Wola massacre
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|
Wola genocide | |
---|---|
Part of Poles | |
Attack type | Genocide |
Deaths | 40,000–50,000[1] |
Perpetrators | Nazi Germany |
Motive | Warsaw Uprising suppression |
The Wola massacre (
Tens of thousands of Polish civilians along with captured
The Germans anticipated that these atrocities would crush the insurrectionists' will to fight and put the uprising to a swift end.[6] However, the ruthless pacification of Wola only stiffened Polish resistance, and it took another two months of heavy fighting for the Germans to regain control of the city.
Massacre
The Warsaw Uprising broke out on 1 August 1944. During the first few days the
On 5 August, three German battle groups started their advance toward the city centre from the western outskirts of the Wola district, along
Shortly after their advance toward the centre of Warsaw began, the two lead battle groups – Kampfgruppe "Rohr" (led by Generalmajor Günter Rohr) and Kampfgruppe "Reinefarth" (led by Heinz Reinefarth) – were halted by heavy fire from Polish resistance fighters. Unable to proceed forward, some of the German troops began to go from house to house carrying out their orders to shoot all inhabitants. Many civilians were shot on the spot but some were killed after torture and sexual assault.[2] Estimates vary, but Reinefarth himself has estimated that up to 10,000 civilians were killed in the Wola district on 5 August alone, the first day of the operation.[12][unreliable source?] Most of the victims were the elderly, women and children.[13][page needed]
The majority of these atrocities were committed by troops under the command of Oskar Dirlewanger and SS-Brigadeführer Bronislav Kaminski.[4] Research historian Martin Gilbert, from the University of Oxford, wrote:[14]
More than fifteen thousand Polish civilians had been murdered by German troops in Warsaw. At 5:30 that evening [August 5], General Erich von dem Bach gave the order for the execution of women and children to stop. But the killing continued of all Polish men who were captured, without anyone bothering to find out whether they were insurrectionists or not. Nor did either the Cossacks or the criminals in the Kaminsky and Dirlewanger brigades pay any attention to von dem Bach Zelewski's order: by rape, murder, torture and fire, they made their way through the suburbs of Wola and Ochota, killing in three days of slaughter a further thirty thousand civilians, including hundreds of patients in each of the hospitals in their path.
Two hours before midnight on 5 August the Azerbaijani soldiers and Bergmann Battalion attacked St Lazarus hospital, executed hundreds of patients, doctors, and nurses, before burning it down.[15]
On 5 August, the
On 7 August, the German ground forces were strengthened further. To enhance their effectiveness, the Germans began to use civilians as
German units[
Between 8 and 23 August the SS formed groups of men from the Wola district into the so-called Verbrennungskommando ("burning detachment"), who were forced to hide evidence of the massacre by burning the victims' bodies and homes.[3] Most of the men put to work in such groups were later executed.[citation needed]
On 12 August, the order was given to stop the indiscriminate killing of Polish civilians in Wola.
Aftermath
No one belonging to the German forces who took part in the atrocities committed during the
In May 2008, a list of several former SS Dirlewanger members who were still alive was compiled and published by the
See also
- Suppression of Mokotów
- Ochota massacre
- Wawer massacre
- Military history of the Warsaw Uprising
- Nazi crimes against ethnic Poles
- Tchorek plaques
- Nanjing Massacre
Notes
- Hague Convention. 2. The non-fighting part of the population, women, children, shall also be killed. 3. The whole city shall be razed to the ground, i.e. its buildings, streets, facilities, and everything within its borders. Wroniszewski 1970, pp. 128–129).
- ^ "[...] The Führer is not interested in the further existence of Warsaw [...] the whole population shall be executed and all buildings blown up. Madajczyk 1972, p. 390
References
- ISBN 978-1440858963.
- ^ ISBN 0-85045-417-4.
- ^ a b "Timeline". Warsaw Uprising. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
- ^ a b "Warsaw Uprising of 1944: Part 5 – "They Are Burning Warsaw"". Poloniatoday.com. 5 August 1944. Archived from the original on 28 January 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
- ^ Borowiec, Andrew. Destroy Warsaw!: Hitler's Punishment, Stalin's Revenge. p. 101.
- ^ Warsaw Uprising Museum
- ISBN 978-0224081412.
- ^ "Warsaw Uprising: Rona, Bronislaw Kaminski". warsawuprising.com. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-7818-1302-0.
- ISBN 3-930849-32-1
- ISBN 0517161613.
- ^ "The Rape of Warsaw". Stosstruppen39-45.tripod.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2009.
- ISBN 0-7818-0901-0.
- ISBN 0-8050-7623-9.
- ISBN 978-0-374-28655-2. Archivedfrom the original on 9 November 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
- ^ "1944: Uprising to free Warsaw begins". BBC News. 1 August 2002. Archived from the original on 14 July 2007. Retrieved 19 June 2007.
- ^ (in Polish) Służba sanitarna w Powstaniu Warszawskim: Wola Archived 10 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine, SPPW1944
- ISBN 0300084323. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2012.)
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ignored (help - ISBN 0-415-26038-8.
- ISBN 1-902806-38-7.
- ^ "Syn warszawskiej Niobe". polskatimes.pl. 31 July 2009. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
- ^ Odkryta kartoteka zbrodniarzy Archived 8 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Rzeczpospolita, 17 May 2008.
External links
- Witness testimony on German massacre of Polish hospital patients Archived 8 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine
- Witness testimony on German massacre of Polish civilians in Wola Archived 24 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine
- (in German) Nacht über Wola, Der Spiegel 1962
- Genocide in Wola – a district sentenced to death – collection of civilian testimonies from "Chronicles of Terror"
- Unraveling a 70-Year-Old Photographic Mystery – Tereska, the girl from famous David Seymour's photography, revealed to be a survivor of the Wola Massacre
- The forgotten genocide – Wola massacre by Piotr Gursztyn