The Warsaw Uprising was a 63-day battle fought from 1 August to 2 October 1944 by the Polish Home Army against the German occupiers of Warsaw. The insurgents hoped to free their capital before the Soviet Red Army arrived1, but the Soviets halted across the Vistula and outside help was limited. The uprising ended in capitulation; around 16,000 insurgents and an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 civilians died, and the Germans then destroyed much of the city.
At five in the afternoon on 1 August 1944, the hour the insurgents called W-hour, Warsaw rose against five years of German occupation. For 63 days soldiers of the Home Army, many of them very young, fought street by street for their city, in one of the most heroic and tragic battles of the Second World War.
A city under occupation
Since 1939 Warsaw had suffered brutal German occupation. The Polish underground state built a secret army, the Home Army, loyal to the government in exile in London. In the summer of 1944, with the Red Army approaching the Vistula, its commanders decided to free the capital themselves, to greet the Soviets as the hosts of an independent Poland.
W-hour
On 1 August 1944 the insurgents attacked across the city. Poorly armed, with many fighters carrying only pistols or grenades, they seized large parts of the centre, the Old Town and other districts, but failed to take key bridges, the airfield1 and many fortified German positions.
Terror and resistance
The Germans answered with terror. In the first days of August, in the district of Wola, German units massacred many thousands of civilians (estimates range from about 15,000 to over 40,000). The insurgents fought on in ruined streets and cellars, moving through the sewers between districts, while civilians kept hospitals, kitchens and an insurgent postal service running, much of it staffed by scouts and young volunteers.
Alone
The Red Army halted on the far bank of the Vistula4 and gave little help. Allied aircraft, including Polish crews, flew long and dangerous supply missions from Italy, but the drops were too few. One district after another fell: the Old Town at the start of September, then Powiśle, Czerniaków and Mokotów.
Capitulation and legacy
On 2 October 1944 the Home Army capitulated, and its soldiers were recognised as prisoners of war. Around 16,000 insurgents and an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 civilians had died. The Germans expelled the remaining population and then deliberately destroyed much of the city. For decades the communist authorities played down the uprising, but today it is honoured every year on 1 August, when Warsaw falls silent at W-hour. Among the insurgents was Witold Pilecki.
