The Warsaw Uprising – bravery or stupidity

Last weekend was special for Poland. Like every year Poles celebrated the anniversary of breaking out of the Warsaw Uprising. Sixty-five years ago on the 1^st of August soldiers of Polish Home Army commenced failed insurgency against the nazi forces in Warsaw.

The Uprising is one of the facts from Polish history which still inflames emotions among Poles and provokes controversies. Each year on the 1^st of August the authorities are commemorating the heroes who struggled against much stronger and better equipped German forces and are paying their respect to those who died in fight or were killed by Nazis in revenge. These celebrations are especially important for those from the insurgents who were able to survive and who saw with their own eyes the tragic death of their friends.

In the same time there are other voices. Among most of the praises for the bravery and passion for freedom with no compromises there is criticism aimed against the Uprising. Some of the historians and many people who look at the events from the past claim that the insurgency was stupidity, hopeless sacrifice which made Poland only weaker.

Indeed the result of the Uprising was devastating. Above fifteen thousand of Polish soldiers were killed in the fight. About 120 thousand or 200 thousand of civilians were executed by Nazi forces or lost their lives. After the capitulation of Polish forces the 90 percent of the city was completely demolished. That happened also because even after the end of the fight the German forces deliberately burnt and destroyed buildings of the capital in accordance with the Himmler’s order. The city was to never revive again for its resistance.

The other disaster which happened because of the Uprising was the death of young well-educated people who had been to build the country’s future. These soldiers died for their ideals but their death was huge loss for Polish society. We should as well mention this huge trauma and psychological effect on the Polish people.

The critics of the insurgence claim that Polish soldiers should have known that it had to fail. The Nazis were better equipped and had the air force. The insurgents should have also realized that the occupants would get revenge on the civilians. They consider the celebration of anniversaries  to be harmful to Polish society because it only glorifies hopeless bravery and sacrifices.

The advocates of the Uprising reply that the result of the fight wasn’t so obvious. On the other side of the river Vistula crossing the capital, the Soviet invasion against Nazi state was approaching Warsaw. The Polish soldiers hoped that the Soviet forces will back them up. They also counted on the help of the Western allies. The national resistance was especially important for them because they realized that the USSR wanted to install their own Polish communist  government and they knew that in Teheran Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin had agreed how to divide Europe into zones of influence putting Poland in the Soviet one. The insurgents wanted to liberate the city even partly so as to have a better position in negotiation with the Russians. This calculation failed because the Soviet forces waited for the fighters to be killed so as to have no competitors after the victory over Germans. But that was not known in the summer 1944.

The famous historian and expert on Poland Norman Davies remarks that thinking about the Uprising we should not forget about the psychological aspect. Young people who were the core of the fighters had lived for five long years under nazi occupation. Raised in the patriotic morale they were looking at the devastation of the country, extermination of Jews (neighbours, friends, lovers), they were losing their loved ones and lived in permanent risk of being killed. They had no human status and were forbidden to educate. They really looked forward for the fight because they could not take it any longer. Looking from this point of view the Uprising was inevitable.

The defenders of the insurgency claim that Poles should commemorate the act of bravery and love of freedom with no compromises. For them this should be done not only for the insurgents but also for future generations who should be raised in patriotic morale. For the sake of the same generations the critics of the Uprising say that it should not be glorified. To their mind such celebration promotes hopeless acts of heroism with tragic consequences. They remind that other countries who did not resist to the Nazis suffered much less than Poland. This brings as to the tragic conclusion which is a question: if it’s better to defend own ideals for the price of own existence or to accept/compromise and to survive?


Ewa Dryjańska