Nine weeks of blood and glory
Warsaw Uprising of 1944 day by day.
August 21, 1944 - Twenty-first day of the Uprising
Name day: Kazimiera, Joanna
Monday
Sunrise 5:44 am; sunset 8:05 pm; average air temperature: 23°C
Sunny; Vistula river level: 95 cm
Before the dawn, the insurgent troops from the "Kampinos" group commanded by Major Alfons Kotowski "Okoń" ("Perch") organize an attack on the Gdańsk Station in order to make a connection between Żoliborz and the Old Town, but the attack is repelled by the Germans. A similar attempt, undertaken by the battalions of "Zośka" and "Czata" ("Watch") from the direction of the Old Town in the area of the Polonia Warsaw Stadium, also ends in failure.
General Tadeusz Pełczyński "Grzegorz", Chief of Staff of the Home Army Headquarters, and Colonel Kazimierz Iranek-Osmecki "Heller" arrive at Żoliborz from the Old Town through the sewers with the purpose to coordinate a reattack on the Gdańsk Station.
An assault on the Chemical Institute and on a German battery in Buraków organized by Lieutenant "Zawieja" ends in insurgents' losses.
The insurgents repel enemy wave attacks on the Old Town, but with great difficulties. Every 3 quarters of minutes they are assailed by Stuka dive bombers, every half an hour they are showered by mortar shells, also called "Roaring cows" or "Wardrobes".
In the Bank of Poland, one floor is occupied by Poles, another - by Germans.
The "Gozdawa" battalion pushes the Germans out of the wing of the Bank of Poland near Bielańska Street and of the Canoness Sisters Monastery. A German attack on the Town Hall and the Blank Palace is also repelled.
In order to save their ammunition, the defenders let the Germans come closer over a distance of just a few steps and then shower them with grenades.
The Germans blow up the Pawiak prison building and its female prison ward - Serbia.
The RONA squads storm the positions of "Chrobry II" on Towarowa Street. The attack is repelled.
In Śródmieście the insurgents make another success - they force the Germans to withdraw from the Hartwig warehouses on Towarowa Street and capture a building on Aleje Jerozolimskie, the corner of Marszałkowska Street.
The insurgents also carry out a successful sortie in the University of Technology.
The fights over Czerniaków and Sadyba are ongoing. The insurgents maintain all their positions. Heavy losses on both sides.
Dr Jan Zachwatowicz, acting on behalf of the Government Delegation of Poland, organizes an action to secure historical treasures, books and plans.
The second insurgent newsreel accompanied with photos illustrating the attack on the PASTa building is shown at the "Palladium" movie theater.
edited by: Maciej Janaszek-Seydlitz
translated by: Beata Murzyn
Copyright © 2023 Maciej Janaszek-Seydlitz. All rights reserved.