Posted on 07/16/2004 1:52:46 PM PDT by Grzegorz 246
WARSAW, Poland - A replica of a clandestine radio transmitter that kept up Polish fighters' spirits during the Warsaw Uprising 60 years ago was unveiled Friday, part of this year's commemoration of the failed revolt against the Nazi occupation.
Antoni Zebik, who led the construction of the original transmitter and helped build the replica, said it would be a tangible reminder to young Poles of "the horrible time of the German occupation" and the "patriotic duty" in 1944 to fight the Nazis.
The two box-shaped transmitters with an old microphone will be exhibited in a new Warsaw Uprising museum that will open July 31.
Radio Blyskawica — Polish for lightning — went on the air Aug. 8, 1944, seven days after the Home Army launched a desperate attempt to liberate Warsaw following five years of Nazi occupation and as Soviet troops neared the capital.
About 200,000 people, a quarter of Warsaw's residents, were killed in the fighting and most of the city was devastated.
"We built the radio station under very difficult conditions, in an attic, in a small house, most often it was done at night after we shaded windows," recalled Zebik, 90. "My father built a fake chimney and we hid all the parts in it."
"Being caught with even the smallest part in the radio station brought the risk of death," he said.
The radio broadcast news in Polish and music aimed at informing fighters and Warsaw residents of the battles against the Germans. There were also English broadcasts aimed at informing the outside world of the struggle.
It went off the air on Oct. 4, 1944, two days after the uprising was crushed.
Neat
Soviet radio encouraged this uprising as the Red Army was getting close to Warsaw. When the Poles started the uprising the Red Army halted until the Nazis crushed the uprising. The Communists in this way used the Nazis to eliminate a large potential group of freedom fighters who would have undoubtedly fought Communist domination as well.
(Is you screen name a Luftwaffen ground crew refrence?)
A: POLES: 15,200 insurgents killed and missing, 5,000 wounded, 15,000 sent to POW camps. Among civilians 200,000 were dead, and approximately 700,000 expelled from the city. Berling's Polish Army losses were 5,660 killed, missing or wounded. Material losses were estimated at 10,455 buildings, 923 historical buildings (94 percent), 25 churches, 14 libraries including the National Library, 81 elementary schools, 64 high schools, Warsaw University and Polytechnic buildings, and most of the monuments. Almost a million inhabitants lost all of their possessions.
During World War II, 85% of Warsaw's left bank buildings were destroyed: 25% in the course of the Warsaw Uprising, 35% as the result of systematic German actions after the Uprising, the rest as a combination of the war in September 1939 and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Germans: 16,000 killed and missing, 9,000 wounded. Up to 2,000 Germans were captured by insurgents, 1,000 returned after the Uprising. Material losses: three airplanes (two outside the city in Kampinos forest ), 310 tanks, self-propelled artillery, armored cars, 4 rocket launchers, 22 artillery pieces (caliber 75mm), and 340 trucks and cars.
Thanks for the links Matt. We both watched and cried and kept looking for Sam's dad. We'll have to see if we can get this on tape to send to his father. He doesn't have a computer. ;-)
Out of the ashes....
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