For 63 days (from August 1 to October 3, 1944), Warsaw fought alone against the German occupiers. Soldiers, scouts and civilians, doing what they could in a heroic effort to fight for freedom and surival, suffered huge casualties and made the ultimate sacrifice. Crushing the uprising meant the destruction of the city. Join us on a moving journey on the trail of the Warsaw Uprising.
The Polish Army Command wanted to liberate the capital to prevent Soviet domination. Operation “Storm”, which was one of the key steps in the outbreak of the uprising, failed. The Red Army idly watched the brutal destruction of Warsaw from the east bank of the river and help from the West was simply insufficient to be able to tip the balance of victory to the insurgents. Within three months of the uprising, 16,000 Polish soldiers died, almost as many were taken captive and approximately 20,000 were wounded. The number of civilian casualties reached 200,000. The world just watched the utter devastation of a huge city in the heart of Europe. Participants in the uprising displayed heroic valor, fighting to the end for every house and alley. Meanwhile, the German occupiers treated both the participants and the civilian population of the city with absolute cruelty.
During our visit we will tell you about the most dramatic moments of the uprising. Among other places, we will visit St. John’s Cathedral, which couldn’t be saved from the destruction. We will also see Podwale, near the Raczynski Palace, to hear the story about the explosion of a German armored vehicle, which killed more than 300 people. We will visit the palace itself, where the Germans massacred patients in the insurgent hospital, and Wola, where thousands of civilians were killed. Other interesting points on the tour include the monument to the Little Insurgent, Warsaw Uprising Monument and Krasinski Square, where there is also a sewer manhole that allowed thousands of insurgents to be evacuated from the Old Town.