soldiers comforted themselves as much as they could. “We leave Warsaw with weapons and banners. Unbelievable. I wonder where they're gonna get those banners. And how it will be with guns" – noted Zbigniew Czajkowski-Dębczyński, a soldier in his diary Parasol Battalion. In turn, the author of the article “After the Fight”, which was published in the last issue of the “Information Bulletin” of the AK, emphasized: “The defeat, of which we do not want to minimize, is simply a defeat of 1 city, 1 phase of our conflict for freedom. It is not the defeat of the full Nation, our plans and our historical ideals. From the shed blood, from the squad effort and toil, from the torment of our bodies and souls, a fresh Poland will rise, free, large and strong." However, nothing was able to cover disappointment, depression, rage – besides towards Western Allies who, according to the popular opinion, did not aid the fighting city sufficiently. "On 2 October Churchill personally accepted the Polish Prime Minister and heard from him that Warsaw was going to capitulate. Later, he was called upon to present the last appeal of the National Council of Ministers and the Council of National Unity: “This is the truth. We were treated worse than Hitler's allies: Italy, Romania, Finland (...)". These words – he noted in his memoirs Churchill – will not wipe anything away," wrote British historian Norman Davies.
Meanwhile, in the first days after the surrender, Germany followed its provisions. However, it shortly began to change. "When final calculations were made, it turned out that much more than 100,000 Warsawers were sent to forced robots in the Reich (...), and another tens of thousands were placed in SS concentration camps, including Ravensbrück, Auschwitz and Mauthausen," Davies notes. shortly the Germans began systematically demolishing the city – street by street, 4th by quarter. erstwhile the Red Army yet entered Warsaw in January 1945, The eyes of the solstice appeared a sea of ruins.
The Warsaw Uprising lasted 63 days. The battles have resulted in tremendous losses. Almost 17 1000 soldiers of the Polish underground died in them, and about 20 1000 wounded. This includes death from 150 to 200,000 civilians. The Germans lost about 25,000 soldiers, including those killed, wounded and missing.
The Polish Underground State in the beginning of the conflict assumed that it could master the city before the Red Army entered, against which Poles would act as hosts. However, the plan failed. There is inactive a dispute among historians about whether a glove should be thrown to the Germans. However, representatives of the AK Command explained for years that they had no another choice. They were afraid, among others, of the uncontrolled outbreak of fighting, to which Polish communists were calling with the Red Army. They were besides convinced that the possible inactivity of the underground could be utilized by russian propaganda to hunt the legitimate authorities.
When writing the text I used: Norman Davies, Rising '44, Kraków 2004; Władysław Bartoszewski, 1859 days of Warsaw, Krakow 2008; Alexandra Richie, Warsaw 1944. Tragic uprising, Wrocław 2004; Stefan Korboński, Polish Underground State. Underground Guide 1939-1945, Warsaw 2008; Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, Underground Army, Warsaw 1994.
