First four days of Warsaw Uprising (part 3)

Praga District: The Uprising also started on the right bank of the Vistula River, where the main task was to seize the bridges and secure the bridgeheads until the arrival of the Red Army. Since the location was far worse than that of the other areas, it was clear that there was no chance of any help from outside. After some minor initial successes, the forces of Lieutenant Colonel Żurowski (“Andrzej”) were outnumbered by the Germans. The Home Army forces are forced back underground. On August 3, resistance in Praga finally ends.

Please read Killing Warsaw to discover more about this major World War II battle that lasted 63 days with average of 3,500 killed every day of the Rising.

On the second day of the Warsaw Uprising, with the news about it, General Stefan “Grot” (Spearhead) Rowecki is murdered in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He was a former commander of the Home Army. In February 1943, he ordered the Home Army to help the Jewish underground planning to mount ghetto uprisings throughout occupied territories. In particular, Rowecki authorized aid to the Jewish underground in the Warsaw Ghetto before and during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by providing arms and mounting diversionary attacks.