A few words of commentary to the Uprising calendar of 1944.


         Notes in a pocket diary were made during the Uprising and after its collapse; including the first period of captivity.

         At the time when the Uprising broke out I was a (17-year-old) boy brought up in a patriotic family of practicing Catholics, who had never been away from home for a longer period of time. I mention this because a clash with the harsh reality of the Uprising was a hardly bearable thought. It was especially connected with the time of my illness when I was left alone with people I did not know (though they were very kind) when I lost touch with my friends and current news. Religious practices gained at my parental home doubtlessly, in this critical time, were very helpful to me. I also believed that thanks to these practices I survived both the captivity and the Uprising, when several times I was literally close to death, yet I managed to come out of the Uprising without a scratch.

         My notes constitute a fervent record of what I experienced or heard and might not always be compatible with objective and versatile studies related to the Uprising and especially to my battalion (e.g. Robert Bielecki's book entitled '"Gustaw" - "Harnaś" two Uprising Battalions'). It relates, among others, to the number of people that was changeable, the number of casualties, those wounded and lost. Ultimately as the above mentioned book said the losses, in general, amounted to 50% of the total battalion number.

         The notes partly encompass the time of captivity so I decided, in a very short form, to include and elaborate on the memories related to this period.

         I found it right to include the Prologue comprising the time before the Uprising, as well as the Epilogue from the time of liberation by American troops, until the return to Poland in September 1946 and my first clash with the "socialist" reality.


         In the end my short memories will be made up of the following:

         1. Prologue - the period before the Uprising

         2. Notes from the diary

             part 1 the Uprising 01.08. 1944 - 05. 10. 1944.

             part 2 Captivity 06.10.1944. - 04.1945.

         3. Epilogue - the period after the liberation 04.1944. - 10.1946.

Janusz Gunderman


translated by Lukasz Glowacki

Janusz Gunderman, born on November 24th, 1926 in Poznan the NOW and the Home Army Corporal pps. "2671", "Janusz" "Gustaw Harnaś" Battalion "Aniela" Company prisoner of war no. 140334