{"id":56672,"date":"2024-08-01T06:58:50","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T04:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=56672"},"modified":"2025-08-01T00:18:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T22:18:26","slug":"the-lesson-of-courage-patriotism-and-love-of-freedom-that-poland-gave-to-the-world-in-1944","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2024\/08\/01\/the-lesson-of-courage-patriotism-and-love-of-freedom-that-poland-gave-to-the-world-in-1944\/","title":{"rendered":"The lesson of courage, patriotism and love of Freedom that Poland gave to the world in 1944"},"content":{"rendered":"

On August 1st, at 5:00 p.m., the sirens will sound in Warsaw to remember one of the most heroic deeds of World War II.<\/p>\n

Warsaw 1944: when Poland rose against the Third Reich ... and Stalin stand idly by<\/a><\/rel>
\nArmia Krajowa: the history of the greatest resistance movement of the World War II<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

It was at 5:00 p.m. (W-hour) on August 1, 1944, 80 years ago today, when Armia Krajowa (AK, Home Army), the largest resistance organization of World War II,<\/a> took up arms against Nazi Germany,<\/strong> which had occupied Poland for almost four years. Many of those insurgents were Polish Catholics who had taken a solemn oath when joining the AK:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Before God Almighty and Mary the Blessed Virgin, Queen of the Polish Crown, I pledge allegiance to my Fatherland, the Republic of Poland.<\/strong> I pledge to steadfastly guard Her honour, and to fight for Her liberation with all my strength, even to the extent of sacrificing my own life.\"<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/div>\n
Volunteers of the Armia Krajowa during an oath-taking ceremony.<\/div>\n

These insurgents, most of them very young, were poorly armed<\/strong> and wore uniforms captured from the Germans. On their arm they wore an armband with the colours of the Polish flag and the letters \"WP\"<\/strong> (Wojsko Polskie, Polish Army), which legally identified them as combatants according to the Geneva Convention.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Soldiers of the 1st \"Wigry\" Company of the AK \"Kilinski\" Battalion at a funeral on Zgoda Street, during the Warsaw Uprising.<\/div>\n

The Warsaw insurgents were outnumbered by the Germans,<\/strong> but they hoped to secure the liberation of their homeland before the Soviets reached Warsaw and imposed a communist dictatorship there. In a formidable display of courage, the Warsaw Uprising resisted the Germans for two months<\/strong>, even fighting them in the city's sewers. Hitler's revenge was terrible, and the Germans left Warsaw almost completely razed to the ground<\/strong>, so much so that at the end of the war there were doubts as to whether it could be rebuilt.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Jewish prisoners of the G\u0119si\u00f3wka concentration camp in Warsaw, together with Polish insurgents from the \"Zo\u015bka\" Battalion of the Armia Krajowa who had just liberated them in August 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising.<\/div>\n

Even despite the defeat, the heroism of the Warsaw insurgents lived on and served as an example to the Polish people<\/strong> to continue the resistance against the country's new occupiers, the Soviets, because contrary to what some claim, Poland was not liberated: the communists took the place of the Nazis, replacing one occupation with another<\/strong> and one dictatorship with another.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
The \"Kotwica\" (Anchor) was the emblem of the Armia Krajowa. It was an anagram of the letters W and P, which were usually identified as \"Polska Walcz\u0105ca\" (Fighting Poland) and \"Wojsko Polskie\" (Polish Army). The designer of this emblem was Anna Smole\u0144ska, an art history student who fought in the Polish resistance. She was arrested by the Gestapo on 3 November 1942. She died of typhus in the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp on 19 March 1943.<\/div>\n

A few weeks before the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, a song called \"Warszawskie dzieci\" (Children of Warsaw) was written.<\/strong> It is one of my favourite Polish songs. I have always found its first verse very inspiring<\/strong> and it symbolises the indomitable spirit that the Polish people have always had:<\/p>\n

Nie z\u0142amie wolnych \u017cadna kl\u0119ska,
\nNie strwo\u017cy \u015bmia\u0142ych \u017caden trud.<\/strong>
\nP\u00f3jdziemy razem do zwyci\u0119stwa,
\nGdy rami\u0119 w rami\u0119 stanie lud.<\/p>\n

No defeat will crush free men,
\nno difficulty will frighten the brave.<\/strong>
\nLet us go together towards victory,
\nwhen the people rise shoulder to shoulder.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/div>\n
Three young men from the \"Miot\u0142a\" Battalion of the Armia Krajowa during the Warsaw Uprising. From left to right, Tadeusz Rajszczak \"Maszynka\" (15 years old), Kazimierz Gabara \"\u0141uk\" (17 years old) and Ryszard Micha\u0142 Lach \"Pestka\" (17 years old).<\/div>\n

In 1944, the people of Poland gave the world a lesson in courage, patriotism and love of freedom.<\/strong> Today, there are only a few survivors of the Warsaw Uprising, but their testimony and acts of heroism live on in the Polish people. The world must never forget the sacrifice of those heroes<\/strong> who took up arms to liberate their homeland from some of the worst invaders and criminals history has ever known. The memory of those \"children of Warsaw\" continues to send a message to the world: courage, honour, love of the homeland and the defence of freedom<\/strong> - values \u200b\u200bthat will never expire because they are part of the very core of our Western civilisation.<\/p>\n

Cze\u015b\u0107 i chwa\u0142a bohaterom!
\nHonor and glory to the heroes!<\/big><\/p>\n

P.S.: You can listen to the song \"Warszawskie dzieci\" here:<\/p>\n