Ireneusz Rudnicki, pseudonym “Emir”, a soldier of the “Kiliński” battalion, has died at the age of 102. He was one of the insurgents who hung the Polish flag on the captured building of “PAST-y”.
“Very sad news on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. Ireneusz Rudnicki, pseudonym “Emir”, a soldier of the “Kiliński” battalion, has died in the USA at the age of 102,” representatives of the “Nie Zapominaj O Nas, Powstańcach Warszawskich” foundation reported on social media.
As they added, Ireneusz Rudnicki was one of the insurgents who hung the Polish flag on the captured “PAST” building. “In March, he celebrated his 73rd wedding anniversary with his wife Danuta, a medic from the Uprising! They met after the war in exile,” they recalled.
What was the secret of their love? – Above all, understanding, division of duties, common interests are important. We never argued about who should do what. It wasn't easy, but we were always inseparable – repeated Ms. Danuta, quoted by the foundation.
80th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising, which broke out on August 1, 1944 at 5:00 p.m., was the largest armed action of the underground in German-occupied Europe. 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 and 25 thousand were wounded. Losses among the civilian population were enormous and amounted to around 180 thousand dead. The surviving inhabitants of Warsaw, around 500 thousand people, were expelled from the city, which the Germans began to systematically destroy after the uprising.
Main image source: Don't Forget About Us, Warsaw Insurgents