A Memory Not Forgotten

The Warsaw Voice ^ | August 4, 2004 | M.M.

[lizol]

A Memory Not Forgotten By M.M. 4 August 2004

An unprecedented three-day commemoration marked the 60th anniversary of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising July 30-Aug. 1. Ceremonies included the opening of the long-awaited Museum of the Uprising.

At 5 p.m. sharp Aug. 1, on the anniversary of "W-Hour," when the Warsaw Uprising started 60 years ago, sirens began to wail across the capital. Vehicles and passersby stopped to honor the insurgents. During the 63 days of the uprising, about 18,000 insurrectionists and almost 200,000 civilians were killed; some perished in combat and bombings, others were executed, and still others died of disease and exhaustion. Combat was accompanied by mass executions of civilians and frequent violations of the rules of war with regard to insurgents, many of whom were shot as "criminals." After the insurgents surrendered, authorities in Berlin ordered the rebellious city of Warsaw razed. Any surviving buildings were methodically destroyed by the Germans.

A special feeling Commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising in the capital were accompanied by a unique atmosphere. On Nowy Œwiat, buskers played songs from the days of the uprising and scouts distributed red-and-white ribbons among passersby. Many elderly people, survivors of the uprising, wore red-and-white armbands. Red-and-white flags and yellow-and-red Warsaw banners were flown from buildings, buses, some taxis and private cars.

Flowers and wreaths were placed at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Gloria Victis monument at Pow¹zki Cemetery. A concert entitled Fallen-Invincible was held by the monument to the Polish Underground State and the Home Army (AK). Anniversary ceremonies were also held by the "Fallen-Invincible" monument in Wola and the "Mokotów Fighting" monument in Dreszera Park. Other cities such as Gdañsk, Poznañ and Bia³ystok also paid homage to Warsaw insurgents.

Cheers and jeers "We bow in shame in the face of the Nazi troops' crimes. At this place of Polish pride and German shame, we hope for reconciliation and peace," said German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, addressing participants of a concert that ended the anniversary commemorations. "We, Germans, know well who started the war and who its first victims were. That's why there cannot be any room for restitution claims from within Germany that distort history. Property issues connected with World War II are not a subject in bilateral relations for both governments," he added. He noted that his government did not support any individual claims and that it would take this stand in international courts.

Schroeder, the first German chancellor to take part in D-Day commemorations earlier this year, was also the first chancellor invited to an anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. The chancellor's statement was positively received by veterans, who applauded loudly several times. However, Schroeder also had to swallow a bitter pill during earlier ceremonies in Wolski Cemetery where thousands of civilians were buried after being executed by German units in the first days of the uprising. As Schroeder was presented a Medal of Honor of the Warsaw Uprising, loud boos and whistles were heard from the crowd.

Poland's Foreign Affairs Minister W³odzimierz Cimoszewicz was not fully satisfied with Schroeder's statement. "In terms of content, his statement included what it should. But in all honesty, personally, I think there was perhaps a lack of some meaningful gesture that would remain in our memories, such as the gesture made by Willy Brandt 34 years ago," said Cimoszewicz.

The main ceremonies were attended by President Aleksander Kwaœniewski, Prime Minister Marek Belka, Warsaw Mayor Lech Kaczyñski, deputies, senators and invited foreign guests-who, apart from Schroeder, included British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. After his talks with Cimoszewicz, Powell declared, "Now Poland will never be alone again, as long as the United States is there to stand alongside Poland. And we should be looking forward."

"A major contribution to the common victory over Nazism," wrote Russian President Vladimir Putin to describe the heroism of the Warsaw insurgents in a letter to President Kwaœniewski. A day earlier, Italian President Carlo Azeglo Ciampi, in a message to the Polish president, called the Warsaw Uprising a "symbol of the will to confirm the right to freedom."

Wall of Memory and Forgiveness July 31, thousands of people took part in the opening of the Museum of the Warsaw Uprising. The opening crowns 20 years of work to establish such a museum in Warsaw. That same day President Kwaœniewski presented former insurrectionists with high-level state decorations. "Despite the huge price, the sacrifice of the insurgents was not in vain," the president said. "Offering their youth in the service of their homeland, the insurgents explicitly told the world that Poland was still fighting and that it craved freedom."

Prime Minister Belka, son of a Warsaw insurgent, was on hand for the opening of the museum. He remarked that "after the war there were attempts to falsify the history of the uprising; for years the memory of it was distorted, and the merits of the Underground were passed over in silence." In the opinion of Primate Józef Glemp, who officiated a ceremony that accompanied the opening of the museum, the reception by the insurrectionists of medals from the hands of Kwaœniewski, a politician hailing from the old system, shows they have forgiven the repression that they experienced under communism.

Representatives of veterans frequently expressed their gratitude to Warsaw Mayor Kaczyñski, at whose initiative the museum was finally established. The chairman of the Union of Warsaw Insurgents, Col. Zbigniew Œcibor-Rylski, said, "We would like to leave with the deep conviction that the honor due to the fallen would not stop to be the concern and duty of the nation." The Wall of Memory unveiled in the museum lists the names of more than 4,000 people killed during the uprising. The roster will be enlarged in the future to include more names.

Anniversary ceremonies featured the Polish premiere of a book by British historian Norman Davies, Rising '44, which went on sale Aug. 1 at 5 p.m. A long line formed outside the Museum of the Uprising to secure an autograph from the author.

[snippy_about_it]

Warsaw Uprising ping.

[lizol]

I must admit I was thinking the same looking at the ceremony on TV.
Togehter with Schroeder same medals were given to Collin Powell and and British deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.
Kind of a souvenir?

[George Smiley]

I found the following personal account to be a fascinating read: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, by Marek Edelman

It seems that a great deal of the resistance came from Socialists and Communists; perhaps because they already had a cell structure in place that kept them alive long enough to plan and act.

[Spok]

Can anyone recommend a good book on this event?

[Grzegorz 246]

"...loud boos and whistles were heard from the crowd."

It shouldn't have happened.

[anonymoussierra]

What did Schroeder ever do to deserve a Medal of Honor from the Uprising?

Nothing! this is stupid.

[Grzegorz 246]

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was a struggle of the Jewish fighters who, between 04/19/43 and 05/16/43, gave armed resistance to the German efforts to liquidate the ghetto's remaining 55,000 inhabitants. The two principal Jewish resistance groups, a 500-strong Jewish Fighting Organization (ZOB) and a 200-strong Jewish Fighting Union (ZZW) knowing the Nazi plans for the 'Final Solution' decided to die fighting rather than passively accept their fate.
After 27 days of fighting, the Ghetto Uprising ended with the death or capture and consequent extermination of almost all of its inhabitants. It was also the final act in the complete destruction of the 350,000 Warsaw Jews. German losses were 16 dead and 85 wounded[German statistics - probably about 200 dead].Several dozen of the surviving fighters were able, with the help of the Polish underground, to escape the ghetto area and continue the fight. In 1944, some of them took part in the Warsaw Uprising.


The Warsaw Uprising, on the other hand, was a struggle of the Polish underground which, between 08/01/44 and 10/02/44, conducted an armed struggle aimed at liberating Warsaw and its 1,000,000 inhabitants from the German occupation at the time the Soviet army was approaching the city limits from the east. The 38,000 Polish Home Army augmented by 2,000-strong nationalist and communist units initially controlled a majority of Warsaw's left bank. However, with the German determination for a complete destruction of the city and its Home Army, the Warsaw Uprising ended after 63 days of struggle at the cost of 15,200 dead or missing and 5,000 wounded insurgents and over 200,000 Polish civilians dead. German losses were 16,000 dead and missing and 9,000 wounded.
All of the surviving inhabitants were expelled from the city and many of them sent to death, labor or POW camps.The remaining, still-standing, buildings were systematically destroyed. More than three months later, in January of 1945, the Red Army and Gen. Berling's Polish First Army entered a deserted and ruined city.

Edelman is still living in Poland.

[George Smiley]

Thanks for differentiating between the two.

Edelman is a cardiologist, if memory serves me correctly.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks again for sharing the pictures from Warsaw.

[lizol]

"Upraising 1944" by Norman Davies.

It's a brand new book, just published in Poland. It was published in USA a few months earlier.
But I'm not sure if the title in English is as I've put it above. It was mentioned many times in previous threads relating to Warsaw upraising.

[Grzegorz 246]

"Edelman is a cardiologist, if memory serves me correctly."

Yes, but he is retired. He is about 80 years old.