The Foreigners in the Warsaw Uprising 1944
The Foreign Insurgents
During the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, soldiers from almost all Europe joined the units of the insurgent Home Army.
They were representatives of Great Britain, Australia, South Africa, as well as Azeris, Belgians, Czechs, Frenchmen, Greeks, Georgians, Dutch, Armenians, Russians, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Hungarians, and Italians.
In addition, allied planes with airdrops, piloted by American, Australian, British, Irish, Canadian, New Zealand, South African and Russian pilots appeared over Warsaw.
The Second Polish Republic was a multinational state. Its lands were inhabited by Poles, Jews, Ukrainians, Germans, Belarusians, and Tatars. Slovaks and Hungarians were also within its borders. These citizens of the Republic of Poland cultivated their national culture and professed different religions. There were also many foreigners in Poland. Among others, they were Russians who fled from their country after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 and found refuge in Poland. Also other foreigners, who for various reasons stayed in our country, retaining their foreign citizenship and passports.
After the outbreak of the World War II, the situation in Poland changed dramatically. The occupant introduced changes dividing the Poles into various categories. The Poles of German nationality were recognized as fully-fledged citizens of the Third Reich with the full range of rights and obligations arising from this fact. Among other things, they were subjected to recruitment to the German army. Those of them who declared their Polishness were repressed.
Polish Jews were treated drastically. They were made "foreigners" in their own country. Locked in the ghettos, isolated from the rest of the society, they were sentenced to extermination. This concerned both Orthodox Jews and Polonised Jews, fused into the Polish society. In Warsaw, after the liquidation of the ghetto in 1943, some Jews managed to get to the "Aryan" side and hide among the Polish brothers.
In the period before the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, there was a certain number of voluntary and forced workers from various countries conquered by the Third Reich. A multinational crowd of escaped prisoners of Allied and Soviet origin was hiding in a millionth city. Prisons, hospitals and KL Warschau were keeping various enemies of the Third Reich of different nationalities.
535th Slovak Platoon
In Warsaw, before the outbreak of the war, many Slovaks had lived, some for several generations. In 1942, the Polish and Czechoslovak Governments operating in exile concluded a treaty that was to form the basis for the post-war confederation of both countries. The effect of this arrangement was the establishment in Warsaw at the turn of 1942 and 1943 of the underground Slovak National Committee. Its members, in agreement with the authorities of the Polish Underground State and the command of the Home Army, formed an armed force operating within the structures of the Home Army. It was the 535th Platoon of Slovaks commanded by Second Lieutenant Miroslav Iringh, codename "Stanko", on the rights of the Home Army personnel company. The subunit then became a part of the Home Army Mokotów District.
However, there were not enough Slovaks to form a unit. The problem was solved by the command of the Home Army, which allowed volunteers of other nationalities to serve in it. In July 1944, the platoon had 60 soldiers. The core were Slovaks (depending on the estimates there were 28 or 22), serving mainly in Gasworks in Czerniakow. Along with them, 18 Poles, six Georgians, three Hungarians (deserters from the Hungarian army), two Armenians and one Aser, Czech and Ukrainian served. The oldest person was "Stanko, who was almost thirty. The rest of the people were no more than 25 years old. Miroslav Iringh had a Czechoslovak passport, although he spent most of his life in Warsaw. He even passed his high school exams in Slovak, though extrinsically. However, he was strongly associated with Poland.
Second Lieutenant Miroslav Iringh, codename "Stanko"
Soldiers of the Slovak platoon wore armbands in white-blue-red colours along with the number of the platoon and the national emblem of Slovakia.
Insurgent armband of the Slovak platoon
In the same colours was the banner of the unit, on which were the emblems of Slovakia and Poland. 535th Slovak platoon was the only unit of foreigners who could use other national colours than Polish ones. Platoon was to fight in the 2nd region (Sielce, Siekierki) of the District 5 Mokotów of the Home Army as a part of the 2nd Home Army Grouping "Korwin" commanded by Cpt. Czesław Szymanowski.
Soldiers of the 535th platoon with the banner
On August 1, 1944, only a part of the unit reached the gathering point, the rest got stuck in Czerniaków. Both groups of soldiers took part in unsuccessful attacks on the Belvedere and the Uhlan Barracks, where they suffered significant losses. On August 8, soldiers were subordinated to the "Kryska" Home Army Grouping and transferred to Powiśle. On August 11, 535th platoon became a part of the "Tur" battalion. At that time, it consisted of only 14 soldiers (six Poles, four Slovaks, three Georgians and one Ukrainian).
A significant supplement was the deployment of 16 people, including five Georgians, which were in a prominent part the Red Army soldiers escaping from captivity, to the platoon. They created a so-called Soviet section. A Georgian team was formed within the platoon. It was made up of Georgians: Artemi Aroniszew, Mikheil Rushashvili, Yuri Alchazashvili, Wano Babulishvili, Giorgi Babulishvili, Yuri Babashvili, Elizabar Jangzavah, Giorgi Kuczawa, Nikolev Madevili, Yuri Dushanashvili, Joseb Tamradze, and Armenians: Gasparian, Galustian, and Nazarov. Everyone escaped to the insurgents from the collaborative battalion of the Bergmann regiment from the Dirlewanger Assault Group, to which they came from a cruel German captivity, with the choice of joining a collaborative battalion or starving to death.
Soldiers of the 535th Slovak Platoon fought heavy fights in Czerniaków. On August 10, the 535 platoon took over the buildings of BGK (Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego), which were located between Fabryczna and Przemysłowa streets and kept their positions for 10 days. On August 20, at the command of the battalion commander, Capt. "Tur" (Z. Specylak - airborne "cichociemny"), the Slovak platoon was moved to the battle station at Solec Street, corner of Mączna Steet. Its task was to take over and hold the banks of the Vistula river, from where the insurgents' runners crossed the Praga bank and where the area favoured the landing. From there the platoon supported other insurgent units.
The soldiers fought at the Church of Our Lady of Czestochowa at Łazienkowska Street, at the Czerniaków Port, at Przemysłowa and Rozbrat streets, in defence of "Blaszanki". One of the 535th platoon teams took part in the battles with the enemy in the city centre, in the area of the University of Warsaw. After landing on September 16 of the Berling's men from the eastern bank of the Vistula river, platoon soldiers, along with survivors of the Home Army Grouping 'Radosław', resisted the constant German attacks. The unit suffered huge personal losses.
On September 20, part of the decimated platoon with the commander and with the surviving soldiers of the Polish People's Army crossed the Vistula. On September 23, 13 seriously wounded Slovaks, five remaining soldiers of the Soviet section and two runners - "Aga" and "Ata" were boarded on the last boat. "Stanko" swam across the river, following the pontoons. The Germans captured the remaining soldiers of the platoon and one of the runners who, fighting in an encirclement, did not manage to reach the river bank.
In the last phase of the fight, the soldiers of the Georgian team demonstrated their heroism. Juri Alchazashvili saved the life of the platoon commander, a Slovak Miroslav Iringh, by almost carrying him with his hands to the other side of the Vistula river. Earlier, he went with three of them on a dangerous mission: they were to destroy the German machine gun. The other three insisted that they would go too, although they had one incendiary bottle and one khanjali as their only weapon. The elder lieutenant Józef Tamaradze died on September 15, alone covering with the machine gun fire the retreat of the platoon from the advancing Germans.
In total, during the uprising in platoon 535 fought about 60 insurgents, 26 of which died. Platoon soldiers who managed to cross the Vistula river were transported by the Russians to a large villa near Lublin. The conditions there were quite good, but the building was fenced. Soon the soldiers of the Soviet section disappeared. Stanko, fearing for the fate of others, ordered the runner women to get out of the fence and escape. They did not want to leave the commander, but he could not accompany them because of his health condition. Soldiers from the Soviet section were probably murdered by the NKVD. As former prisoners of war in German captivity, they were treated by the Soviet apparatus of repression on a par with deserters. A part of soldiers of the Slovak Platoon taken as prisoner by the Germans managed to escape from a transport and take part in the ongoing national uprising in Slovakia.
Unfortunately, we do not know the complete list of soldiers of the 535th Slovak Platoon. Below we present the data available to us. Those with the symbol of the cross fell in the fights of the Warsaw Uprising.
The command:
- platoon commander - Second Lieutenant Mirosław Iringh "Stanko";
- deputy commander of Second Lieutenant Edmund Poszwa "Ciotka" (until July 1944), Corporal Mieczysław Wojciechowski "Milan";
- 1 team - commander Sergeant Adam Chałupiec "Janko";
- 2nd team - commander Sergeant Zbigniew Jakubowski "Janosik"
- 3rd team - commander Master Corporal Czesław Matuszewski "Reflektor" +;
The soldiers:
- Rifleman Jurij Alhazaszwili +;
- Artemi Aroniszydze;
- Rifleman Wano Babilaszwili;
- Rifleman Giorgi Bubalaszwili codename "Grysza" +;
- Juri Babukaszwili;
- Rifleman W. Bajak codename "New" +;
- Rifleman J. Bargar "Sloboda" +;
- Rifleman Czesław Borkowski codename "Sokół";
- Rifleman. G. Ćako codename "Star" +;
- Sergeant Zenon Dąbrowski codename "Żaba" +;
- Lance Corporal Edward Długosz, codename "Kaktus" +;
- Elizabar Dżangdżawa;
- Lance Corporal Rajmund Fiksiński codename "Szach";
- Sasza Galustian;
- Lance Corporal Michał Gasparian;
- Master Corporal Jan Kołdoński codename "Vis";
- Master Corporal NN "Waldek";
- Rifleman Władysław Krzykowski codename "Arab" +;
- Giorgi Kuczawa;
- Second Lieutenant Tadeusz Leider codename "Lech" +;
- Sergeant Czesław Łabęda ps. "Jurek" +;
- Second Lieutenant Wacław Ławryniuk ps. "Wacek" +;
- Nikolom Madeszwili;
- Rifleman Stefan Naghy codename "Madziar" +;
- Rifleman Edward Nalewajski codename "Sokół" +;
- Rifleman Nazarow Michał;
- Rifleman A. Omyčka +;
- Rifleman Andrzej Orszagh codename "Miecz" +;
- Micheil Rusziaszwili;
- Rifleman Edward Sindakiewicz codname "Kolejarz" +;
- Rifleman Stano Surik pseud. "Ruka" +;
- Rifleman Juri Suszjanszwili +;
- Master Corporal Hieronim Swaradzki codename "Kogut";
- an officer of the Soviet army Józef Tamaradze;
- Rifleman Mieczysław Zakrzewski, codename "Bomba" +;
- Runner Barbara Zamełłka codename "Pagoda";
- Runner Zelimir Zawadzki codename "Hermes" +.
Paramedic Platoon (from mid-August 1944)
- Paramedic Irena Chudzińska ps. "Wrzos";
- Paramedic Maria Sobczyńska ps. "Tessa";
- Paramedic Halina Wojtyś, ps. "Ryta";
- Paramedic Danuta Kozłowska ps. "Ata ';
- Paramedic Danuta Pietraszek ps. "Aga";
- Paramedic Józefa Kotowska ps. "Kama".
A monument commemorating Slovak soldiers fighting in the Warsaw Uprising was unveiled at the Iringh Square in Czerniaków.
The soldiers from the 535th platoon were not the only Slovaks fighting against the Nazis in the Warsaw Uprising. Several other Slovaks came to the insurgent units from the Hungarian army and became a part of the "Golski" battalion. They took part in the battles for the Warsaw University of Technology, in which everyone died. Unfortunately, their names are unknown.
The Jews
In the summer of 1944, several thousand Jews who survived the liquidation of the ghetto in 1943 could be found in Warsaw. Most of them hid or lived under a false identity on the so-called Aryan part of the city. Several hundred people of Jewish nationality were detained in the Gęsiówka and Pawiak concentration camps.
After the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, some of the hiding Jews left their shelters and joined the fighting insurgents. They were callled to battle by hiding in Warsaw Icchak Cukierman, one of the commanders of the Jewish Combat Organization, in Warsaw, who was a runner for the Jewish Fighting Organization and the Home Army during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. His appeal, announced on the third day of the uprising, was also published in the Polish underground press.
On August 1, 1944, shortly after the hour "W", a unit of Kedyw, commanded by Lt. Stanisław J. Sosabowski, codename "Stasinek" liberated about 50 Jews employed at the Umschlagplatz. The action was taken by Poles of Jewish origin: Stanisław Aronson and Stanisław Likiernik from Kolegium A. Most of the liberated people expressed their willingness to fight in the insurgent units. Among them was Chaim Goldstein, former member of the French resistance and a prisoner of KL Auschwitz. Stanisław Likiernik became the prototype of Stanisław Skiernik pseudonym Kolumb, one of the characters of Kolumbowie. Rocznik 20, a book by Roman Bratny.
On August 5, the Scouting Assault Battalion "Zośka" from the Home Army Grouping "Radosław" attacked Gęsiówka and liberated 383 prisoners, including 348 Jews imprisoned there. They were citizens of the Second Polish Republic, Netherlands, France, Romania, Greece, Hungary and Germany. Jews were deported from their homelands to Auschwitz and then transferred to the Concentration Camp at Gęsiówka. They were used by the Germans to cleaning works in the ruins of the former ghetto. The daring attack of the insurgents saved their lives. On Anielewicza St. on the corner of Okopowa St., a monument dedicated to this event was unveiled.
Many of the Jews released from Gęsiówka joined the insurgents and fought against the occupant. We know the fate of some of them:
Henryk Lederman pseudonym "Heniek", an officer cadet, immediately after the liberation by the soldiers of "Zośka", organized a group of Jewish volunteers and reported their readiness for action. He became a mechanic in the "Wacek" armoured Home Army Battalion "Zośka" commanded by Lt. Micuta. He passed with the battalion the Wola - the Old Town - sewers - Śródmieście - Górny Czerniaków combat trail. As a participant in the 1943 ghetto uprising, he knew the sewers connections perfectly, so he served as a sewer runner. Wounded, he was placed in a field hospital on Drewnia St. in Powiśle, where on September 5 he was murdered by the Germans. Decorated with the Cross of Valour.
Dawid Goldman pseudonym "Gutek", a volunteer in the technical team of the platoon "Wacek" Home Army Battalion "Zośka", later in the frontline unit. He was in the group of sewer guides of the Group North. He knew the sewers perfectly from the time he took part in the 1943 ghetto uprising. He led the soldiers of the "Radosław" grouping through the sewers. He probably died on September 14 at the ruins of the Chinese Legation in Czerniaków. Decorated with the Cross of Valor.
Henryk Poznański pseudonym "Bystry", corporal, participant of the ghetto uprising in 1943, 2nd company of the "Parasol" battalion of the Home Army Grouping "Radosław". He passed the combat trail of the grouping Wola - the Old Town - sewers - Śródmieście - Górny Czerniaków. He died on September 17, 1944 on Okrąg St. Decorated with the Cross of Valor.
Abram Zylberstein pseudonym "Szaber", rifleman, technical team of "Wacek" platoon, Home Army "Zośka" platoon, "Broda 53" regiment, "Radosław" grouping of the Home Army, passed the combat trail of the grouping Wola - Old Town - sewers - Śródmieście Północ - Górny Czerniaków. He left the city with civilians.
Leon Kopelman, participant in the ghetto uprising in 1943, a volunteer in the "Broda 53" regiment of the Home Army grouping "Radosław". He passed the combat trail of the grouping Wola - Old Town - sewers - Śródmieście - Górny Czerniaków. He left with the civilians.
Sołtan Safijew, pseudonym "Doktor Turek" from Bukhara (Uzbekistan), Captain of the Red Army, doctor of medicine, a Turkish man of Jewish origin, as a volunteer became a doctor and a surgeon in the "Parasol" battalion of the Home Army Grouping "Radosław". He passed the combat trail of the grouping Wola - the Old Town - sewers - Śródmieście Północ - Górny Czerniaków. He was murdered on September 22, 1944, on Wilanowska Street by the German soldiers, when shortly before the fall of Czerniakow, he reported as a parliamentary with a white flag a surrender of one of the insurgent resistance points.
Paweł Ferro pseudonym "Paweł", a Hungarian Jew, a volunteer in the "Parasol" battalion of the Home Army Grouping "Radosław". Due to the "great eye" he became the gunner of the "PIAT" anti-tank weapon. He destroyed many German tanks. He passed the combat trail of the grouping Wola - the Old Town - sewers - Śródmieście Północ - Górny Czerniaków. He died on September 22, 1944, on Wilanowska St. in Czerniaków, murdered together with Sołtan Safijew by German soldiers.
The remaining volunteers were gladly and without delay accepted into various Home Army units. . They participated in fortification and auxiliary works, including extinguishing fires and transporting the wounded and weapons. On the streets of Warsaw during the uprising one could hear the languages of many countries in Europe occupied by the Germans - Hungarian, Greek or French. The Jews were a part of various auxiliary formations: they built barricades, dealt with provisioning, and served as paramedics. Among them was Dawid Fogelman, who during the uprising hid with three other Jews in the shelter and survived in it until January 18, 1945 like a Robinson Crusoe in Warsaw. People who left in the ruins of Warsaw, separated from the outer world, despite the risk of being captured by the Germans were after war called after Robinson Crusoe.
The fight was also attended by members of the Jewish Combat Organization, who managed to survive the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, escapees from the Treblinka extermination camp and the Jews hiding in the city.
Icchak Cukierman, pseudonym "Antek" created a Jewish platoon of surviving ŻOB soldiers who survived the hell of the ghetto. The Home Army command did not agree to grant the ŻOB unit the status of a separate Jewish unit, which is why the Cukierman group went to the AL, creating an independent platoon of the Jewish Combat Organization. It was the only Jewish formation that fought in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 under its own banner. In this group, apart from Icchak Cukierman, were the insurgents from the Warsaw ghetto, among others Marek Edelman, Symcha Ratajzer, Cywia Lubeckim, Sara Biderman, Irena Geldblum, Tuwia Borzykowski, Julian Fiszgrund, and Józef Sak. The unit was fighting bravely near Mostowa and Rybaki streets, in the battles for the so-called Red House at Bugaj St. in the Old Town. After more than three weeks, the platoon together with other units was forced to evacuate through the sewers to Żoliborz, where soldiers continued their fight.
Many Jews hiding before the Warsaw Uprising found themselves in battle units. At the outbreak of the uprising, they volunteered for the first unit they met, ignoring the political connotations of the group.
Samuel Willenberg, a soldier of the Polish Army during the September campaign and a participant in the rebellion in Treblinka, joining the Home Army battalion "Ruczaj", gave his real name. He did not want to die - as he said years later - as fictitious Ignacy Popow, whose name was then in his documents.
Nehemiasz Szulklaper, Aleksander and Zrubawel Werba, Efraim Krasucki fought in the Old Town; in Śródmieście - among others 14-year-old Hungarian Jew Erwin Junarz. Kazik Ratajzer (Symcha Rotem) was among the soldiers attacking the Courts building on Leszno St.
Several Jewish soldiers took part in the assault on the PAST building.
The sewer hatch at the corner of Nowy Świat St. and Warecka St. was defended by Natan Morgenstern.
Calel Perechodnik, pseudonym "Calek" - a former Jewish policeman, the author of a diary published after the war about the extermination of Jews from Otwock volunteered to the Home Army. He fought in the 6th company "Jeremi" of the 2nd Battalion "Lech Grzybowski" of the Home Army Grouping "Chrobry II". He died in the last days of the uprising.
A Gunman Baruch Cukierman, pseudonym "Cukier" from the Home Army Artillery Group "Granat" fell on August 1, 1944 in Mokotów.
The commander of the runners and paramedics in Home Army Battalion "Łukasiński" was Emilia Rozencwajg pseudonym Marylka - famous for bringing Emanuel Ringelblum out of the Trawniki camp.
The function of a runner and a nurse in the staff of Colonel Antoni Chruściel pseudonym "Monter" was performed by 18-year-old Alicja Zipper pseudonym "Alina", who was promoted to the rank of the officer during the uprising.
Also Jewish children and youth joined the insurgent ranks, just like their Polish contemporaries. Famous for their bravery were brothers: Zalman pseudonym "Miki" and Perec pseudonym "Cwaniak" Hochman. After the liquidation of the ghetto, they fought for survival by trading cigarettes on the Three Crosses Square. After the outbreak of the uprising, they immediately joined the fight against the Germans. They served as runners in the "Sokół" battalion operating in the Środmieście district, and did not depart for a step from the legend of the unit Antoni Godlewski pseudonym "Antek Rozylacza".
Those who carried reports with the threat of death: Henryk Arnold, pseudonym "Ryś" from Home Army battalion "Kiliński" and Jehuda Nir. Runner from the Home Army battalion "Gustaw" Stanisław Pinkus pseudonym "Panienka" died tragically on August 13, 1944 on Kilińskiego St., as a result of the explosion of a tank-trap.
Almost all mentioned boys had 14 years during the uprising.
In the AL headquarters three pre-war Jewish communist activists were serving: Lt. Anastazy Matywiecki, pseudonym "Nastek", Cpt. Edward Lanota pseudonym "Edward" and Cpt. Stanisław Kurland ps. "Korab". They all died on August 26, 1944 during the bombing of the tenement house at 16 Freta St. in the Old Town.
Lt. Jan Szelubski pseudonym "Leszek" commanded the AL team being part of the 2nd Platoon "Bończa", of the 1st company "Bradla" in the battalion "Miłosz", fighting in the vicinity of Three Crosses Square and Wiejska St.. On September 22, 1944, he was personally honoured by Gen. Tadeusz Komorowski, pseudonym "Bor" for exceptional courage and dedication during the fights for Warsaw.
Lt. Edwin Rozłubirski pseud. "Gustaw" initially fought in the ranks of Home Army battalion "Zaremba", then he became the commander of the company in AL "Czwartacy" battalion, fighting in the Old Town and in the city centre. In September 1944 he was awarded the Silver Cross Order of Virtuti Militari by general Tadeusz Komorowski pseud. "Bór".
Many Jews found joined the auxiliary services, especially medical services, supporting the staff of insurgent hospitals. In the insurgent hospitals worked as doctors, among others: Adina Blady-Szwajger, Michał Lejpuner, Szmul Gilgun, Stefan Rotmil, Idel Singer, and Edward Zwilling.
Major Dr. Roman Born-Bornstein - initially deputy of the "Chrobry II" Grouping - on August 25, 1944, he became the head of the sanitary service of the 4th District of the Homeland Army District of Śródmieście.
Two sisters Borenstein - Chaja pseudonym "Blondynka" and Estera pseudonym "Irka" were nurses in the 4th company of the "Scout" NOW-AK battalion "Gustaw". Both died during the defence of the Old Town.
It is very difficult to determine the exact number of Jews participating in the Warsaw Uprising. Often, the Jews fighting in individual units hid their identity. According to estimates, several hundred to over 2,000 Jews fought in the insurgent units. Their exact number will never be established.
After the fall of the Warsaw Uprising, the Jews captured by the Germans - soldiers and civilians - were often shot on the spot. Some of them got out of the capital and were forced to hide. A number of them, using falsified documents, went with the civilian population to the transit camp in Pruszków (Dulag 121). Some went using veteran identity cards issued by the Home Army authorities to the prisoner-of-war camps, where they were protected by their Polish comrades in arms.
A group of Jews decided to stay in the city and hide in abandoned homes. Not all of these Warsaw Robinsons survived until the liberation of Warsaw in January 1945.
We will never know how many Jews died in the Warsaw Uprising. At the Warsaw Jewish cemetery at Okopowa St. there are several tombstones of soldiers taking part in the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. Buried here, among others, are: Blima Mykanowska, Halina Kahan, Franciszek Grynbaum, Bolesław Kejlin, Leonard Kimnam, Jakub Żyto and Bolesław Szenfeld.
Jewish names can also be found in the uprising quarter at the Military Cemetery in Warsaw and on the Memorial Wall in the Warsaw Rising Museum. It should be assumed that the remains of Jewish soldiers from the Warsaw Uprising rest in the nameless collective graves of the Warsaw Uprising Cemetery in Wola.
The names of the fallen insurgents of Jewish origin can also be found on the Memorial Wall in the Warsaw Rising Museum. Unfortunately, this is not a complete list: Mojżesz Abcuk, Hersz Berliński, Chaja Borenstein, Estera Borenstein, Towia Borensztajn, Hary Borsztajn, Chaim Brande, Mojżesz Bursztyn, Albert Chambux, Baruch Cukierman, Mendel Cukierman, Mojżesz Cymeryng, Abram Gelbard, Dawid Goldman, Majer Grejsman, Chaim Gross, Szyia Grynberg, Eliasz Hachtenkopf, Abram Hak, Izaak Haller, Hersz Hamerlung, Motel Herszberg, Srul Jakielson, Szapsel Jusin, Mojżesz Kalski, Abram Kerner, Szmul Klajman, Mendel Land, Edward Lanota, Szaja Lelonek, Salomon Lempel, Symcha Marchan, Abraham Markiewicz, Szloma Maszkowicz, Anastazy Matywiecki, Berek Ostrowiecki, Szloma Pasyzer, Calel Perechodnik, Beniamin Perel, Hersz Pieniążek, Pinkus Pinkaszewski, Stanisław Pikus, Henryk Poznański, Abram Rafałowicz, Dawid Rajzman, Dawid Reisman, Wachman Rother, Lejzor Rotsztajn, Chaim Rozencwajg, Mojżesz Rozencweig, Beniamin Rozenfield, Sołtan Safijew, Jankiel Skibniewski, Dawid Sobel, Machael Spejzman, Abram Szept, Dawid Sznajderman, Izaak Wajsbrod, Michał Wajsbrod, Moniek Wajskop, Szlama Selinger, Abraham Zimerspic.
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The Russians
Among the foreign insurgents, the Russians were a significant group. Nearly 100 of them found their second homeland in Poland emigrating from Russia after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. Most of them were soldiers of the Red Army who had escaped from German POW camps. Finally there were deserters from pro-German collaborative formation send to suppress the Warsaw Uprising.
We know very little about most Russian volunteers. They fought mainly in the units of the People's Army (AL) in Śródmieście, in the Old Town, Żoliborz and Powiśle. Let's bring back the memory about some of them.
On August 2, 1944, an Home Army unit consisting of the members of the National Armed Forces, together with accidentally collected volunteers detached from their units under the command of Lt. Leszek Kossowski, freed over 20 Soviet officers from the prison at Daniłowiczowska St. in the Old Town. They joined the AL troops and became a part of one of the companies of the Third Battalion of the People's Army, where they fought as privates. Almost all died in the Uprising in the Old Town. Those, who marked themselves out, among others: Cpt. "Tank", Lt. "Granat", second lieutenant "Aeroplan".
Lt. Wiktor Baszmakow, pseudonym "Inżynier" was an officer of the Red Army who escaped from the captivity. After being registered in the Home Army unit, he was first the platoon commander in the Home Army company commanded by Lieutenant Jerzy Zdrodowski, pseudonym "Kwarciany" in the "Żubr" grouping in the 2nd Home Army District "Żywiciel", consisting of former Soviet soldiers, fighting in Żoliborz in the area of "Olejarnia" at Gdańska St. After the evacuation of the soldiers from the Old Town to Żoliborz, from September 15 in the 4th battalion of the AL "Czwartaków". After the announcement of the surrender of Żoliborz, he did not want to go to the German captivity for the second time and attempted to break through to the other side of the Vistula. He died on September 30, 1944 in the evening, along with all his soldiers, about 100 soldiers of AL, in action of breaking trough to the Vistula river, under the command of Capt. Jan Szaniawski ps. "Szwed". After a hard fight, only 28 insurgents from the AL reached the shore of the Vistula. The others were killed (including all soldiers of Lieutenant Baszmakow) or they were taken as prisoners as the soldiers of the Home Army. The name of Elder Lt. Viktor Bashmakov is engraved on the Memorial Wall in the Warsaw Rising Museum. Among the fallen Russians were, among others: Mikołaj Kozychow pseudonym "Wojciech" and probably Sgt. Alexei Iwanow pseudonym "Sokół".
The Russians were also in the units of the First Polish Army commanded by Zygmunt Berling, who made limited attempts to cross the Vistula and establish bridgeheads in Górny Czerniaków, Powiśle and Żoliborz. Many of them died. Among them was the commander of the 9th Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Division, Lt. Siergiej Gryzantowicz Kononkow, who was mortally wounded at Czerniakowski bridgehead. The command of his battalion until the evacuation was taken over Captain of the Home Army "Motyl" (Zbigniew Ścibor-Rylski). It was the only incident in the Warsaw Uprising, and perhaps in the entire Second World War.
Belorussian Major Stanisław Łatyszonok, Chief of Staff of the 9th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Romuald Traugutt Infantry Division of the First Polish Army was taken as a prisoner by the Germans at the Czerniakowski bridgehead. He was sent to the prison camp X B Sandbostel.
Single Russians fought in partisan units in the Kampinos Forest.
Russian doctors escaped from German captivity helped in insurgent field hospitals: Dr. Iwan Awdiejew in a field hospital at 55Mokotowska St., Dr. Aleksiejew, Major of the Soviet army in the field hospital of the "Chrobry II" grouping at 51Śliska St..
In the transit camp Dulag-121 in Pruszków, the Russian prisoners of war were offering help to the former insurgents and the expelled residents of Warsaw: colonel Dr. Aleksandr Anikiejew, a specialist in infectious diseases, Captain Dr. Bażanow, Captain of the navy Dr. surgeon Kazanow,a nd Dr. Szejtanow.
Most of the Russians who joined the uprising died in battle. They knew that their fate was sealed irrespectively of whether they would be handed over to the Wehrmacht and the SS, or to the Red Army and the NKVD. Captive officers, when applying to the Home Army, wanted to fight with weapons in their hands as ordinary soldiers, they did not want to accept any commanding functions (despite military experience). They wanted to take a revenge on the Germans and die with a gun in their hands. And most of them found what they were looking for - revenge and soldierly death.
We do not know the fate of most of the Russian volunteer insurgents. We do not know where are the graves of those who have fallen. We also do not know what happened to the few survivors. At that time, Soviet Russia treated her sons who went through such hell not as heroes but as traitors and deserters.
On the Memorial Wall in the Warsaw Rising are more than 20 Russian names of the fallen insurgents: Wiktor Baszmakow, Iwan Czerbyrokow, Aleksander Czubczykow, Michał Gryszanow, Aleksander Jakowlew, Mikołaj Kozychow, Stiepan Nahodin, Wasyl Natiaga, Trofim Nazarewicz, Mikołaj Nazarow, Iwan Pleszkow, Michał Podgrebny, Trofim Prokopczuk, Wasyl Rak, Anisim Rogalski, Mikołaj Sawaściuk, Siemion Sawicki, Aleksy Segen, Anatol Szymański, Sawa Tanachowski, Genadij Trofimow, Mikołaj Wyżnitriew.
We know some details about some of them:
Iwan Czerbyrokow, after escaping from captivity, he volunteered to the "Żubr" group in the 2nd Home Army District "Żywiciel" (Żoliborz), from September 15 in the 4th Battalion of AL "Czwartaków" in the platoon of Lieutenant Wiktor Baszmakow, he fell on September 30, 1944 on the Vistula embankment during the attempt to cross to Praga;
Rifleman Aleksander Czubczykow pseudonym "Szurka", 3rd District "Ratusz" of Division 1 of the Home Army District "Radwan", fell on August 20, 1944;
Cpl. Michał Gryszanow, a WSOP grouping "Cubryna" (Power Station) Combat Group "Krybar", fell on September 4, 1944 during the bombing of the Municipal Power Plant - 41 Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie St.;
Cpl. Aleksander Jakowlew pseudonym "Sasza", squadron of heavy machine guns, 23rd regiment of Uhlans, Home Army "Kampinos" Grouping, fell on 29th of September 1944 near Jaktorów during the breaking through of the "Kampinos" Grouping to the south;
Mikołaj Kozychow pseudonym "Wojciech", grouping "Żubr" 2nd unit, "Żywiciel" District (Żoliborz), from September 15 in the 4th Battalion of AL Czwartaków in the platoon of Lieutenant Wiktor Baszmakow, he fell on September 30, 1944 on the Vistula embankment during the attempt to cross over Praga;
Younger Lt. Stiepan Nahodin pseudonym "Wańka", aviation company of Lt. "Lawa" Home Army Grouping "Kampinos", fell on September 28, 1944 in a skirmish near Sowia Wola in the Kampinos Forest;
Cpl. Mikołaj Sawaściuk pseudonym. "Kola", 3rd company of Lt. "Opończa" 1st battalion "Nalibocki" regiment "Palmiry-Młociny" Home Army Grouping "Kampinos", fell on September 29, 1944 at Jaktorów during the breaking through of the "Kampinos" Grouping to the south;
Rifleman Mikołaj Wyżnitriew pseudonym. "Wrona", 1st company of Lt. "Starża", "Żubr" grouping, 2nd unit, District "Żywiciel" (Żoliborz), from September 15 in the 4th battalion AL "Czwartaków" in the platoon of Lieutenant Wiktor Baszmakow, fell on 30 September 1944 on the Vistula embankment during the attempt to cross to Praga.
Russian-sounding names can also be found in the lists of soldiers of various insurgent units.
As remembered by Lt. Tadeusz Garliński, pseudonym "Bełt" on August 1 at 6 pm, to the insurgent unit reported Grigory Semyonov from the Urals. Soon he gave an example of the courage and bravado. He captured a few rifles, he took 2 Germans into captivity. For the combat merits he was honored with the Polish Cross of Valor. He died on August 20 in the defence of the Old Town.
According to Henryk Łagodzki pseudonym "Hrabia" to the company "Lech Żelazny" from the "Chrobry II" grouping two Russians who deserted from the RONA unit attacking Śródmieście after the pacification of Ochota reported. They were Eugeniusz Mulkin pseudonym "Żeńka" and N.N. pseudonym "Miszka". Both volunteers took part in many actions of the unit. "Miszka" died in action on September 20, 1944.
Rifleman Mikołaj Kozyriew fought in a platoon of the deaf and mute insurgents at the Institute of the Deaf in the area of Three Crosses Square. Unfortunately, there is no more information about him.
In the company "Ambrozja" of the "Zaremba" battalion served Grigorij Czugajew, pseudonym "Wańka, who escaped before the uprising from the German captivity. He was fluent in Polish, both written and spoken. At the end of August he was wounded and taken to the hospital, where he was looked after by the medic of the battalion Zofia Michalska Szaruch, pseudonym "Zośka". She was 16 years old, he was 26, he was an architect before the war, and knew several languages. They became friends. Grigory survived, he went to the POW camp together with his friends from the battalion "Zaremba Piorun". After the end of the war he wanted to return to Warsaw, but the forced him to emigrate to Australia. They corresponded with each other for many years.
In the platoon of sappers of the staff company of Home Army Grouping "Kryska" fought Rifleman Grigorij Uszakow, pseudonym "Grisza." He passed the Górny Czerniaków - sewers - Mokotów combat trail. His further fate is unknown.
In the 137th platoon of the "Tadeusz" company of the 7th grouping (battalion) of the Home Army "Ruczaj" fought Iwan Nachimow, pseudonym "Wańka", he died on August 18, 1944.
Rifleman Michaił Iwanowicz Rastrykin from the Home Army Grouping "Kampinos" died on August 24 in the Old Town.
The role of two Soviet officers left to be discussed: Cpt. Konstanty Kaługin and Cpt. Iwan Kołos and their real intentions.
Konstanty Andriejewicz Kaługin, a construction engineer from the Donetsk Basin, a professional construction engineer and a captain of the Red Army, seriously wounded near Kharkov, was taken as a prisoner by the Germans in May 1942. He was sent to the Luckenwalde camp. There he informed the Germans about his anti-Stalinist views, therefore he was send to ROA. He contacted Colonel Nikołaj Stiepanowicz Buszmanow, head of the ROA training school.
From camp in Saxony as a captain (Hauptman) of the ROA he was send to Częstochowa, where he managed to contact the underground cell of the AL. Then he met in the Lublin region with Lt. Col. Ivan Banow, pseudonym "Czorny" commander of the GRU intelligence and sabotage unit. In July 1944, Konstanty Kaługin was in Warsaw. After the outbreak of the uprising, he volunteered to the Polish authorities to send a message to ... Stalin asking for help for the uprising. The telegram was to be sent from the Home Army staff via the resistance movement radio station to London, and from there to Moscow. This form of communication was necessary because Cpt. Kaługin did not have his own radio station.
The content of the message was as follows:
Ciphertext, August 5, 1944
Moscow, to the Marshal (comrade) Stalin
I made a personal contact with the commander of the Warsaw garrison, who commands the heroic resistance struggle of the nation against Hitler's bandits. When I got introduced to the military situation, I came to the conclusion that despite the heroic efforts of the armies and people of Warsaw, there are the following needs, fulfilling which would allow us to speed up the victory against our common enemy: automatic weapons, ammunition, grenades anti-tank rifles ... "
From the "Czarny" group captain Kaługin Konstantin. Warsaw. 66804
The answer to the ciphertext never came.
Capt. Konstanty Kaługin also prepared leaflets to the German troops consisting of Soviet soldiers taken as prisoners, in which he forbade the fight against the uprising and threatened with the death penalty in the future. Among the resistance movement he practiced pro-Soviet propaganda. On September 20, 1944, he crossed the Vistula to reach the troops of the First Belarusian Front of Rokossovsky, and all communication with him ceased. On August 9, 1944, during a conversation in Moscow between Stanisław Mikołajczyk, the Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile, andStalin, the prime minister mentioned the name of the emissary. Stalin, irritated, replied that he does not know anyone named Kaługin.
As it turned out later, Kaługin, after talking with General Berling, was transported to Lublin and talked with Nikolai Bulganin (at that time a representative of the Soviet government at the Polish Committee of National Liberation), and then he was interrogated by investigators of counterintelligence. Later he was transported to Moscow and sentenced to 10 years in a labour camp. After Stalin's death he was rehabilitated.
In fact, to this day, it is really unknown who the Captain Konstanty Kaługin was: a mythomaniac and a swindler or a secret emissary. The materials in the Russian archives about Kaługin were allegedly hidden until 2040 on the command of Vladimir Putin.
In the last phase of the uprising another emissary was transferred to Warsaw. On the night of September 20-21, 1944, on the orders of Marshal Konstanty Rokossowski, an officer of the Soviet military intelligence GRU Lieutenant Iwan Kołos from Belarus was dropped on a parachute. Also a radio operator Dimitrij Steńka jumped out of the plane with him. They landed between Hoża and Marszałkowska streets. Kołos took minor injuries, he cut his arm. The telegraphist was less fortunate, he hit the balustrade of a balcony and suffered a serious injury. Then he was hit by a shell of a bullet and died. He was buried next to the 34 Chmielna building.
There were more Soviet paratroopers. Some were dropped on Żoliborz, others on Mokotów. However, Kołos was the most important of them. He was immediately taken over by the communist People's Army. He, however, was looking for contact with the command of the Home Army. The case of his jump is still unclear and mysterious today. It is not known what was the purpose of his mission. It is unclear what power of attorney he had. According to his own reports, he had three tasks: to identify the German forces and command points in Warsaw, to recognize the "English intelligence center" and to examine the intentions and plans of the Home Army command. It was therefore a typical intelligence mission, not a mission aimed to establish some kind of cooperation between the Red Army and the Home Army.
It is doubtful that Lt. Kołos met with General Bór-Komorowski. Certainly, however, he met General Antoni Chruściel "Monter". He asked a strange question: how the Home Army imagines the actions of the Soviets in favour of Warsaw. He received an obvious answer: the Red Army should immediately attack and start pushing through the Vistula river. Such a telegram Lt. Kolos, was to send to Marshal Rokossowski stationed on the other side of the river. However, there was no answer.
The Poles wanted to cooperate with the Soviets and expected their support. The Home Army General Command would certainly not reject the offer of help from the Soviets. If only there was any proposal - it would definitely be accepted. Cooperation began with the "Burza" campaign. The Home Army then undertook far-reaching military cooperation with the Red Army. Unfortunately, it ended terribly for Poles. In the uprising, the Soviets wanted to create a semblance of help. It was in their interest that the uprising would explode and last as long as possible. It was known that someone must finish Polish patriots. In a situation when Poland was to be incorporated in the Soviet sphere of influence, those people had to disappear. From Moscow's point of view, it was very desirable that the Germans would do it, not themselves. Hence the almost complete passivity of Soviet troops in the first phase of the uprising. In the first half of September, the command of the Home Army stated that it was unable to accomplish the main goal - independent liberation of Warsaw. It was decided to capitulate and preliminary talks with the Germans began. In the matter of evacuating civilians negotiated, among others, Major Countess Maria Tarnowska, president of the board of PCK, on the military side negotiated with the Germans Colonel Kazimierz Iranek-Osmecki pseudonym "Makary", head of the Home Army intelligence. The sides have basically reached agreement. The capitulation was to take place on 10 September. General Bór-Komorowski did not sign it because on 9 September for the first time the Soviet artillery fired, and the airplanes with a red star appeared over Warsaw. Stalin, having learned about the planned surrender, created the illusion of help. The uprising have been smouldering for three more weeks.
On October 1, 1944, with the help of AL, Lt. Iwan Kołos crossed the Vistula river and reached the headquarters of the Marshal Konstanty Rokossowski. For his mission he received the Order of the Red Banner. In January 1945, he was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but he did not receive it. It is not known what caused this, because the details of this are still secret. Apparently, he fell into disfavour of his superiors later, informing them that he had learned from the Poles that Katyń had been done by the Soviets and not Germans. The KGB could not forget it for years.
The Caucasian Nations
In addition to the soldiers of the 536th Slovak Platoon, knowledge about other volunteers from the resistance from the Caucasus region has been preserved.
Irena Schirtładze, ps. "Irka" was not really a foreigner. Her father, Arkadiusz Schirtładze, was a Georgian contract officer, captain of the Polish Army aviation, who trained Polish pilots in Dęblin. During the defensive war of 1939, he was taken as a prisoner by the Soviets in the region of Brześć by the Bug river, imprisoned in Kozelsk POW camp and murdered by the NKVD in Katyń in 1940. His daughter Irena joined in the first days of August in Wola as a volunteer-nurse to 3rd Company of the "Parasol" battalion of the Home Army Grouping "Radosław". She passed with the battalion the Wola - the Old Town - canals - Downtown - Upper Czerniakow combat trail. She died on September 14 at the barricade on 7 Ludna Street, shot during the attempts to rescue her wounded commander Officer Cadet Wacław Dunin-Karwicki pseudonym "Luty".
"Radio news PPS WRN" from August 20, 1944 reported: "In the region of Powiśle, the Home Army units operates a Georgian unit of former German prisoners of war and members of the Georgian colony in Warsaw. The commander of the unit is Georgian, a captain of the Soviet Army, Kusjaszwili, previously cooperating with Polish conspiracy organizations."
To the commander of the Home Army "Zaremba-Piorun" battalion, the Cavalry Captain Romuald Radziwiłowicz, pseudonym Zaremba, four Azerbaijans who went with the weapons to the side of the insurgents, wrote a letter. They were: Second Lieutenant Farnijew, senior Sgt. Magamagow, Sergeant Chaliłow and Rifleman Ulianow. They thanked the Poles for the acceptance to their unit and the opportunity to fight the Germans who treated them like dogs. They asked to be send to a newly organized Georgian unit commanded by any captain or to allow the service under the orders of the Cavalry Captain Radziwiłowicz. The fate of the signatories of the letter is unknown.
Georgians also served in the Protective Unit of the Military Publishing Works and in the 2nd Scout Battery of the Anti-aircraft Artillery "Żbik". In the WZW Protective Department fought in the Śródmieście Corporal Witold Kruczek-Abałudze. pseudonym "Kruk", who was born in Turkey and came to Poland in 1931. After the Uprising he was send to Stalag X B Sandbostel, then XVIII C Markt-Pongau, prisoner no. 223310.
The contracting officer of the Polish Army, Artemi Aroniszew, defended Warsaw in 1939. After leaving the German camp in 1942, he began conspiratorial activity in the Home Army as Jan Pilecki. During the uprising he fought in Śródmieście.
In the 4th company of the "Kryska" Home Army Grouping, fought Wartan Czagacbanian, pseudonym "Wartan". He died on September 12, 1944 on 14 Zagórna St..
In the Home Army Grouping "Chrobry II" fought: Ali Agajew (prisoner no. 305214), Almamed Asajdow (died on 17 September), Alawerdi Bakszaljew (died on 17 September), Uren Haliłow, and Siemion Michajlowicz Mdinaradze.
In the uprising fought Rifleman Aleksander Abajew. After the surrender he was send to Stalag IV-B Mühlberg, prisoner no. 46033.
In Śródmieście Południowe fought the Officer Cadet Anatol Atabgiszwili pseudonym "Agnia". Wounded, he was treated in an resistance hospital at 9 Wilcza St..
In the day order no. 6 of the "Miłosz" battalion of the "Bogumił" section: "Tribute to the fallen Georgians: On 2 September 1944 died od the death of a volunteer soldier from the Caucasus serving in the unit under my command: Kuczawa Jerzy, Melna Karol, Dzołochow Laurenty, Dżojew Dymitr, Dżandżgała Eliswar, Dzałachja Jerzy, Buczajew Hałty. These soldiers who were far from their homeland fought shoulder to shoulder with us, for our cause and deserved Poland as much as her sons. In the memory of heroic soldiers from the Caucasus."
On the uprising barricades of Czerniakow, Żoliborz and the Old Town fought Armenians from the Warsaw Diaspora. Unfortunately, we do not know their personal details.
Dr. Zelfigar Keremow pseudonym "Kaukaz", escaped from German captivity, was a medic of the K-1 company of the Home Army regiment "Baszta" in Mokotów. After the war, he was sentenced to 18 years of labour camp by the Soviets.
On the Memorial Wall in the Warsaw Rising Museum are several names of fallen insurgents from the Caucasus: Iwan Babilaszwili, Jurij Babilaszwili, Hałty Buczajew, Wartan Czagacbannian, Daisa Dadajew, Jerzy Dżałachija, Eliswar Dżandżała, Dymitr Dżojew, Laurenty Dżołochow, Karol Melna, Irena Schirtładze, Jurij Suszjanszwili.
A monument dedicated to the Georgian contract officers of the Polish Army, who gave up their lives, among others, on the barricades of the Warsaw Uprising, was unveiled at the Freedom Square in the Warsaw Rising Museum.
The Ukrainians
The Ukrainian community in Warsaw was rather small. Before the war, 2-2,500 Ukrainians lived there. This number increased slightly during the occupation. The Poles were rather distrustful to them. These moods became stronger in 1943 when news of the Volhynia massacre reached the capital. We have knowledge about several Ukrainians fighting in the ranks of the Home Army in the Warsaw Uprising.
Officer Cadet Orest Fedoreńko ps. "Fort" assigned to the 1st platoon of the security unit of the headquarters of the staff of Warsaw Home Army District, died on August 1, 1944 on Dąbrowski Square during the fight with the Germans. He was buried in the yard of one of the buildings at Jasna Street. Exhumed after the war.
His older brother, Corporal Officer Cadet Wiaczesław Fedoreńko pseudonym "Sławek" was a member of the ZWZ and then of the Home Army. After the outbreak of the uprising, he was assigned to the 153rd platoon of the 1st company of the Home Army Grouping "Gurt". He died on August 18, 1944 during the attack on the restaurant "Żywiec" at the corner of 34/36 Jerusalem Avenue and 100 Marszałkowska St. He left his wife and a tiny daughter. The second daughter was born 8 months after his death.
The oldest brother, Aleksander Fedoreńko, a graduate of the Aviation Cadet School, in September 1939 evacuated to Romania, then to France, and after its fall to England. In the rank of second lieutenant, he fought in the 300th Ziemia Mazowiecka Bomber Squadron. He died during a combat flight in the Mannheim area in Germany on April 25, 1944. He was posthumously awarded the Cross of Valor.
The father of the three brothers, the chief orthodox chaplain of the Polish Army, taken as prisoner in 1939 by the Soviets, was murdered by the Soviets together with other Polish officers in 1940 in Katyń.
Near Solidarności Av. on the Jagiellońska street in Praga the monument dedicated to the fallen soldiers of the Fedoreńko family was unveiled.
Andrzej Hitczenko, the son of Iwan, the consul of the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic in Poland fought in the "Baszta" regiment of the Home Army in Mokotów. He was wounded twice. After the surrender of the uprising, he was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
In the ranks of the Home Army also fought the former officer of the Ukrainian People's Republic Army - Captain Iwan Mytrus-Wyhowski, a contract lieutenant of the Polish Army. The 7th Regiment of Uhlans in Lublin, in which he served, was reconstituted as part of the Home Army, he took part in the Warsaw Uprising. Lieutenant Iwan Mytrus-Wyhowski died in combat. The details of his death could not be determined.
On the Memorial Wall in the Rising Museum are names: Orest and Wiaczesław Fedoreńko.
The Hungarians
The Hungarians were the only allies of the Germans who were friendly to the combatants and people of Warsaw. At the outbreak of the uprising, there were tens of thousands of Hungarian soldiers of the Second Reserve Corps, commanded by General Antal Vattay around Warsaw. The Germans wanted to use them as a reinforcement of the cordon surrounding Warsaw. Their hopes did not come true. The soldiers of the First Honvéd Division and the other three Corps divisions sympathized with the resistance and sometimes even helped them providing food, medicine, bandages and even weapons and ammunition. Some of the corps officers started negotiations with the command of the Home Army regarding the alliance and jointly fighting against the Germans. Hungarians generally refused to use weapons against the resistance members. A group of soldiers took the side of the combatants and undertook a joint armed struggle against the Germans.
In this situation, the German command was forced to abandon the use of the Hungarian corps against the resurrections. The Hungarians were soon withdrawn from the position around Warsaw and sent to Hungary.
There are some details about the behaviour of the Hungarians during the uprising.
WO Istvan (Stephan) Elek as a soldier of the 4th Hussars Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division came to Warsaw from Praga on July 31, 1944. After the crossing over the Kierbedź Bridge, he was deployed in Babice near Warsaw in the north-western part of the city, where he was stationed for almost three weeks not taking part in the fight. After that, the Germans allowed the Hungarian cavalrymen to move freely around the city. Around August 20, WO Istvan Elek was transferred to the area of Karowa St. in Powiśle. There the Hungarians helped wounded combatants lying in hospitals and were handing food to the civilian population. Later, the hussars moved to Puławska Street, with the intention of subordinating themselves to the Polish command. During the talks, the Poles asked for help for the civilians who were leaving the city, directly exposed to the loss of not only their possessions, but also their lives. On carts drawn by the regimental horses, the Honwéds were transporting civilians towards Błonie near Warsaw. Approximately 2,000 people received such help. Then the unit was dissolved. After many adventures, Istvan stayed in Poland, he married a Polish woman. Along with him, a few dozen other Hungarians stayed in Poland. Years later, Stefan Elek was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta by President Andrzej Duda for his actions during the Warsaw Uprising.
Many Hungarians (and Slovaks incorporated into the Hungarian army) also supported the resistance in fight. Some have lived in Warsaw for years, others were deserters from the Hungarian troops that were a part of the German forces. In total, several dozen Hungarians participated in the fight, who were send mainly to the ranks of the Kampinos Home Army Grouping or to the Kabaty Woods.
About 40 Hungarians from the 106th company of the 12th Division of the 2nd Corps joined the Polish Home Army Grouping "Kampinos". It was a working company made up of Hungarian Jews. In the "Kampinos" grouping, the Hungarians played an auxiliary role, did not participate in the fighting. As the couriers served the honwéds Pál Kovács, István Darvas, Miklós Jakab and István Garami from the working company.
In the battle of Jaktorów at the end of September 1944, two Hungarian soldiers, who had previously joined the Polish partisan grouping, died. They are buried at the War Cemetery in Budy Zosiny.
At the cemetery in Raszyn, near Warsaw, a sergeant of the Hungarian honwéds, Józef Voynik, and six of his comrades who were killed fighting on the Polish side are buried.
In Podkowa Leśna rest in the common grave: Karol Hunyadi, Andras Toth, and Józef Verer who died on September 15, 1944. Hungarian graves are also in Konstancin.
Second Lieutenant Sandor Benis pseudonym "Szan" fought in a platoon of heavy weapons of Lt. "Ptaszyński", the 1st company, the "Miłosz" battalion, the eastern section "Bogumił", the sub-section "Sławbor" (Śródmieście-Południe), 1st the District "Radwan" (Śródmieście). "Szan" was operating a PIAT; he died on September 13, 1944 in the area of Hospital of St. Lazarus at 2 Książęca St.
Henryk Vlassak pseudonym "Wania" a filmmaker of Hungarian origin, he served in the Information and Propaganda Office of the Home Army Headquarters. He was among others the author of the photographs of the attack of the German tanks in front of which civilians were being forced to march.
Senior Rifleman Zbigniew Beka pseudonym "Burza II" from the "Kilinski" battalion remembers, as at the "Cafe Club" outpost, where he served, at night ran a fully-armed Hungarian. He escaped from the Germans through Jerusalem Av.. He then took part in the fighting along with the insurgents, he was very well trained. Dressed in civilian clothes, he was taken with his battalion friends into captivity.
The French
A few Frenchmen fought in the uprising in the insurgent ranks. We have some fragmentary data about them.
Cpl. Roger Barlet pseudonym "Rożek", a Frenchman from origin, born in Metz in Lorraine, was forcibly incorporated into the Wehrmacht. On August 2, 1944, he was taken as a prisoner by soldiers of the "Zośka" battalion of the "Radoslaw" grouping after they captured a school on Spokojna St. in Wola. He declared joining the insurrectionist army and was drafted to the third platoon "Felek" of the 2nd company "Rudy" of the "Zośka" battalion. He fought in defence of the Old Town and died on the night of 29/30 August, just before the decision to leave the Old Town.
Sgt. Herbert Vengoli, deserter from the Wehrmacht, went to the Polish side and fought in the company "Grażyna" NOW-AK battalion "Gustaw". He told his new comrades that he came from Alsace, from the German-French borderland, and did not feel German. Before the war he was supposedly a teacher. He always presented himself as an "Alsatian" and the insurgents called him "Degolist" because he emphasized his French patriotism. His passage in the "W" hour on the resistance side was "patted" by the shooting of the Luftwaffe major, who was commanding the group of accidentally assembled Wermacht soldiers at Marszałkowska St. He saved the lives of several young inexperienced combatants. He died in mid-August in skirmishes at Grzybowska St..
A Frenchman with the pseudonym "Gwiazdka" participated in the battles in Powiśle in the "Tur" battalion, probably a runaway forced laborer. He died on September 14 at Rozbrat St. during the attempt to neutralize the German "Goliath" self-propelled mine.
During the resistance battles in Żoliborz in the field grail on Wilson Sq. rested a sergeant of the French army "Roland". Taken as a prisoner at Arras, he escaped. Captured again, he was compelled to join the Todt organization. After several escapes from the different camps, he finally became a part of the partisan group of Lt. "Góra". With a unit from the Kampinos Forest, he took part in the attack on Dworzec Gdański, during which he died.
Rifleman Toni Antonie died on September 7, 1944 during a skirmish in the Piaski Królewskie in the Kampinos Forest.
An interesting figure was a second lieutenant of aviation Jean Gasparoux pseudonym. "Jean". He fought as a volunteer in the B-3 company, the battalion "Bałtyk", regiment K "Baszta". He escaped from the oflag, he was hiding in Warsaw, but no one knew why he came there. He was very brave, even crazy. Here are two episodes:
During the fights in the Warsaw South railway station area the 26-year-old Gasparoux stood in a broken window and ... challenged a German officer to a pistol duel. The whole line ceased fire and the duellers shot to themselves several times. No one hit, because it is very difficult to hit a target from the handgun from a distance of several dozen meters.
The second display of courage the Frenchman gave at a building of Siters of the Holy Family of Nazareth at Czerniakowska St.. Being on the east side of the street, he took out a small umbrella and, dancing and singing tra-la-la, walked across the street in front of the German tanks standing 20 m away without harm.
Jean Gasparoux survived the uprising. He went to a prison with the soldiers of "Baszta".
The Dutch
The Dutch were also part of the resistance units. We know a little more about some of them.
Charles Louis Jean François Douw van der Krap was an officer of the Dutch Navy. Taken as a prisoner after the surrender of the Netherlands in 1940, he tried to escape fourteen times from various prisoner-of-war camps. In the last attempt, successful, he fled from Stanisławów and escaped to the occupied Warsaw. He became a soldier of the Home Army. Thanks to a cooperation with the Dutch employees of the Philips factory in Warsaw, he obtained a false identity and also an employment in the factory. In the first days of August 1944, he participated in the Warsaw Uprising, until the day of evacuation to the Netherlands along with other Philips employees. In the first days of fighting, he witnessed German atrocities on the civilian population in Wola. After a dozen or so days he evacuated to the Netherlands together with the other Dutch members of the factory personnel. In 1985 he was decorated a Home Army Cross.
Lodovikus Ryszard Stevens pseudonym "Lu", "Dutchman" from Rotterdam after the occupation of the Netherlands by the Germans was sent to the forced labour. He escaped and went to Warsaw, where he got married. In 1943, he began conspiratorial activity in the Home Army. During the uprising, he was in the ranks of the 1st company of the "Gurt" Home Army battalion and fought in the area of the Warszawa Główna railway station. He was a very good shooter, he served in the Dutch army for two years. After the capitulation of the uprising, he left the city with the civilian population.
Anton Zietse pseudonym "Bob" from August 1 to 5, 1944 fought in the 5th platoon "Narocz", 1st company, "Parasol" battalion, Home Army grouping "Radosław". Then, he moved with the platoon to Śródmieście to the headquarters of the Home Army in the Warsaw District. After the capitulation he went to the captivity with the unit. For two attempts to escape from the Fallingbostel XI B camp, he got into the Muehlberg penal company. After the war he returned to the Netherlands.
Leendert van der Heijden from Rotterdam fought in Śródmieście. After the capitulation of the uprising, he was sent to a concentration camp, from which he returned to his homeland. In 1969 he was awarded the Partisan Cross and Medal za Warszawę (Medal for Warsaw).
Cpl. Wojciech Wiewiórkowski pseudonym "Wojtek", who started the uprising in Wola near Wronia and Żytnia, and after going to Śródmieście, fought in the Home Army "Miłosz" battalion talked about two Dutchmen who joined the unit in the first days of the uprising. They were probably from the SS "Nederland". In German uniforms with rolled-up sleeves, belted with ammunition belts, with grenades in the boot heels and behind the belt. They were well-knit when one was shooting, the other was changing the magazine. Together with the unit they passed through German positions to Śródmieście. During the passage, they talked in German all the time, which fooled the enemy. A few Polish girls accompanied them. Then they got lost somewhere.
The Italians
After signing in September 1943 a truce between Italy and the Allies, the former allies of the Third Reich became its enemies. Several hundred thousand Italian soldiers who refused to serve in the fascist army were imprisoned by Germans in prisoner-of-war camps. Some of them escaped from camps located in the Polish territories.
In the Warsaw Uprising fought several people of Italian descent, both formerly residents in Poland and fugitive prisoners of war.
In the Uprising took part the children of the Italian architect Andrei Boni specialized in projects of sacred objects for example the church of the Purest Heart of Mary at Szembek Square in Warsaw:
Rifleman Jolanta Boni-Marczyńska pseudonym "Cyrce", "Sten", from 1940 to 1943 she was a scout of the Gray Ranks. In the period 1943-44 she served in the Kedyw District group of the Home Army District of Warsaw, she participated in two armed actions and in intelligence missions. In the uprising she was a runner in the headquarters of the sub-district Śródmieście Południe "Sławbor" and the Home Army district "Radwan".
C pl. Jan Maria (Giovanni) Boni pseudonym "Cerber" during the German occupation was a scout of the Gray Ranks. As a soldier in the Home Army, he served in Kedyw's intelligence and counterintelligence units under the pseudonyms "Janek", "Kos" and "Ryś". In the uprising he fought in Mokotów at Chocimska St.
Zdzisław Bacciarelli pseudonym "Bąk" was during the occupation in the "Wigry" scout battalion of the Home Army. During the uprising, he fought in the Old Town in the 2nd company "Czesław", "Wigry" battalion, "Róg" grouping, then the grouping (section) "Trzaska", Home Army Group "North". He died on August 31, 1944 on Bielańska St. during an unsuccessful attempt to break through of the troops from the Old Town to Śródmieście.
Another Italian insurgent is Pietro Ferdinando Felice Michele Maria Conversi in the "Żyrafa" Home Army grouping. He was mortally wounded on August 1, 1944.
The Italian sailor Franco Bonvicini also probably fought in the uprising. He was taken as a prisoner by the Germans in 1943 and imprisoned in a camp in Belarus. Released during the Soviet offensive, he escaped west and reached Warsaw. At the outbreak of the uprising, he was in the right bank of the Vistula river, and on August 1 or 2 he joined the Home Army unit, which he called the second company "Kamarovschi". On September 12, 1944, he was captured by the Russians and was imprisoned in the Soviet camp in Brest by Bug. He escaped from there on August 4, 1945. After a few days, he appeared in Warsaw and, based on his own statement, was registered as a prisoner of war for No. 1168 returning from German captivity from Stalag No. 232. Then he visited the PCK office in Krakow, where he obtained a certificate based on his own statement, that he is returning from forced labour in Germany. He probably did not remember the numbers of the camps in Belarus, and besides, he wanted to avoid information about his stay in the Soviet camp. He managed to reach his home city Reggio. Regarding affiliation to the Home Army unit, it was probably the 2nd company of the 2nd Celków District (Marki), commanded by Second Lieutenant Wacław Błachnio pseudonym "Znicz".
Two Italians participated in the battles in the Old Town. We know that one came from Milan. After the Uprising he left with the civilian population. The second was probably Salvatore Buccello.
Corporal Salvatore Buccello fought in the units which on August 23, 1944, captured the Police Headquarters located at 1 Krakowskie Przedmieście St. In combatant relations, it is mentioned that he fought in the "Chrobry I" battalion. After the capitulation of the uprising he went to Stalag III A Lückenwalde with prisoner no. 104918.
The combatants mentioned that the Italian volunteers were trying to join units where the most beautiful girls were. They did not split up with them even on duty. One of them was probably "Lodowico" from the "Grażyna" company of NOW-AK battalion "Gustaw". On the morning of August 15, he was placed in the insurgents hospital.
Witnesses of those times also mention six Italians fighting on Krakowskie Przedmieście St. in the area of St. Cross. Unfortunately, their personal details are not known.
Praiseworthy was the attitude of the Italian restaurateurs from Marszałkowska St. who organized food for the insurgents. They organized a field kitchen, supplying it with their own ingredients. Italian volunteers also served in various insurgent units as chefs.
The Czechs
There is some information about the Czechs fighting in the insurgent ranks.
Albin Huska from Moravian Ostrava was forcibly incorporated into the Wehrmacht. He came with the army to the vicinity of Warsaw. He made contact with the partisans, to whom he delivered a car full of medicines. After the desertion from the Wehrmacht, he took part in the uprising for 17 days in the area of Marszałkowska St., where he was wounded twice. He survived and returned to his homeland. After the war, he was awarded the Golden Cross of Merit with Swords.
Rifleman Karel Vacula from Prague fought in the ranks of the "Kampinos" Home Army grouping. He died on September 29, 1944 during the battle of Jaktorów near the village of Budy Zosine.
Senior Rifleman Officer Cadet Fryderyk Drückner pseudonym "Czech", born in Vienna, during the occupation was in the "Golski" Home Army grouping. In the uprising, he fought in the 4th platoon of the 1st company Warszawianka 1st battalion of Lech Żelazny, the grouping "Chrobry II". He died on September 30, 1944.
At the sanitary point in Śródmieście at 58 Marszałkowska St. served a number of Chechen and Slovak nurses coming from Moravian Ostrava and Banská Bystrica.
The Australians
Walter Edward Smith, born in Sydney, taken as a prisoner during the German invasion of Crete. He escaped from the POW camp and stayed hidden by the Home Army who prepared his transfer to England. Despite the warnings, he did not want to leave Warsaw. After the outbreak of the uprising, he fought in Śródmieście. Through the insurgent radio station he was passing the information to London, asking among others, for a support for the fighting Warsaw. He also asked the authorities in London to inform his family that he was alive and healthy. After the fall of the uprising, he got out of the city and fled to Krakow. There he met a priest who advised him to report to the German authorities saying that he was lost. He got beaten but survived. The Gestapo sent him back to Stalag 344. As it turned out later, the priest who advised him what to do was Karol Wojtyła. Walter Edward Smith happily returned to Sydney. Just in the late 1950s, he decided to tell his story to his nearest and dearest. In the 1980s, he was "found" by the Poles living in Australia and awarded the Warsaw Uprising Cross.
There is also an information about another Australian, a pilot, who escaped from the POW camp. He died on August 1, 1944 at 27 Narbuta St. during an unsuccessful attempt to rescue his wounded friend Jerzy Rogala Zawadzki pseudonym "Sambo," a cousin of Tadeusz Zawadzki pseudonym "Zośka." Unfortunately, the personal data of this Australian man is not known.
The Yugoslavians
The Yugoslavian doctor, Dr. Bauere, who lived before the war in Warsaw, provided medical assistance, mainly for civilians, in his own apartment at 18/20 Wilanowska St.
There are also unverified information about another Yugoslavian fighting in the insurgent ranks. Jezdimir Dangić, Bosnian Serb, born in Srebrenica, a gendarmerie officer, a Chetnik commander in Bosnia during World War II, initially collaborated with the Germans. Later he took up the fight against the fascist Croatian Ustashe. He was captured by the Germans and put in a camp in the General Govenrment. He escaped from the camp and took part in the Warsaw Uprising fighting on the Home Army side. After the end of the military operations, he was captured by the NKVD and imprisoned in Lubyanka. In 1947, he was handed over to the communist Yugoslav authorities. The court in Sarajevo sentenced him to death for war crimes and cooperation with the Germans. The verdict was made.
An Irish woman
Eileen Frances Short was born in an Irish family. Since 1935 she was in Poland, working as an English teacher. On September 4, 1939, she married Józef Garliński, whom she met in 1936. She joined the ranks of the Home Army. After the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, she became a paramedic in the "Kryska" Group, operating especially in the area of Wilanowska St. and the hospital in the ZUS building at Czerniakowska St. After the capitulation of the uprising, she left with the civilian population to the transit camp in Pruszków. She managed to get out of it; then she escaped to Great Britain. She started to work as a translator in the Ministry of the Interior of the Polish Government in exile. She also became an activist of the Polish-English Friendship Society and the chairwoman of the committee of British wives of Polish men. In 1986 she was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta by the President of the Republic of Poland in Exile.
A British man
Lt. RAF John Ward from Birmingham, after being shot down by the Germans, he was taken to a POW camp in Poznań Voivodeship, from which he escaped in April 1941. He started a cooperation with the ZWZ intelligence, then Home Army. In May 1941 he went to Warsaw. He worked there on the translation of radio programs and published his own conspiratorial English newsletter. During the Warsaw Uprising he served in the Information and Propaganda Office of the Home Army Headquarters. From August 7 to September 29, 1944, he sent to London over 100 reports and messages about the situation in the fighting Warsaw. He sent the information in English coded with the Morse code, using the radio station of Stefan and Zofia Korboński, located near Krucza St. On about 11 August he contacted Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, with whom he have cooperated since then exchanging information.
Ward's activity was one of the two main channels, in addition to the insurgent radio station "Błyskawica", informing the Western public opinion about the situation in the uprising Warsaw. Ward's dispatches were used by radio and the British press, they also reached the headquarters and the highest British politicians. In time, he became the official wartime correspondent for The Times. During the fights in Mokotów, he was lightly wounded. For heroism, he received the Cross of Valor, decorated by General Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski. On October 4, 1944, he got out of Warsaw and joined the 7th Home Army Division in the Kielce region. In 1945, he managed to get to the Warsaw District, where he revealed himself. In May of the same year he was sent from Odessa to Malta, from where he returned to Great Britain. After the war, he became an employee of MI5 (British counterintelligence).
An Austrian
Rifleman Ottokar Flandorfer pseudonym "Otto", he deserted from the Wehrmacht from Pole Mokotowskie to the unit commanded by "Grzymała" in Mokotów. He took part in the defence of the "Wawel Redoubt" until August 10, 1944. He was a very good shooter. As a sniper, he hunted RONA sharpshooters with high efficiency. He left Warsaw with civilians. He survived the war.
A German
In the ranks of the insurgents fought a deserter from the German army, a non-commissioned officer of the Luftwaffe Willy Lampe. He joined the "Bartkiewicz" grouping operating in the area of Królewska St. Initially, he taught the Home Army soldiers how to operate German weapons acquired from the SS and the Wehrmacht. Later he was delegated to General Chruściel "Monter", who commanded the Uprising.
A Nigerian
One of the most unusual characters was the black jazzman. August Agbola O'Brown pseudonym "Ali" was born in Nigeria. As a young boy, he embarked on a British ship, from which he came to England, then to the Free City of Gdańsk, and in 1922 to Warsaw. As a jazz musician and dancer, he became an attraction of Warsaw clubs, he got married and had two sons. During the occupation, he was playing in Otwock's clubs, acted as a stuntman in revues, and was involve din illegal trade, while distributing underground press. During the uprising he fought in the "Iwo-Ostoja" Home Army battalion in the area of Marszałkowska and Hoża Streets. He survived the uprising. In 1958 he emigrated with his family to Great Britain.
A Belgian
Jan Nowak-Jeziorański mentions a Belgian, a smuggler of diamonds, who on the radio "Błyskawica" delivered a fiery speech in French with an appeal for help for Warsaw to the allies in the freed (by others) Paris.
In the media space there is also an imprecise information about several Belgians fighting in the "Kampinos" Home Army Grouping.
Aviators
Discussing the participation of the foreigners in the fighting in the insurgent ranks, one can not forget about the effort and sacrifices of the Allied pilots who carried out air missions for the fighting Warsaw. The names of dozens of pilots of different nationalities are on the Memorial Wall at the Warsaw Rising Museum. Details regarding the implementation of this project can be found in the material "Allied Airdrops for the Fighting Warsaw" available on our website in the "Uprising" section.
In the Freedom Park in the Rising Museum, a monument dedicated to the memory of Allied aviators carrying the help of the Warsaw Uprising was unveiled.
Maciej Janaszek-Seydlitz
translated by: Maciej Liszewski
Copyright © 2019 Maciej Janaszek-Seydlitz. All rights reserved.
