Aug 1, 2012
Every August first, Warsaw stops what it’s doing to remember 200,000 dead
The Warsaw Uprising began on August 1, 1944. For the next 63 days, Poland’s army fought the Nazis, trying to liberate their capital. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union’s advance that should have left the Germans vulnerable, but…
…various military and political miscalculations, as well as global politics — played among Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt — turned the dice against [Warsaw]. [source]
The effort lasted nine weeks and failed, leaving 200,000 Polish dead, mainly civilians. Every year, Warsaw commemorates this horrific tragedy with a minute of stillness. It is tremendously moving, needless to say…
* * * * *
I’m pretty sure that was the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto, the Poles and Soviets sat on the sidelines while they got slaughtered.
The Jews in Warsaw were Poles, too. The Warsaw ghetto was liquidated by the Nazis in 1942. The Warsaw uprising in 1944, which this August 1 commemoration notes, resulted in 200,000 Poles dying while trying to drive out the Nazis but did not have support from the Soviets. Two different events, tragic results in both cases.
It was the Warsaw Uprising. The Polish resistance staged an uprising with the intent of aiding in the liberation of Warsaw in advance of Soviet troops, in the hope that they would have some sort of say on what form the liberation of their country would take. They expected that the Soviets, within miles of the city, would also press forward with their offensive, thereby defeating the Germans. But the Soviets stopped their offensive, enabling the Germans to concentrate on the Polish resistance. The Poles fought for 63 days with almost no outside assistance, before they were finally defeated.
The Warsaw Ghetto uprising by rhe Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto took place a year prior.
Thank you for the mini lesson. Makes the clip even more significant.
How incredibly touching. We remember the past in hopes of never repeating it. Sto lat.
I didn’t even watch the video and I’m already crying my eyes out.
I’m glad they take time to do this, but I’m sorry they have to at the same time.