![]() ![]() As the historian Halik Kochanski has indicated, “German tactics were clear from the outset: no distinction was to be made between AK soldiers wearing identifying armbands and the civilian population.” The Assault on Wola and Ochota ![]() After securing key German positions in Warsaw, this Attack Group set out to flatten the city and kill all its inhabitants. To achieve this, Himmler ordered the mobilization of a special anti-insurgent corps to be commanded by General Julius Eberhard von dem Bach. It explicitly stated that the entire city needed “to be levelled to the ground in order to set a terrifying example to the rest of Europe.” A subsequent directive included the fateful order that “every citizen is to be killed including men, women, and children.” Unsurprisingly, Hitler and Himmler agreed the Warsaw Uprising needed to be brutally suppressed and issued the Order for Warsaw on August 1, 1944. Only three days prior, he reportedly ordered Warsaw “to be crushed with great force” in the event of an uprising. By the same token, the Poles themselves will cease to be a problem for our children and for all who will follow.”Īlthough Hitler’s immediate response was not recorded, he had threatened the destruction of several European cities in the past. We shall finish them off…Warsaw will be liquidated and this city, which is the intellectual capital of a sixteen to seventeen million-strong nation that has blocked our path to the east for seven hundred years, ever since the first battle of Tannenberg, will have ceased to exist. from the historical point of view, the action of the Poles is a blessing. According to his own recollection, in describing to Hitler how events unfolded, Himmler stated: ![]() Many Nazi leaders, including Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler, considered the uprising a pretext for destroying the Polish capital once and for all. Instead, 9th Army Command requested additional police formations to be brought in and put the SS in charge of crushing the uprising. Those at the meeting decided not to redirect Wehrmacht forces from the Eastern Front. That evening, Wehrmacht officers met at the headquarters of General Nikolaus von Vormann, who had recently been made commander of the 9th Army. Loudspeakers warned Warsaw’s inhabitants that “bandits” were operating against the Nazi government and cautioned that any civilian found on the street would be fired upon. When the Nazi governor of Warsaw, Ludwig Fischer, heard news of premature clashes on the afternoon of August 1, 1944, he put 5,000 SS ( Schutzstaffel) police and SD ( Sicherheitsdienst) personnel on full alert, ordering them to secure key positions throughout the city, including the Governor’s Place and the German quarter. The German Response to the Warsaw Uprising While morale among the civilian population was initially high after the outbreak of the insurrection, it gradually declined throughout August and September as German forces massacred entire neighborhoods, razed historic Old Town, and Stalin refused to intervene. Far more civilians had been killed than combatants, yet the fighting relentlessly continued until the first week of October. The opening attack by the AK and the subsequent German counterattack on August 5, 1944, had fallen short of their goals. The Polish Home Army ( Armia Krajowa or AK) had not been able to seize full control of the capital and the Germans had not crushed the insurgents. The first week of the Warsaw Uprising, which was launched on August 1, 1944, brought little satisfaction to either side. Burning down the houses is the most reliable means of liquidating the insurgents’ hideouts.” Frank also noted the indescribable poverty among the millions of inhabitants and promised Hitler that Warsaw would be punished “with complete destruction after the suppression or collapse of the rising.” Despite considerable German losses on the Eastern Front, Frank remained confident that the uprising could be crushed in a few days. In it, he stated, “For the most part, Warsaw is in flames. On August 5, 1944, Governor-General Hans Frank messaged the Reich Chancellery an update regarding the Warsaw Uprising. Top Image: Sigismund’s Column, originally built in 1644, is demolished by German tanks. Warszawa: Iskry, 1957. ![]()
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