Poles mark 1944 uprising against Nazis; compare to Ukraine

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poles on Monday marked the 78th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, a doomed 1944 revolt against Nazi German forces, with some including the president comparing the wartime Polish resistance to that of Ukrainians today fighting Russia’s invasion.

People in Warsaw observed a minute of silence as a siren wailed at 5 p.m. to honor those who fought and died in the 1944 struggle that lasted 63 days and ended tragically for the Poles. That was the hour when the uprising began on Aug. 1, 1944, after five years of brutal Nazi occupation.

In the yearly ritual, people across Warsaw paused in their tracks, some holding flags or torches. A far-right organization led a march through the city that passed peacefully.

President Andrzej Duda visited an exhibition titled “Warsaw-Mariupol — cities of ruins, cities of struggle, cities of hope.” He recalled how the “Germans ruthlessly murdered civilians in the capital,” adding that “the Russian aggression against Ukraine is similarly ruthless today.”



People stand on the city's main intersection holding national flags and flares to observe a minute of silence for the fighters and victims of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the Nazi German occupiers, in Warsaw, Poland, Monday Aug. 1, 2022. Poles are marking the 78th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, a doomed revolt against Nazi German forces during World War II. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)




Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-poland-warsaw-duda-efd4e7c7aa4040eedd056878f8e3871a

[yellowdogintexas]

1. recommended reading: "Mila 18" by Leon Uris

also author of "Exodus"

There is a section in Exodus about a survivor of the uprising but Mila 18 is a full novel about it. It is an extraordinary read!

I had actually not heard about the Warsaw Uprising until I read "Exodus", which is surprising since my mom devoured holocaust fiction and I'm surprised she did not tell me about it. We did talk about it after we both read the book.

[Biophilic]

2. I read both those books a million years ago.

Ok just 55 or 60 years ago. I am curious to read them again.

[Pete Ross Junior]

3. While we're at it ...

OK if I compare it to the 1956 Polish uprising too?

Short version: That one was against the Russians.

[paleotn]

5. Russians played a rather nasty role in 1944

that's not lost on Poles. Stalin let the Nazis do his dirty work for him with respect to Polish leadership and intelligentsia. Soviet forces could have easily take Warsaw and liberated the Polish capital before the uprising, or at least supported it in force. But Stalin did nothing, but,,,,,let the Nazis do his dirty work for him.

[Pete Ross Junior]

6. Not to mention 1939 n/t

[blue-wave]

7. Yes, Russian troops

sat outside Warsaw on the east side of the Vistula River and waited for the Poles to be defeated by the Nazis. It was a nasty and inhuman tactic by the Russians that the Poles will never forget.

[mpcamb]

4. It was the same year as the Hungarian uprising, 1956. Short lived also, but

showed the cracks in the Soviet system that lead to the East/West German wall take down
20+ years later. Heroes all!
I'm inspired when people take back their government and their homeland from the ruthless- Philippines,
Cuba (with mixed results), Argentina, South Africa, Egypt (briefly)...
People pouring out into the streets for righteousness inspires.