"All buildings should be demolished up to the foundations," Heinrich Himmler's order of 9 October 1944 was. This plan had no military justification. He was dictated solely by ideology and the desire for revenge. After the defeat of the Uprising, the Germans engaged tremendous forces in demolishing the left-hand districts of Warsaw. Effect? 84% of the buildings were destroyed.
Sigismund column overturned with a German tank rocket at night from 1 to 2 September 1944.
The German attitude towards Warsaw was a unusual mixture of hatred and fear. Hans Frank, who, by giving Hitler the head of the General Government, a puppet parastate formed from parts of the Polish lands, described the city in his journals as the outbreak of confusion and the origin of all evil. "If we didn't have Warsaw, we wouldn't have 4/5 difficulties we had to fight," he wrote. Therefore, in the beginning of the occupation, the Germans announced a task that was to break the metropolitan spine. alleged Pabst's February 1940 plan He assumed that Warsaw would be truncated to a 130-thousand-sized town, inhabited by the German elite and a tiny number of Polish slaves. But before the task took shape, Pabsta was hit by conspirator bullets from the Home Army. Warsaw, although wounded during the 1939 defensive warand then the uprising in the judaic Ghetto, lasting. The Germans only saw a chance to destruct it again. in the Warsaw Uprising.
Who needs a tux, who needs a dress
"Mein Führer, the minute is unpleasant. From the point of view of history, however, it is simply a blessing. In 5 to six weeks we will defeat Poles, and then Warsaw – the capital, the head, the intelligence of this erstwhile sixteen-, seventeen-millionth nation, will be wiped out into dust" – perorated Heinrich Himmler in the first hours after the outbreak of the fighting. Hitler listened carefully and nodded him. shortly the order came from the Berlin Reich Chancellery: “Every resident must be killed, no prisoners must be taken. Warsaw is to be razed to the ground and thus become a frightening example for all Europe."
The uprising lasted 2 months. The Germans proved to be a uncommon barbarism during it. True, after the victory, they agreed to recognise the soldiers of the Home Army as prisoners of war and to refrain from repressing the inhabitants, but as shortly as it turned out, they were very free to approach these findings. They besides did not intend to quit plans to destruct the city. On October 9, 1944, Himmler issued a decree: “All buildings must be demolished to the foundations. Leave only method equipment and railway buildings’.
German Brandkommando burning the Warsaw building.
The plan to destruct Warsaw was divided into respective stages. He even gained his acronym – ARLZ, which came from German words Auflockerung, Räumung, Ladung, Zerstörung. In the translation into Polish, they mean scattering, purifying, loading and destruction. The operation was supervised by Paul Otto Geibel, the SS and Police commander in the Warsaw district. Her first chord was mass theft. Museums, factories, food warehouses or private dwellings were systematically robbed of anything that could have been of any value. The first beneficiary of stolen goods was the Wehrmacht. Any loot useful to the army had to be sent back to the 9th Army supply department. The remainder should have come to another Reich institutions – both civilian and police. "Letters determining who has the right to which spoils were highly meticulous," notes Alexandra Richie, British historian, author of the book on the uprising. – All leather products were to be taken over by Greiser. Gum was expected to go to a mill in Poznań. Soap had to be sent to German construction workers, a tiny condition could be utilized “for a Christmas gift for German women whose spouses are on the front”. The paraffin and candles were to be sent for building barricades, iron and any machines were to take over the Ministry of Agriculture. Himmler was to decide the destiny of the rest, as was the case with colour metals, wires, cables, electrical equipment, furnaces, fabrics, cords, paper,” the historian says.
However, despite the precise directives, there have been constant friction between the institutions. The Nazi dignitaries besides leaped into their eyes, who, at the occasion of the large robbery, were pushing their own pockets more or little openly. Alexandra Richie: “Reinefartha was scolded erstwhile his units stole 225 pieces of fabric, 5 metres of suede, duvets, towels, 50 ball gowns, 102 tuxedos, and 60 carpets. [...] Albert Speer wrote to Hitler asking for aid in recovering his property.” The same Reinefarth, possibly wanting to ease the situation, decided to give Himmler 2 sacks of quality Chinese tea. But it's not much compared to mass thefts of art...
Within little than a week of Himmler's order, the Germans filled almost 25,000 railway cars with all the goods. The robbery was to proceed for respective weeks, while the streets of the deserted city were already surrounded by Technische Nothilfe (NT) – bomb squads of police, which were to deal with systematic demolition of buildings.
Old Town Square in the flames of insurgent fights, August 1944.
How “Crossers” were rescued
NT forces were commanded by Willy Schmelcher. Under his command 3 groups were devoted, which primarily operated in the Śródmieście, Wola and Żoliborz. The demolition of subsequent quarters took place in a clearly defined scenario. Brandkommando was in first. It consisted of bomb squads equipped with flamethrowers. They burned the interiors of buildings, which were then blown up by members of the Sprengkommando. At the same time, tanks rolled through the streets, deliberately destroying tram and railway tracks, tipping traction poles, tearing up power lines, but not only. 1 of the vehicles, for example, ran over the board on The Grave of the Unknown Soldier. Germany has given peculiar importance to turning public buildings and monuments to the ground – especially buildings of large symbolic importance. During the ARLZ action, the Saxon Palace and Brühl Palace, Main Railway Station and Filter Station were destroyed, a monument to Prince Joseph Poniatowski and the Sigismund Column, the Warsaw Cathedral and a number of downtown churches. Along with the office of the Krasiński ordination Library at Okolnik, fire digested, among others, 100,000 old prints and 50,000 manuscripts, almost the full stock of the fresh Acts Archive and all papers stored in the Municipal Archives went up in smoke. The police commander in his zeal occasionally acted even... against the interests of the Wehrmacht. On the occasion of the demolition of more buildings, they involuntaryly exposed the positions of the sub-chapters that were able to fight the behind the Vistula Soviets. According to historian Marek Getter, the approximate amount of debris accumulated as a consequence of the fighting, but above all the subsequent work of the destroyers' teams, was estimated at 20 million m3.
The losses were sky high. Meanwhile, their list may have been even longer. Germany, for example, prepared to blow up the palace in the Bathrooms and Belvedere, but they were fortunately incapable to detonate. They ran out of time due to the fact that they had to evacuate. Before the Red Army approaches. Many valuable cultural goods were besides saved thanks to the mad determination of Dr. Stanisław Lorentz, manager of the National Museum and a group of his colleagues. In November 1944, they managed to get approval from the Germans to enter a demolished city thanks to their scheming and generous bribes. For 2 weeks, librarians, archivists and museumists secured, hid and exported artifacts from the left-hand side of Warsaw that managed to avoid hekatomba. "This was happening in an amazing scenery of ruins, frequently under artillery fire, in a quiet but steady race against the day-to-day destruction," wrote Władysław Bartoszewski, author of the war and business chronicle of Warsaw. Thus, for example, "Kronika" by Gall Anonim with handwritten notes by Jan Długosz, or manuscript by Henryk Sienkiewicz was saved.
Burning houses at Marszałkowska Street.
The ARLZ action continued until the beginning of January 1945. It only ended with the russian offensive. In 3 months, the Germans destroyed 30% of the buildings in the left-hand part of the city. And if you add to that losses incurred during both uprisings – Warsaw and the revolt in the ghetto and the 1939 defensive war, this rate rises to 84%. No another city in the planet has suffered specified tremendous losses during the Second War. In a study created at the time erstwhile the city was managed by Lech Kaczyński, their value was estimated at $45.3 billion.
There are only about a 1000 people left in the totally demolished neighborhoods. They nodded among the ruins, trying to last the dense winter. British historian Norman Davies recalls the evidence of a young woman, an agent of the Home Army in the ranks of the NKVD, who in January 1945, along with russian troops entered the city: “[In the air] There was a odor of rubble and smoke connected to the smell. I've never even met that odor in ruins. And very fewer people, but those who remained came out of the corner. Scary, like shadows. I didn't come over, I didn't talk to them. I walked like a vending device [...] everywhere there were ruins and it was hard to know”.
Warsaw in January 1945. A view of Canonia and the Old Town Market.
What she saw was the consequence of pure madness. Alexandra Richie emphasizes that there was no military argument in favour of the demolition of Warsaw. In the implementation of the project, Germany had to affect a multitude of people and equipment that any sensible man would direct elsewhere. After all, in the days they were waiting for another installment of the murderous conflict with the Soviets. Yet one more time Hitler’s will was more important. but the plan failed. Warsaw, though terribly mutilated, was laboriously returning to life.
While writing, I used: Norman Davies, Uprising '44, Kraków 2008; Marek Getter, Human and Material Losses in the Warsaw Uprising, 8-9 (43-44), August-September 2004; War Losses of Warsaw 1939-1945. study prepared by the Advisory squad of the president of Warsaw Capital City, 2004; Alexandra Richie, Warsaw 1944. Tragic uprising, Warsaw 2013; Władysław Bartoszewski, 1859 days of Warsaw, Krakow 2008.
