Read Rising '44: The Battle for Warsaw Online
Authors: Norman Davies
Tags: #Non-Fiction, #War, #History
Nonetheless, the deficiencies of Boor’s hasty plans were soon making themselves manifest. As the Monter incident showed, there were grave gaps in intelligence. There was also a serious shortage of weapons. Many arms caches had been removed from Warsaw in preparation for a general Rising in the countryside. Barely one quarter of Boor’s men could hope to go to war with a weapon in their hands. Boor’s own command post was being relocated to a reinforced concrete building, where radio signals could neither be received nor sent. The insurgents were dispersed into a large number of small groups which could not easily communicate. And there was no fall-back plan if initial objectives were not achieved. It can all be made to look hopelessly incompetent. The real question is whether the flaws in Boor’s dispositions were so dire that they would condemn the Rising to instant failure. Only time would tell.
No warning could be given to the civilian population. The 40–50,000 members of the AK who had been put on stand-by were sworn to secrecy. Twenty or thirty times that number of civilians were in the same fix as the Germans. They sensed that something was afoot, without knowing exactly what. As 1 August wore on, they occasionally caught sight of small bunches of youngsters gathering in courtyards or mysteriously disappearing into cellars or empty buildings. They saw intensified German patrols. But they simply didn’t ask. There was little panic buying, for the simple reason that food could only be bought on ration cards and such stores as were available had been stockpiled long since. At the most, people went out for a few last-minute purchases. Rumours of an imminent Rising were not the only source of anxiety. For ordinary men and women, it was just as worrying to think that ‘the Russians’ might start a bombardment, or that the Germans might order an evacuation or, worst of all, both. Even when bursts of gunfire were heard in the course of the afternoon, no one paid special attention. The Germans were nervous, and were notorious for shooting at anything and everything.
The fortunes of the would-be insurgents on the eve of the Rising were far from uniform. A few received their orders early, and made for their assembly points in good time. Most received their orders late. Many took up positions at the very last moment or after the 5 p.m. deadline. Some never made it at all. ‘Everything in war is simple,’ wrote the great Clausewitz, ‘but the simplest thing is difficult.’ [
PROSPECTS
, p. 238]
Several of the units that didn’t make it were outside Warsaw and unable to cross the German or Soviet cordons. One had been roaming the woods in the Holy Cross Mountains well to the south of Warsaw. A few days earlier, their commander had picked up word of Boor’s state of alert on their radio, and had decided on his own initiative to join in. But the cross-country journey proved impossible. He was separated from Warsaw by the area in which the Wehrmacht was massing to contain the Soviet bridgeheads, and he counted eleven separate defence lines. In the end, after much night wandering, and repeated delays, he realized that he was in the middle of the advancing Soviets. That unit, though it escaped from the NKVD, was never able to join the Rising.
95
In Warsaw, meanwhile, over 600 companies of AK soldiers were striving to wend their way to their muster stations as inconspicuously as possible. Some reported the street traffic to be heavy; others said it was light. All noticed the ominous air of expectation:
In the morning, walking along the streets, I joined a strong stream of people among whom youngsters predominated. I observed the tension and seriousness in their faces. Each of them, through some detail of clothing, was trying to look like a soldier. Some were wearing officers’ boots, others military belts . . . Horse-drawn carriages and rickshaws were ferrying them and their baggage in all directions . . . I was well aware that the storm was about to break in Warsaw, and that we would be defenceless. When were the Soviet forces going to enter – tomorrow?, or at the most in a couple of days’ time? . . . On my way, I looked into the Church of St Charles Borromeo, where many young people were kneeling in prayer in complete silence. Outside, I met a group of youths dressed mainly in raincoats. Walking behind them, I could see from their silhouettes that they were carrying guns under their coats . . . In the roadway, lorries filled with German soldiers were cruising around, ready to shoot. The fingers of the clock were moving inexorably. L-Hour was approaching.
96
PROSPECTS
Underground soldiers debate the prospects of a Rising as life in Warsaw deteriorates
By July 1944 the Front was rapidly approaching Warsaw. The inhabitants of the city watched the German troops retreat with their Hungarian toadies: not without
Schadenfreude
. Yesterday’s conquerors presented a sorry sight. There was no hint of the arrogance and haughtiness so blatant in 1939 at the time of their invasion of Poland, and again in 1941 when they were preparing to attack the USSR. The Warsaw sky became the scene of repeated dogfights between German and Soviet planes. In short, it became obvious that the end of German rule in Warsaw was in sight.
1
‘Warsaw’s economy is in a siege situation because supplies have been cut off,’ declares the AK command. The price of basic foodstuffs is going up. And so are the prices of foreign currency on the black market. Pork belly costs 600 zloties, butter 500 zloties, dollar bills are 300–400 zloties and a dollar in gold is worth 2000 zloties. A number of shops are closed.
Today the Germans released about 150 men and 50 women from the Paviak Jail. They are mainly the sick and mothers with small children, but also doctors and nurses. During their years in the prison they were all engaged in conspiracy. They helped their co-prisoners and delivered messages from them to their relatives. Over 100 Jewish men and women from the Paviak have been transported to the nearby Goose Farm concentration camp.
On 31 July General Rainer Stahel arrived in Warsaw. He has been made directly responsible by Hitler for the defence of Warsaw’s railway junctions, in case of an uprising. Stahel is considered a determined and energetic commander, who knows how to crush any insurrection. Several units were put at his disposal.
2
In our K-Div. unit, the chances of a successful Rising against the Germans are not highly rated. ‘Stan’ and ‘Alder’ are staunchly pessimistic. We know only too well that while K-Div. possesses some light weapons, other units are very short of arms and especially of antitank weapons. Our Home Army, with roughly one grenade per five soldiers, has to face an enemy still armed to the teeth.
My friend, Roman M. (later known as Roman Bratny, the celebrated writer), came to see me several days before the Rising. ‘Mark my words,’ he said. ‘The Russians will provoke an insurrection in Warsaw and when we start fighting, they’ll stop their advance and let the Germans finish us off.’ ‘If you and I know that,’ I replied, ‘so
must our leaders. I don’t believe that an order to start a general Rising would be given without the prior approval of the British and the Soviets.’
3
Nobody in Warsaw, during those sunny July days when we could hear the roll of artillery, was aware that the worst was still to come. Nobody dared to think that the agony of the city and its residents was only beginning.
4
Dozens of diarists, similarly conscious of the drama, put pen to paper. Poets and balladeers, too, were at work. Would-be insurgents, waiting in their cellars and collecting centres, already had suitable songs to sing:
The hour of revenge has resounded
For our wrongs, our blood, our tears.
We soldiers are summoned to fight.
O Yezus Maria! To arms! To arms!
The dawn sky of freedom is burning
For our country and all that she’ll be.
As a new world is thrust into life,
Our might will cast off slavery.
97
As Warsaw steeled itself, SOE was busy as usual. At 7 p.m. on the last Sunday evening of July, an RAF Liberator took off from Campo Casale in southern Italy. It had a Polish captain, a Polish crew, and a passenger list of six Polish parachutists. Its destination, revealed only at the last minute, was Warsaw.
The parachutists had waited all day in the burning sun at the holding station in Lauretto. The news of their imminent takeoff barely gave them time to shed their tropical shorts and shirts, to dress in civilian clothes, and to drive to the airfield. There, they were issued with false German
kennkarte
and other papers, and were given different pseudonyms from those they had used previously. They were now ‘Axe’, ‘Lightning’, ‘Elk’, ‘Hawk’, ‘Revere’, and ‘Cyprus’.
The night flight did not pass without incident. Having rounded Budapest and crossed the Tatras, the Liberator was picked up near Cracow by two German night fighters. One of the fighters was hit by the tail-gunner. But the other stayed with them almost until arrival:
They landed happily c. 1 am on 31 July, about 7 km [four miles] to the south of Grodzisk at a site called ‘Salt-pot’. The commander of the technical team was Lt. ‘Flash’. Exchange of passwords. Embraces. A quick transfer to the base, where they were greeted by the HQ representative, Lt. ‘Christopher’. Handing over of weapons, money-belts. Examination of documents, and talking until dawn.
1 August 1944. ‘Revere’ was taken to Grodzisk in a peasant cart carrying vegetables. According to his documents, he was a gardener’s assistant by the name of Julian B. In case of trouble, he had learned his biography by heart. A short journey on the electric train [to Warsaw] brought him into contact with the reality of Occupation. Before 2 p.m., he crossed the threshold of a house at Natolin Street, 6. Another exchange of passwords, and once the door was shut, a warm hug from the lady owner of the ‘London contact house’, who went by the name of ‘Stefa’.
Stefa informed them that they had arrived at the very last minute. For that day, at five o’clock, battle would be joined. The Rising! They were shocked.
Axe stroked his chin. ‘I’m sure that our people have reached an arrangement with the Soviets,’ he said. ‘If not,’ asked Revere, ‘what then?’
98
Outbreak
‘L-H
OUR
’
HAD BEEN
fixed for 5 p.m. on 1 August. But at 1.50, in the suburb of Jolibord, a young Home Army captain known as ‘Mark’, later to become a prominent music critic, had the distinction of launching the Rising prematurely. Leading his company towards their rendezvous point, he ran into a motorized German patrol:
There was a moment when we watched each other with absolute clarity. The Germans were obviously calculating the possible gains and losses, whether to challenge us or whether to pretend that they hadn’t seen this group of youngsters wearing half-concealed uniforms and carrying sub-machine guns under their coats . . . Then they decided to start a fight from which we emerged unscathed. We threw our grenades into their lorry, which exploded . . . and we managed to run across the street and to take cover with the rest of our unit.
1
At five o’clock, as arranged, the main German strongpoints were rushed, infiltrated, or bombarded by groups of dashing young men wearing red-and-white armbands. Civilians were still on the streets. Some were hit in the crossfire, or cut off from their homes for life. Soon, the red-and-white banner was waving atop the Prudential Building, the city’s tallest. A major German arsenal and storehouse was captured. So, too, were the main post office, the power station, the railway office in Praga, and wide swathes of the city. The cost was 2,500 lives – 80 per cent of them from the Home Army. It was a similar total to that of Allied losses on the Normandy beaches on D-Day. [
BAPTISM OF FIRE
, p. 246]
It is impossible to establish who was the first insurgent to die. Several were killed before the fighting officially began. But ‘Sadovski’, the fifteen-year-old ex-Premier’s son, must have been one of the very earliest casualties. Shortly after 5 p.m. on 1 August, ‘he was mortally wounded on Flora Street opposite the Dakovski coffee-house. According to his
colleague, who was urging flight, he said: “That’s not why they placed me here.” ’ Then, while attacking a German tank, he was burned by a flame thrower.
2
BAPTISM OF FIRE
A young recruit meets his comrades for the first time, and goes into combat
I had spent the last days of July next to a telephone, as a sort of duty officer, awaiting the call to activate the platoon . . . The call came in the morning hours of 1 August and we set out in pairs to our unit assembly point in the customs house next to the Danzig Railway Station. I arrived there quite early, but by about 3 o’clock all were there – some seventy to seventy-five men. This was the first time that we had all met together in the open . . .
We were designated to operate in the Rising as a company. Our commander was Stan, whom I had met previously when he was commanding Underground actions . . . We knew him as a very brave officer and an excellent leader . . .
After warm greetings, a lot of chattering, and great excitement, Stan assembled us and gave a short speech. We were lined up in two files in the main hall of the customs house, and put on white-and-red armbands, and rank insignia. After eighteen months of conspiracy it was our first military ceremony . . .
At exactly 5 p.m. our unit, the ‘College A’ of the K-Div. organization, jumped out of the customs building and advanced towards our first objective. We headed for the
Umschlagplatz
, which had been the loading centre for Jews from the entire Warsaw district on the way to extermination camps. It was the same building where I myself had waited to be transported nearly two years earlier. It was defended by an SS unit, which had been alerted for an attack in the morning when some Home Army soldiers were caught by the Germans transferring arms. During the first hour of fighting, we suffered a number of casualties – both wounded and killed.
After capturing the
Umschlagplatz
, however, where we liberated fifty Jews employed by the SS as slaves, we remained in the building overnight. We found enormous stores of food and uniforms and some arms. We immediately changed from half-civilian clothes into the SS uniforms and boots. But to distinguish ourselves from the Germans, we wore our armbands, insignia of rank, and eagles on our new hats.
2 August was the second day of the Rising and we marched from the
Umschlagplatz
to Vola (a nearby district in Warsaw). This distance of one or two kilometres was free of Germans, and thousands of people lined the streets, throwing flowers and crying. It was a very moving scene . . .
1
S. Aronson