Home Army pictures!

[mr dogtag]

Sorry Emil, but need to disagree with you. I haven't heard about any specific signs of respect to Warsaw Uprising soldiers from German side. Slaughtering and mass executions of insurgents were common during WU. There were also many Armia Krajowa soldiers sent to KL Auschwitz, Dachau Stutthof, Neuengamme, Buchenwald etc. I have just visited KL Buchenwald archives and I'm currently waiting for transportation lists of Polish citizens to KL Buchenwald after the Uprising to look after AK memebers.
Honestly Germans treaten AK members in more or less the same way as Tito's partizans. Perhaps not many of you kow but Tito's partizans were very often sent to POW camps in Germany rather than to concentration camps as, because of some reason, they were treaten according to Geneve Convention.
Rgds
Al

[mr dogtag]

And BTW - these pictures are most probably taken in Lamsdorf.

[3mk]

Hey Al,
I agree with what you mean,But Im just saying It could of been alot worse then It all ready was.In a old book from the Warsaw Uprising (Its from the early 1950`s) their is a picture of a sign made by Hungarians fighting on the German side,I think It was a cease-fire zone where you could help the wounded with out getting sick.Ill try taking a picture of it since Im scared to scan it as the books falling apart.

Also,Does anyone have any pictures of soldiers of the 1st Polish Army fighting in the Warsaw Uprising,Did any manage to cross the river??

Regards
Emil

[mr dogtag]

As far as I know there were no Hungarians fighting in Warsaw Uprising. They were fair enough to refuse fighting against the insurgents.
Rgds
Al

[StefanM]

Also, Does anyone have any pictures of soldiers of the 1st Polish Army fighting in the Warsaw Uprising, Did any manage to cross the river??

Yes Emil, a few did manage to cross the river.

Andrzej Ulankiewicz 'warski II' of the elite AK battalion 'Parasol' (Umbrella) fought at Czerniaków district and in his unpublsihed memoirs describes fighting alongside some of Berling's men during Parasol battalions final stand at what was called the Czerniaków bridgehead. In a 90 mins. recorded interview I have by Andrzej he also recalls after the capitulation being marched out of Warsaw and seeing a opened but completely tattered black umbrella wedged high in between the flagstones of an AK barricade as a sign from his 'Parasol' comrades—which I thought was quite moving.

I haven't seen any but maybe photos do exist of Berling's men alongside 'Parasol' in some veterans wartime papers.

[dastier]

Sixty-nineth anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising this month. Many incredible photographs in this thread plus a short bio of Eugeniusz Zenon Lokajski who documented the Warsaw Uprising!


Close up of a wz. K flamethrower, made in Armia Krajowa workshops and used during the Warsaw Uprising.

[Scout]

Hi OKW,

I believe Marek Edelman once wrote that although he felt that Poles could have done more to help during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising he also wrote that without prior Polish help the uprising would not have been possible.


There were many Poles (and earlier, Jews in the Warsaw ghetto) that worked in workshops making German uniforms.

Many Poles including Gen. Anders were totally opposed to any general uprising in Poland as it served no strategic military purpose and once initiated could not be practically supported by the allies given he did not believe the USSR would aid the general rising with the end result, a tremendous loss of civilian lives.

I realise that this may stir up a hornet's nest but I can't agree that Poland was given to Stalin by Churchill or Roosevelt; Stalin and the Red Army was the de facto power in Poland irrespective of Britain or the US as Stalin's Red Army and the Polish 1st/2nd Armies 'iberated' Poland from the Nazis. It must be remembered that the western Allies had not landed on Normandy whilst the communist armies had almost won the battle on the eastern front.

I do however agree that although Poland was not given to Stalin the western allies could have made more noise about wanting to see a democratic post war-Poland, but it would have just been that; 'noise', as there was nothing that could have been done without the western allies declaring war on the Soviets and that was never going to happen. And why should it as the Soviets had defeated the the Nazis on the Eastern front, and without the blood-sacrifice of the Red Army and Polish communist armies on the eastern front would the western Allies really have been able to land in Normandy? Would the Nazis really have been defeated in Poland without them? My view would be; no and no.

Like many, I wish the reality was different (that Red Army liberation was followed by Red Army occupation) then my father would have felt able to return to Warsaw after the war and his life (and mine) would have been Polish rather than English and he would have known that some of his family did survive the war. Sadly he died never knowing this.

Tragic losses and tragic that many remaining Poles were prevented from returning to their beautiful country (I have visited there many many times).

[Scout]

More Warsaw Uprising pictures

Wow, though I dont generally advocate getting in ones Transmogrifier and going back in time visiting active war zones, Id sure like to know what happened prior to those guys 'liberating' a Wiking cuff band!

Some fantastic pics in this thread. Thanks to all who have shared pics so far.

[Krakow1]

"Prior to liberating a Wiking cuff band" .... Lets see what we can do help to go back in time.....

In that picture we have : on the right Cpt Cyprian Odorkiewicz nom de guerre "Krybar " , on the left is Lt Waclaw Jastrzebski nom de guerre "Aspira". Date is 14 August 1944, they are located in vicinity of "Aleja na Skarpie " street, Krybar is inspecting the 2nd Company of "Krybar" group who just had liberated a SS Wiking armored vehicle SD KFZ 251, and "Aspira" is presenting the cuff title of a killed SS man from Division Wiking.

[Scout]

Well, that was prompt info! Thanks a bunch.
Would you happen to know, whether or not there are further pics of the incident - for example of the SDKFZ?
I seem to remember a SDKFZ adorned with a big billowing flag, but that one might be from a different incident/time frame/location....?