Post by pieter on Aug 2, 2015 6:13:59 GMT -7
Warsaw Rising anniversary commemorations continue
31.07.2015 09:12
Events to mark the 71st anniversary of the Warsaw Rising against the Nazis continue on Friday.
Photo: The Warsaw Rising Museum
The Polish capital will remember the uneven struggle of Warsaw's population against the overwhelming might of the Nazi forces with an extraordinary session of the city council, a mass service in a square, and a concert, among others.
At noon on Friday, a special meeting of the City Council will meet at the Royal castle in Warsaw.
On this solemn session, a number of prizes will be issued by the City. Historian and author Henryk Samsonowicz and film director Andrzej Wajda will be made honorary citizens of Warsaw.
Andrzej Wajda (L) and Henryk Samsonowicz (R) were made honorary citizens of Warsaw.
A mass will be celebrated by Bishop Józef Guzdek at 6:00 pm, and will be held on the Krasiński Square in front of the monument to the Warsaw Rising.
Bishop Józef Guzdek at a mass next to the Warsaw Rising Monument in Wasrsaw
“Just over a year before the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, life in the occupied capital was full of fear and terror,” Bishop Gudzek told the IAR news agency.
“Warsaw residents did not want to die, but to live with dignity. However, their necks were bent so low that they had to try to stand up, even paying the highest price.”
German soldiers during the Warsaw Uprising
Saturday will mark 71 years since the outbreak of the Rising, which saw the deaths of over 150,000 Polish citizens.
The Warsaw Rising is considered to be the single largest military effort undertaken by a resistance group in Europe.
Captured German Sd.Kfz. 251 from the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking, and pressed into service with the 8-th "Krybar" Regiment. The soldier holding a MP 40 submachine gun is commander Adam Dewicz "Gray Wolf", 14 August 1944.
The Polish resistance Home Army decided to start the rising to free the capital from under the Nazi occupation at a time when the Soviet Red Army was approaching Warsaw from the east on its way to Berlin.
AK (Home Army) troops marching to battle on August 1, 1944. ‘Agaton’ leads his platoon.
The AK was unusual in that it included a high number of women, working as nurses, explosive experts and runners. Here they leave the city as prisoners of war in October 1944.
Home Army soldiers Henryk Ożarek "Henio" (left) holding a Vis pistol and Tadeusz Przybyszewski "Roma" (right) firing a Błyskawica submachine gun, from "Anna" Company of the "Gustaw" Battalion fighting on Kredytowa-Królewska Street, 3 October 1944.
However, on Stalin's orders the Soviet offensive was stopped and Warsaw was left to bleed to death. Before the Soviets finally captured the city in January 1945, the Nazis had demolished most of the buildings and infrastructure. (rg/rk)
Source: IAR, PAP
