Honouring the Warsaw Uprising With the Developers of WARSAW

Right in the centre of Poland’s capital, Warsaw, the Rondo Dmowskiego streams as busily as London’s Oxford Circus or New York’s Times Square. It is always a bustling intersection of the city but today, with an abundance of vehicles and people careening by, it is an even busier picture. Where distinctive red and yellow trams would normally glide by the towering commercial buildings, instead countless thousands of all ages are mingling ever-closer together. The only vehicles are the odd interspersed police unit with a few broadcasting trucks, scrambled upon like ants by those wishing to get a better view of the rising groundswell. Amidst the occasional clustered chant breaking out, the electric atmosphere is not down to a megastar’s impending stage entrance, nor the solemnity of a memorial. There is however a rippling sense of pride, an energy bubbling underfoot, all building towards exactly 5pm on this specific day, 1st August 2019.

This date marks the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, whereupon 50,000 Polish Home Army insurgents took back their capital city, gaining control within a few days. In swift retaliation, German reinforcements attacked en masse, as well as bombarding with air strikes and artillery. The Polish forces held out, hoping desperately for the Red Army, which held positions close to the city, to move in and turn the tide.

The Russians wouldn’t arrive until it was far too late. Eventually, with the Polish resistance’s resources exhausted and countless lives lost, including more than 150,000 civilians, the Home Army surrendered on 2nd October 1944. In all, the Warsaw Uprising lasted for 63 days.

Every year, the anniversary honours and remembers the heavy price paid by all those who lost so much, whilst celebrating the immense bravery and incredible actions carried out by these inspiring men and women.

At 5pm precisely, billowing red and white plumes erupt from hundreds of flares, thousands of…