The “W” Hour Not Only in Warsaw. This is How Other Cities Honored the Memory of Heroes

The events of 80 years ago were recalled with occasional exhibitions, among others, in Poznań, Łódź, Bydgoszcz, Lublin, Wrocław and Białystok. On Thursday, the exhibition “Wielkopolska Scouts in the Warsaw Uprising” was opened at the Wielkopolska Voivodeship Office in Poznań. Descriptions of the fates of Wielkopolska scouts who fought for the freedom of Poland together with the Home Army units were placed on 18 boards. A blood drive was organised in front of the office – all those willing could donate blood as a symbol of remembrance of the fight for independence, as well as of generosity and solidarity with those in need. Also on Thursday in Poznań, in connection with the anniversary celebrations, a plaque commemorating Zofia Grodecka (pseudonyms “Ewa”, “Biała Ewa”), a heroine of the Warsaw Uprising, a veteran of the Home Army, and an outstanding ethnographer, was unveiled on the wall of a block of flats on Rocha Street.

In Łódź, before the “W” hour, the Institute of National Remembrance unveiled the exhibition “To the Relief of the Warsaw Uprising” on the Manufaktura Market Square, while on the square in front of the Łódź Archcathedral, the exhibition “Children's Traces of the Warsaw Uprising” prepared by the Museum of Polish Children – Victims of Totalitarianisms was displayed. In accordance with a long-standing tradition, at 5 p.m., the people of Łódź met at the Old Cemetery by the grave of Barbara Nazdrowicz “Wiewiórki”. This scout, and liaison officer in the uprising, died on September 19, 1944 at the age of 15. Her ashes were transferred to her hometown after the war. For years, her grave was treated as a symbolic grave of the Warsaw Uprising in Łódź.

In Bydgoszcz, the exhibition “Bydgoszcz Remembers. We Wanted to Be Free and Owe Freedom to Ourselves” prepared by the Warsaw Uprising Museum is presented on the market square. At the “W” hour, air raid sirens sounded, followed by a patriotic ceremony during which the film “Warsaw Uprising” directed by Jerzy Komasa and the short film “City of Ruins” were shown.

In Lublin, the Institute of National Remembrance presented an exhibition on Litewski Square devoted to the events of 80 years ago. In the evening, a concert in tribute to the insurgents will be held on the same square, with the participation of artists and soloists from Lublin stages.

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, an exhibition was opened at the Ossoliński National Institute in Wrocław. The exhibition was created based on, among others, the archives of Jan Nowak-Jeziorański and Władysław Bartoszewski. Official celebrations with the participation of representatives of government and local government authorities took place on the Old Town Promenade at the monument of Captain Witold Pilecki. In the evening, the market square will host the spectacle “Hour in Pictures”, prepared by the Zajezdnia History Center and the Wrocław City Hall. It is a form of musical drama, the content of which is post-war musical pieces and literature related to the Warsaw Uprising.

In Krakow, the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising was commemorated with a minute of silence during a patriotic ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. In the evening, a mass for the homeland and soldiers who died for freedom was planned in the capital of Małopolska, in the Wawel Cathedral. The Krakow authorities decorated the city with state, city and European Union flags to mark the anniversary, and characteristic objects: the Father Bernatka Footbridge, the Lipska-Wielicka Viaduct, the Tauron Arena Krakow and the TV Tower on Krzemionki were illuminated in national colors.

Anniversary ceremonies were also held in Gdynia, Sopot and Gdańsk. The celebrations in front of the monument to the Polish Underground State at Targ Rakowy in Gdańsk were attended by a Warsaw insurgent, a witness to the events of 80 years ago, Andrzej Kaczorowski, who – with a breaking voice – emphasised that for him and for every insurgent – the anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising is an important ceremony.

In the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, the Warsaw Uprising has been commemorated in a unique way for years by the residents of Dąbrówno in Ostróda County, where the oldest chapel in the country dedicated to this event stands. It was unveiled on August 1, 1946, and the uprising itself was called “August Uprising,” as this was how the event was called at the time. At 5 p.m., the residents of this commune and tourists organized a roll call of the fallen at the chapel, and after it they listened to a lecture about the events of 80 years ago and sang songs of the uprising.

In Szczecin, in addition to the sound of sirens, public transport was suspended on August 1 at 5 p.m. Vehicles stopped for a minute.

In Koszalin, reenactment groups presented life in occupied Warsaw, and the reenactment ended with the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising and the insurgents' assault on the building of the German office, which was transformed into the building of School Complex No. 1 (“Ekonom”) for the duration of the reenactment. Over 100 reenactors took part in the reenactment, not only from Koszalin; history enthusiasts from Poland and Germany also came, presenting unique collections of equipment used in the Warsaw Uprising.

Świnoujście honored the heroes of the Warsaw Uprising with the sound of sirens and typhoons on ships and Navy vessels, and flares were fired from lifeguard towers on the Świnoujście beach and boats. In the evening, a concert of patriotic songs performed by a military orchestra was planned in the local bandstand on the promenade, followed by the spectacle “Freedom I Love and Understand” prepared by students of the 1st High School in Świnoujście.

The anniversary celebrations in Kielce began at noon with the lighting of candles at the grave of the Warsaw insurgent Wacław Wilk-Wilczyński, pseudonym “Mały”, who rests at the Old Cemetery on Ściegiennego Street. Then, in the afternoon, a mass was celebrated in the Garrison Church on Chęcińska Street for those who died for the freedom of their homeland.

In Białystok, in addition to the official celebrations on Thursday afternoon with the participation of, among others, local government authorities at the Home Army monument, at the “W” hour, an exhibition dedicated to the sculptor's participation in the Warsaw Uprising was opened at the Alfons Karny Sculpture Museum. It presents a unique collection of Karny's memorabilia, which includes objects related to the uprising and the sculptor's fate during the occupation. These include, among others, insurgent armbands, archives, and correspondence. In turn, the Białystok Army Museum presented an exhibition of works by the designer of the famous “Kubuś” armored vehicle, Walerian Bielecki, alias “Inżynier Jan”. The exhibition presents drawings and watercolours by Bielecki depicting primarily – as the museum lists – the everyday life of the fighting capital: insurgent patrols, street barricades, burnt German tanks, buildings turned into ruins, civilian queues for water.

The Warsaw Uprising broke out on August 1, 1944 at 5:00 p.m. It was the largest armed action of the underground in German-occupied Europe and the largest independence uprising in occupied Poland. Around 40-50 thousand insurgents joined the fight in the capital. Planned for a few days, it lasted over two months. During the fighting in Warsaw, around 18 thousand insurgents died, 25 thousand were wounded. Losses among the civilian population amounted to around 180 thousand killed. The surviving inhabitants of Warsaw, around 500 thousand people, were expelled from the city.