80th Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising

Redakcja / Editorial staff, 27 July 2024
Nurses, liaison personnel, soldiers on the barricades – on the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Warsaw Uprising, we recall some of their stories – people who, after the war, were honoured with the title of Righteous Among the Nations. We recall the stories of civilians of Poles and of Jews in hiding. It is estimated that on the day of the outbreak of the Uprising, 1st August 1944, there were several thousand Jews in occupied Warsaw who had, thus far, managed to avoid death. Learn about their fate on our portal. View archival photographs and oral history interviews from the collection of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

“The final meeting of Jewish political parties took place on 1st August 1944. While the long meeting and heated discussions were happening, the Warsaw Uprising broke out”, recalled Eugenia Wąsowska-Leszczyńska, honoured after the war with the title of Righteous Among the Nations. 

“All the activists of the Bund Central Committee and the KK [ed: Coordination Commission], who took part in this meeting, along with their leader Dr. Lean Fajner, remained in my apartment throughout the entire uprising until the end of hostilities. Maybe that’s why everyone came out alive from the Uprising.”

“During the Uprising, my apartment became a large gathering place for Poles and Jews, who came from various political directions and worked together with various military formations. And, amongst them were wounded soldiers and Polish Uprising participants, whom I always helped to the best of my abilities”, wrote Wąsowska-Leszczyńska.

Read a selection of stories about the Warsaw Uprising participants and the civilian population – Poles and Jewish in Hiding:

  1. Anna Bando (née Stupnicka), pseud. “Anna”, nurse, II Obwód AK “Żywiciel”
  2. Władysław Bartoszewski, pseud. “Teofil”, AK Central Command, Bureau of Information and Propaganda
  3. Mieczysław Fogg, pseud. “Ptaszek”, artist-singer, AK Bureau of Information and Propagand
  4. Tadeusz Gebethner, pseud. “Gustaw”, 3rd Tank Battalion AK “Golski”, Southern Section Commander
  5. Janina Rożecka (née Gutowska), pseud. “Dora”, liaison, II Obwód AK “Żywiciel”
  6. Aleksander Kamiński, pseud. “Hubert”, editor “Information Bulletin”, AK Central Command
  7. Irena Sendler (née Krzyżanowska), pseud. “Jolanta”, nurse, nursing station on ul. Łowicka
  8. Eugenia Wąsowska-Leszczyńska as well as Jewish underground activists, including Leon Feiner
  9. The Witkowski family and Jewish refugees from the Warsaw Uporising
  10. Jadwiga Wolf (née Przybylska), pseud. “Iga”, nurse, AK “Chrobry II” group
  11. Jan Żabiński, pseud. “Franciszek”, AK “Kiliński” Battalion
  12. Zbigniew and Kazimiera Zieliński and their son Ryszard, as well as Kazimierz and Paulina Berkow

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