On 2 October 1944 the Warsaw Uprising came to an end with the surrender of surviving Polish rebels to German forces.

The uprising began as the Red Army approached Warsaw two months ago. Supporting the Polish government-in-exile, they had hoped to seize control before the troops arrived as they did not want a Communist regime in Poland.

Despite initial gains, they were poorly supplied. The Germans, on the other hand, received reinforcements. While the Red Army did take a Warsaw suburb, Stalin’s ordered them not to assist the rebels. The Warsaw streets saw brutal fights between the Polish rebels and German troops. Both Churchill and Roosevelt wanted to aid the rebels, but Stalin denied use of air bases to supply the rebels. This action would be long remembered in Poland. Churchill ordered supplies be air dropped using a combination of RAF, the South African Air Force, and even the Polish Air Force. This caused Stalin to relent and use Soviet air bases to make supply drops.

However, it was too late as the Polish rebels were out of all essential supplies. After 63 days of fighting, they were forced to surrender. The Germans would swiftly deport the remaining population of Warsaw to concentration camps for extermination or slave labor. Those that participated in the uprising as members of the Polish Home Army were, according to the surrender documents, to be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention. Many choose to blend in with the civilian population to fight again another day.

Hitler ordered that Warsaw be destroyed in retaliation. This had already started after the earlier Warsaw Ghetto uprising but was accelerated. Using explosives, flamethrowers and other implements special units went through and destroyed whole neighborhoods, historical monuments, libraries, museums, government buildings, churches and anything else they could get to. By January 1945, 85% of Warsaw had been destroyed. A list compiled after the war shows how complete this destruction was.

10,455 buildings
923 historical buildings (94% of these were destroyed)
25 churches
14 libraries which includes the National Library
81 schools
64 high schools
The University of Warsaw and Warsaw University of Technology

Also, all Jewish synagogues, schools, and businesses were wiped out as well.

Aftermath

Stalin would claim later that the rebels did not coordinate their plans with them. The Polish Home Army though was both fiercely anti-German and anti-Communist, so Stalin was never going to support them. Since his prewar goal was to allow the western governments to fight and weaken themselves, the events in Poland fit with his plan. After the war and with a Communist government in place, the Soviets tried the leaders who led the uprising on a variety of charges including, ironically, fascism and even collaboration. The usual Soviet show trial was held and upon conviction sent to a gulag for the rest of their lives.

Those fortunate enough to have been captured by the Germans escaped this. Soviet propaganda tried to play both the Polish Home Guard and the Polish government-in-exile in the same way as fascists, collaborators, or worse. The Polish people, however, knew the truth so laws were enacted in Poland to forbid its citizens from criticizing either the Soviet Union or the Red Army. All references to the Polish Army in any media were banned or edited out. This did not work so they tried depicting the average Polish Home Army soldier as being led by corrupt officers. These laws remained in effect until the 1980’s. The rise of the Solidarity movement that challenged the Soviet backed regime along with the demise of the Soviet Union would end those laws. In 1989 a monument to those who revolted against the Germans was built.

Polish exiles and others in the West told stories about the heroism of the Polish Home Army. Criticism of the Soviets standing and doing nothing as the Germans battled them countered the Soviet propaganda that portrayed them as fascists or collaborators. Books were written about them along with news articles and interviews that relayed what happened in Poland. Back in Poland, despite the official bans on all reference to Polish Uprising of 1944, was not forgotten. It simply became one of many grievances the people had against both the Soviet backed Polish government and of the Soviet Union itself. Poland was invaded in 1939 by the Germans to eradicate its people, culture, and history. It is often forgotten that was the German goal. When the Soviet troops liberated Poland, if that term can apply here, they simply put another brutal dictatorship in its place. It would not be, until the Solidarity movement took shape in the 1980’s, that Poland would see positive change and with the collapse of the Soviet Union finally get back its freedom it lost in 1939.

Sources

“Warsaw Uprising.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified September 25, 2026. Accessed October 2, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/event/Warsaw-Uprising.

“Warsaw Uprising Ends | October 2, 1944 |.” HISTORY. Last modified May 27, 2025. Accessed October 2, 2026. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/october-2/warsaw-uprising-ends.

“Warsaw Uprising.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. Accessed October 2, 2026. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-warsaw-polish-uprising.

Gideon, Lester P. “The Warsaw Uprising of 1944.” The Personal Notes and Diary of EUGENIUSZ MELECH. Last modified 2004. Accessed October 2, 2026. https://www.gideon1.net/uprising/.

“The Destruction of Warsaw: The Nazi Plan to Destroy a City.” Sky HISTORY TV Channel. Accessed October 2, 2026. https://www.history.co.uk/article/the-destruction-of-warsaw-the-nazi-plan-to-obliterate-a-city.

Ed. “10 Facts About the Warsaw Uprising (1944) You May Not Know.” History Collection. Last modified July 8, 2017. Accessed October 2, 2026. https://historycollection.com/10-facts-warsaw-uprising-1944-may-not-know/.

“Chronicles of Terror.” Accessed October 2, 2026. https://www.chroniclesofterror.pl/dlibra/results?action=AdvancedSearchAction&type=-3&search_attid1=69&search_value1=Warsaw+Uprising.

Suggested Reading

[Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.]

 Bialoszewski, Miron, A Memoir of the Warsaw Uprising (New York Review of Books, 2015).

Davies, Norman. Rising ’44: The Battle for Warsaw. Penguin Books, 2005.

Richie, Alexandra. Warsaw 1944: Hitler, Himmler, and the Warsaw Uprising. Picador, 2019.