Warsaw, Sunday, August 10, 1944

The last defenders, who have melted down to a small residue, can hold on to the Ochota district throughout the day - only towards evening do the last survivors leave through the sewer system - and manage to make their way through ...:



The advancing “RONA” soldier of “General” Kaminski then kills every Pole in the vicinity of the abandoned positions - regardless of whether they are wounded combatants or civilians!



In Wola, AK fighters from the Radoslaw group manage to defend the Jewish cemetery against all German attacks throughout the day - and even capture a "Panther" tank of the SS "Viking"...:





The group "Chrobry II" succeeds in defending the building of the Haberbusch brewery against several German attacks, whereby the attackers and those attacked suffer heavy losses ...:











In the afternoon, the Germans take the power station occupied by the Poles on the third day of the uprising in the Powiśle district under heavy fire, where the AK fighters are still somehow producing electricity ...:



Both the electricity production and the defense positions can be maintained until the evening!



In the afternoon, RAF “Lancaster” planes appear again ...



... over Warsaw - and again place a precise "airdrop" with weapons and supplies on the two cemeteries - to which the AK fighters cling so doggedly for precisely this reason!









As soon as the British have disappeared into the sky, they are "replaced" by machines of the German Luftwaffe ...



... which this time don't drop bombs, but again masses of leaflets with the German "ultimatum" ...:



A full translation is not worthwhile. The German ultimatum calls on the insurgents: "Put down your arms and surrender, otherwise you will all die!" And makes all sorts of promises in the event of surrender:

Protection of life, food, medical care, treatment as prisoners of war (for fighters) as well as “housing” and “well-paid work” (for non-combatants).

The Poles, however, know only too well that they MAY die if they keep fighting, but WILL definitely die if they surrender!

The raging of the Ukrainian militias of SS-General Reinefarth, the murders of the criminal brigade "Dirlewanger" - but especially the cruel slaughter of "General" Kaminski's "RONA" members show the Poles what lies ahead if they give up...


Heinrich Himmler's order to kill all Warsaw residents without distinction has meanwhile got around ...

Warsaw, Monday, August 11, 1944


The resistance of the last defenders of the group "Reduta Wawelska" is coming to an end!

The last survivors of the group are in house number 60 on Wawelska Street, which was almost completely destroyed by RONA butchers ...



... completely included, which use some of the dreaded "Goliath" explosive tanks ...:



A few manage to escape through the sewer system, the rest under Józef Głuchowski (in the picture he stands in the centre) ...



... falls into the hands of the Russian SS mercenaries and is all butchered!

Even in the bitterly contested district of Wola, the Polish resistance is collapsing today!

In the defense of the two cemeteries, which are so vital for the air supply of the "Royal Air Force", the AK fighters suffered such heavy losses that they are no longer fit for action.

After the commander, Lieutenant Colonel Jan Mazurkiewicz ...



... fell in battle, the few survivors decide to give up their defensive positions and make their way through the sewer system to the Śródmieście district ...:



The Germans are currently only probing cautiously there - apart from constant artillery fire.

In the evening, the Air Force Junkers dive bombers appear over Warsaw.

This time they don't have any leaflets with them, but extensively bomb the old town ...

Warsaw, Tuesday, August 12, 1944


The parts of Warsaw's old town that are still occupied by the rebel AK fighters are mainly protected by two advanced positions, namely the heavily fortified positions on Stawki and Leszno Streets.

Since the next German attacks are expected there, the previous commander, Major Wacław Janszka ...



... replaced by a commander with more experience, Colonel Antoni Chruściel, who was already wounded in previous battles ...:



He hardly got the time to take command when the first German attack broke out! It is directed against the barricades on Rymarska, Senatorska and Piwna streets.



The Polish can withstand anywhere and throw back the fighters of SS General Reinefahrt!









To the great relief of the AK fighters, the Germans missed the fact that the Polish positions at Bank Polská and the town hall were dangerously weak at this time - if the attackers had broken through here, they would have pinched the AK fighters in their advanced positions can!

Elsewhere, however, the Ukrainian mercenaries Reinefahrts achieved success: They succeeded in securing the positions of the AK group "Chobri II" on Krasinski Square ...



... take and kill almost all defenders ...:





After the RONA killers "General" Kaminskis have finished with the murders in the Wola district, they are now brought in to attack the Starynkiewicza district.

In the evening, AK comander in chief Bor-Komorowski radioed to London:

"Today the enemy tried to destroy the (Polish note. MR) armed forces in the old town. The situation was critical, the positions changed hands. If we do not get relief tonight on Krasiński Square, the situation is in this area hopeless tomorrow. On other sections without major changes. "

Warsaw, Wednesday, August 13, 1944


In response to the nightly radio message from AK chief General Bor-Komorowski, a dozen British "Halifax" bombers appear in the morning ...



... over Warsaw and drop supply containers with weapons and ammunition ...





... especially the coveted portable armor-piercing rocket launchers type "PIAT"...:



Since the Polih had to give up the two cemeteries two days ago, the RAF pilots can only throw them on "good luck" and many of the weapons end up with the enemy!

In the morning the expected German offensive on the old town begins, which is directed in turn against the advanced positions of the Poles - the positions "Bolcio", "Bonifraterska", "Stawki", "Długa", "Tomackie", "Bielańska" - and finally also the town hall!













In the evening, the part of the old town occupied by the insurgents is completely enclosed by the Germans and there is no longer any connection to other resistance points in the city!

A counterattack launched by the Polish with the courage of desperation in the direction of the Śródmieście district - still held by Polish units - which is supposed to restore this connection, fails at the Miroska Hall with heavy losses ...:



Units of the "Gustav" battalion succeed at Klilinski-Platz ...



... to capture a German SS-Wiking tank undamaged - they think!



Because the tank turns out to be a deliberately left behind German booby trap - which is detonated remotely at the exact moment when many AK fighters gather to marvel at their supposed prey.

At least 300 Polish fighters died in the massive detonation of the vehicle full of explosives ...

Warsaw, Thursday, August 14, 1944


At dawn, British "Halifax" bombers of the 301st squadron, all of which consist of exiled Poles, appear over Warsaw and drop ammunition and weapons supplies ...:



This time the action is aimed at the - cut off - defenders of the Śródmieście district ...:



The Polish airmen place their supply containers with admirable precision - everything reaches the AK fighters!

At the same time, the Germans launched a concentrated offensive on the Polish positions in the old town. The fighters of the "Armija Kraiowa" lose two important positions: The PAST building - now just a ruin ...



... and the barricade in front of it ...:



All other positions can be held - with heavy losses again!

However, the Germans are not without losses either: The Polish manage to shoot down a number of German tanks - the anti-tank weapons dropped by the British yesterday are taking effect ...:







The defenders of the Śródmieście district - among them the last survivors of the "Chobri II" unit managed to conquer a German food depot in the building at 8 Ceglana Street ...



... which solves the most pressing supply problems.

In the equally isolated district of Mokotov, the Polish defenders are trying to counterattack some kuft - nothing comes of it, except heavy losses from the attacking regiment "Baszta" ...



... under Lieutenant Colonel Stanisław Kamiński (in front of the picture, with hat) ...:



In view of the worsening situation of the Polish fighters in the city, General Bor-Komorowski was forced to send the following - unencrypted - radio message to all Polish underground fighters in the evening:

"The battle for Warsaw is dragging on. It is being waged against a great overwhelming force of the enemy. The situation calls for an immediate march to help the capital; I order all available and well-armed units to march on to Warsaw as quickly as possible, with the task to defeat the enemy forces stationed on the outskirts and in the suburbs of Warsaw and intervene in combat within the city. "

Of course, the radio message can be overheard by the Germans as well as by the radio reconnaissance officers of the Red Army, which is still watching the slaughter on the opposite bank of the Vistula without lifting a finger ...

Warsaw, Friday, August 15, 1944


Once again the Polish pilots in exile took off from their Italian bases in their "Halifax" bombers at night to supply their comrades in Warsaw from the air.



In the first light of day they appear over the Polish capital - they need daylight for their drops in order to recognize where friend or foe is - so the positions are wedged together!



The early morning flights did not go unnoticed on the German side either - and this time Luftwaffe fighters lurk over the city ...:



Three "Halifax" are shot down ...



... their crews are killed and several others are damaged.

From now on there will be no more supply flights without bloody losses!

On the ground, RONA mercenaries succeed in securing the Mostowski Palace, previously held by the Poles ...



... to occupy - but not for long, because a quick counterattack by the "Wigry" battalion ...



... recaptured the ruins ...:



The RONA "soldiers" are better at killing than at fighting!



A German attack on the northern part of Śródmieście has also been going on since early morning, but the Germans get stuck in the defensive fire of the weakened "Chobry II" unit!

The angry Germans then fire phosphorus grenades ...



... and cause widespread fires in the building of the "Prudential" insurance (this tallest building in Warsaw is still held by the Poles) ...



... and the surrounding streets.

The Germans use the same tactic in the Powiśle district, which is also set on fire on a large scale ...:



Overall, however, the AK fighters were able to maintain their positions almost anywhere in the city on this day.

The German commander, SS-General von dem Bach-Zelewski (here in his headquarters in the center of the picture) ...



... therefore comes to the conviction that one must use even heavier weapons against the city crammed with tens of thousands of civilians.

We will read about it tomorrow ...

In the Mokotów district, an AK-Stosstrupp succeeds in digging a German headquarters (film photo!) ...:



Two officers of the Royal Hungarian armed forces - still fighting on the German side - are also captured...:



The two Hungarians are on site as observers - their unit is stationed outside Warsaw and does not take part in the fighting in the Polish capital.

The two Hungarians are sent back to their troops with a message from AK chief Bor-Komorowski, in which he asks for the Hungarians to remain neutral.

In the evening a hopeful rumor spread among the exhausted Polish fighters: Apparently someone saw Red Army aircraft bombing German positions on the outskirts of Warsaw ...

Warsaw, Saturday, August 16, 1944


Since early in the morning, Warsaw's old town has been under heavy fire from German artillery, howitzers, tank cannons ...



and rocket launchewrs ("Nebelwerfer")!







Also at least two of the new "Sturmtiger" ...



... as well as the armored train are used ...:



In the meantime the occupiers have even brought in a 60 cm mortar of the "Karl" type (namely the "Device No. VI" with the name "Ziu"), whose projectiles cause heavy devastation and losses among the Polish defenders!











The preparatory barrage is followed by an attack by SS-Wiking and RONA mercenaries - the Poles under the leadership of Major Mieczysław Chyżyński (pictured with a steel helmet and mustache) ...



... can successfully withstand - but again lose many fighters!

The battle for the Polish state printing plant on Sanguszki Street is particularly fierce.







But here, too, the German attacks fail - just as they did in front of the temporarily bunkered Polish barricades in Podwale, Piwna and Świętojańska Streets!







However, the Germans manage to get stuck in the ruins of the Kanoniczek monastery!




**continued next post**

Two famous Polish writers die in an explosion there: Tadeusz Gajcy ...



and Zdzisław Leon Stroiński ...



... who both fight as simple soldiers in the ranks of the "Armia Kraiova".

Meanwhile the battalions "Zośka" and "Czata" carried out an attack, the main aim of which was to create a corridor for a group fighting their way into the old town, which had to vacate their advanced position (in Kampinos) due to German pressure and has now been cut off threatens to become.

The attack fails bloody, whereby the commander of the "Zoska" battalion, Captain Eugeniusz Stasiecki (in the picture in front with the Polish eagle on the boat), falls together with many of his fighters ...:



General Bor-Komorowski again urgently radioed to London for help.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Foto from Museum) then contacted ...



... the Soviet dictator Yossif Stalin directly (Movie picture) and asks him to allow at least the soldiers of the "Polish Voksarmee" under General Zygmunt Berling fighting in the ranks of his army to help their hard-pressed compatriots on the other bank of the Vistula!

The "father of the peoples" answers the British:



"None of this would have happened if the Soviet high command had been informed before the action started and if the Polish had stayed in contact with them. In the resulting situation, the STAWKA (the Soviet high command, note MR) came to the conclusion that it does not want to intervene because it does not want to be directly or indirectly liable for the Warsaw action. "

That means in plain language: Stalin abandons the "Armia Kraiova" to their destruction ...!

Especially when you consider that at that time there were still around 80,000 uninvolved civilians (including many children) in the city ...

And when you know - as we do today - that the slaughter will continue for two more months ...


I will report here on every single day in detail - until the end ...



Cheers

Warsaw, Sunday, August 17, 1944


The whole day long the Polish positions lie under fire from heavy and heaviest German artillery.



The AK fighters have suffered heavy casualties, and the German missiles, which destroy entire streets, are claiming an awful number of victims, even among the civilians who are not involved!



The Cathedral of St. Jana ...





... and the town hall on Teatralny Square ...



... are literally pulverized with 60 cm bullets ...:



In the afternoon, the Dirlewanger criminals tried to storm the Polish positions in the Muranów district ...



... but are by the fighters of the "Czata" battalion ...





... first brought to a standstill and then thrown back!

A second attack, this time with tank support ...



... also fails - the AK fighters still have the portable British anti-tank weapons of the "PIAT" type!





The Germans then try a third time - and are now driving Polish women as living shields in front of them ...



However, they fail again.

Also in the district of Żoliborz a German attack breaks out in the defensive fire of the Polish fighters of the "Giraffe" group ...



...together. Here the attackers suffer heavy losses.

The Germans can claim one single success on August 17th:

In the northern part of Śródmieście, after bitter Polish resistance, they manage to find the ruins of the former "Haberbusch" brewery ...





... and take the nearby police building on Ciepła Street ...:

Warsaw, Monday, August 18, 1944


As in the past two days, Warsaw is under the heaviest fire of all available German guns practically around the clock.

But today the air force is also sending bomb planes over the Polish capital!

No Junkers dive combat aircraft of the "Ju 87 - Stuka" type, which are suitable for precision attacks ...



... but "Heinkel 111" ...



... throw off the flat "bomb carpets" ...:





The AK fighters who defend the Polish Bank in Śródmieście ...



... and the now completely devastated tram depot ...





... on Bonifraterska Street, suffering heavy losses - your commander, Lieutenant Colonel Jan Szypowski ...



... is badly wounded.

During short pauses in fire, the Germans attacked several Polish positions in the old town, but they could be thrown back every time.

Even Polish eyewitnesses describe the attacks by the RONA troops in German service, members of the SS-Wiking and the Dirlewanger criminal brigade as "suicidal"!

There is a lot of blood flowing in the old town that day - but the positions of both sides do not change!

In the contested district of Śródmieście, the fighters of the "Armia Kraiowa" even made up ground on this day!

Polish fighters under Captain Wacław Stykowski (right, with shoulder strap) ...



... succeed in recapturing the ruins of the "Pluton" factory on Ciepła Street, the sports hall on Małachowski Square and the police headquarters building from the Germans, destroying a German "Panther" tank!





Several SS officers, can be taken as prisoners at the police headquarters ...:



Surprising turnaround also in the Mokotów district, where the Germans think the fight has already been won and are accordingly inattentive:

After dark, the Polish fighters surprisingly advance and occupy the "no man's land" between their and the feudal positions - and can thus straighten and improve their positions.

How sure the Germans are of their victory is shown by the fact that SS-General von dem Bach-Zelewski sends two of his officers with white flags to the headquarters of AK-Commander General Bor-Komorowski to negotiate an armistice. ..:



The Polish general (in a light coat and hat), to whom the successes of his people in Śródmieście and Mototòw were briefly reported and who of course knows that the Germans have so far broken their teeth in the Polish positions in the old town, refuses Offer and have the parliamentarians sent back.

Warsaw, Tuesday, August 19, 1944


As soon as it got light, it turns out that yesterday's attacks by the SS on the Polish positions around the old town were little more than armed reconnaissance with which the Germans sounded out the strength of the various positions of the "Armia Kraiowa".

Now SS-General Reinefarth is sending his entire force of Ukrainian mercenaries (12 battalions), the Dirlewanger criminal brigade and a significant part of the SS-Wiking to attack the weak points of the Poles, which he thinks he has identified ...:



The attackers are supported by no less than nine "Tiger" and "Panther" tanks from the "Hermann Göring!" Division.





Immediately before the attack, German "Heinkel" bombers reappear over the old town, bombing everything that still stands on intact buildings to ruins ...



... and force the Polish fighters to take cover, which is why they can only occupy their positions and offer resistance very late when the German attack begins!

On Bonifraterska Street, the gardens of the Krasinski Palace ...





... on Krasinski Square (in front of the palace) ...





... on Tłomackie and Bielańska streets ...



... the Polish can withstand - albeit subtle losses, whereby they also benefit from a German 7.5 cm anti-tank gun captured in the days before ...

The main battles, however, take place over the buildings of the Polytechikum ...



... from where the AK fighters are pushed back ...:





However, the attackers never manage to break through!

In the Śródmieście district, the Polish, led by Lieutenant Wojchiech Chyczewski (left) ...



... their positions after the loss of the "Haberbusch Brewery" site ...



... consoling, not least because the fighters of the "Krawiec" battalion under Captain Tomazs Dobaczewski ...



... come to the rescue who have made it this far.

A counterattack by the Poles on the Wilanowski Palace ...





... but fails bloody - the commander of the attacking group, Lieutenant Colonel Mieczysław Sokołowski ...



... falls in precise German defensive fire.

Warsaw, Wednesday, August 20, 1944


As soon as it is bright enough to be able to distinguish friend from enemy, the troops of SS-General Reinefarth renew ...



... again with tank support ...



... their attacks on the positions held by the Poles in the old town!

Before that, "Heinkels" of the Luftwaffe had again "unloaded" properly over the old town ...



... and immediately before the attack there is a fire from the German heavy artillery, which is also what the 60 cm mortar ...



... and the armored train participate ...:



The Germans did not achieve any resounding success, but after bitter fighting, the Polish had to clear the ruins of the Mostowski Palace that were claimed the day before!



German shock troops also manage to establish one of the most heavily defended positions of the AK fighters on the ground floor:

The ruin of the Bank of Poland!



However, the upper floors and the basement rooms are still held by Polish fighters, which does not make the situation of Reinefahrt's Ukrainian mercenaries particularly enviable.

The attackers lose several tanks ...:







The AK fighters can even capture a Panzer V "Panther" undamaged and ready to drive - the vehicle with hastily painted Polish emblems under the name "Poodle" is immediately put into service of the "Armia Kraiowa" - and it becomes quite famous ...:





The original has been preserved, is still ready to drive - and is also presented to the public on special occasions (and for films) ...:



In the Śródmieście district, the AK fighters, led by Captain Henryk Roycewicz ...



... launched a desperate counterattack to win back the PAST building that was lost two days ago!



They absolutely need this ruin because it dominates the whole area and the Germans can direct the fire of their artillery from the roof - and shoot down at the Polish positions from above.

The bitter struggle for the PAST building lasts - floor by floor - the whole day, mostly close-quarters fights with knives, pistols, hand grenades, spades and machine guns, sometimes even with bare hands!

When darkness falls over the battered Polish capital, the Poles have the PAST building firmly in their hands again, but have also suffered heavy losses ...:



38 German soldiers are also killed in the fighting - and 121 are taken alive in Polish captivity ...:









At the same time, the Poles can report another success to their headquarters: fighters of the Chobry II unit have taken "Hartwigs" department store on Warenstrasse ...