JACOB JR, MY JEWISH WORLD. THE WARSZAWA UPRISING. POLAND.

Thrusday, Iyar 25, 5775. May 14, 2015.

Shalom! World.

The Warszawa Uprising broke out at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, August 1, 1944 (code named 'W-Hour' as in Wolnosc being Polish for freedom). It was one of the most fundamental yet dramatic events in the city's history. Anticipated for a few days, it lasted over 2 months.

The insurgents wanted to liberate the capital city from the Hitler's occupation before the entry of the  Soviet Army and thus ensure Poland's sovereignty after the end of the war.

Although numerous, the insurgent forces had to face a regular, fully militarized German army without relevant weaponry. Sadly, being denied any assistance from the allies, they were doomed to fail. The support they hoped for never came. Clashed between two mighty armies, the Soviets and the Germans, the Uprising slowly bled out. 

The looming destiny of Warszawa, known as the 'Paris of the East' before the war, was fulfilled by Heinrich Himmler's order saying: 'Every citizen is to be killed. No prisioners are to be taken. Warszawa has to be razed to the ground. Let it be a horrifying example for the whole Europe.'

The Numbers

                                                                                    Uprising lasted 63 days; 

approximately 30.000 Home Army soldiers from Warszawa District took up the fight; 

only 10 per cent of the insurgents were armeed; 

insurgents had to face approximate 20.000 fully armed soldiers who used armoured front units, artillery and aircrafts; 

18.000 insurgents were killed and 25.000 were injured; 

approximately 150.000 civilians died; 

approximately 500.000 residents were expelled from Warszawa after its capitulation; 

last shot was fired on late October 2, 1944. 

Warszawa Uprising Monument - pl. Krasinskich.

Monument commemorates thousands of heroes of the 1944 Warszawa Uprising. It consists of two parts. The first one presents the Insurgents running from below a pylon (bridge support), while the second one  those entering the sewer system. A hatch to the sewers through which the Insurgent troops and Starówka residents fled from the Germans is located on Krasinski Square.

Shalom! Aleichem.

Suporte cultural:  SOUL avec L'Integration d'Association avec Israel et dans le Monde/Fr .