大象传媒

The following story appears courtesy of and with thanks to Marushka (Maria) and Zygmunt Skarbek-Kruszewski and George (Jurek) Zygmunt Skarbek.

We left our hiding places and peered through the window. We could just hear the departing footsteps nearing the gates. People were coming down to our yard-forum. Soon the yard was filled with people, all relating the latest happenings. Several S.S. men, armed to the teeth, had forced our main gate. Going along the walls they entered by different staircases. Not meeting any opposition, they entered the flats and started a spot check, searching for insurgents. Most of the men were able to hide.
In some flats men were found. After, checking their documents, the permanent residents of our flats were left in peace. A few who came from outside were shot. Some of the S.S. men were looking for insurgents in chests of drawers and commodes and some valuables disappeared into the pockets of the S.S. men. Our housing block had paid its first tribute. When dusk came we could see from the northern part of the city the glow of fires and smoke clouds which dispersed as darkness was deepening. At night only the glow of burning fires remained over the fighting in Warsaw. At three o'clock in the morning I was awakened by sounds coming from the yard. The door of the balcony was open and I listened. Again the sound of boots and then some loud orders issued in German - a reply in broken German. Once again steps under our balcony. "Where is the entrance to the basement?" asked a German voice with a cock of the rifle and a door closing on the first floor.
We stayed in bed as there was no sense in constant hiding. Half an hour passed and the Germans were still in the block. We could hear the splintering of wood as doors were broken down. Again voices in the yard, some barking orders and, at last, silence.
We did not sleep much that night. In the early morning a German officer and a few soldiers came back again. They were fully armed. He gave his orders to the people who were in yard. People living in this housing block had to choose from amongst themselves a commander of the block who had to allocate duties. The commander would be responsible for order and discipline with his head. The guards must watch the gates constantly.
Gates had to be locked and opened only on German orders. If only one shot was fired from the block, all the inhabitants would brought to the yard and "Here" he yelled and waved his revolver, indicating the wall, "they will be immediately shot." He gave one more look at the scared pale faces and left, followed by his soldiers who were holding their machine guns, ready to riot. We all remained motionless until they left the gate and sounds of hobnailed boots quietened down and the S.S men disappeared from view. Those who did not understand German asked for details of his speech. Within minutes our whole forum was full of people, even those who were inside during the issuing of orders. One of the members of the co-operative was asked to become the commandant. Guards were chosen to be relieved every four hours.
Now our block and our entire suburb came under full control of the Germans.
Groups of partisans had left in the direction of Pulawska street. We were faced with a difficult problem. How to protect our block from the irresponsible actions of a few men who could invoke a bloody retaliation by the Germans. One ill-advised shot from a window or from behind the wall would have to be paid for very dearly - with the death of a hundred defenceless people. Could somebody come to help us? Most unlikely. Our suburb was now completely in the hands of the Germans. They were the masters of life and death. To keep alive, to keep over one hundred families living was the duty of the guards who watched the gates and controlled the roofs, attics and basements.
However, it did happen!
When most people were busy preparing a midday meal, some shots were fired into the street from a window of the staircase. Who fired? Nobody knew. Not many had heard the shots but a few seconds later we all heard a loud, rumbling crash and our whole block trembled. We all jumped to our feet. The crashing noise was repeated a few more times. Looking from our balcony I saw broken glass, bricks and plaster tumbling into our block. Over the front of our block facing Rakovicka Street dark reddish smoke was rising. In panic, people started to run to the basement.
This was the German revenge on our block. Cannons stood in the field of Mokotow and they opened fire, directed at our block. Two storeys of the front were smashed and a few large holes appeared in the walls and roof. Nobody was killed. Those who used to live in the flats facing the main street now lived permanently in the basement as this side of the building had previously been damaged by machine guns and windows were broken.
Would the Germans leave us alone now? Had they satisfied their revenge? This thought was uppermost in our minds. Remembering the words ... 鈥渋f even one shot be fired ...,鈥� this thought sent shivers down our spines. Frightened faces and feverish eyes were looking through the crowded basement windows. Maybe they were on the way with machine guns to kill us all, lined up against the wall? These were hard moments, grating on the nerves. The tightly-packed crowd was waiting for its destiny. We heard a grumbling noise further away, shots and a jarring sound of metal on the street. "Those are tanks" people whispered. They came nearer very quickly and the walls began to tremble. Heavy Tigers, shooting from their gun turrets, were tearing the asphalt with their caterpillar wheels. "My God, will they be shooting at us?" asked a woman, leaning against the shaking walls. The tanks with their beastly screech passed us quickly, entering the Mokotow field in a scattered battle order, and disappeared from our sight.
Evening came. Depressed and tired, we were settling down for sleep. In the long basement, passages were filled with deck chairs and plank beds. Tired children were crying and old people, lying under the walls in uncomfortable positions, were sighing heavily. Piled luggage made it hard to move. On suitcases were candles, giving some light. It was a sad picture. Mothers were feeding their children with bits of food - no milk. Grown-ups did not eat an evening meal. The ghost of starvation was hovering over our block. Many had finished their supplies. Our co-operative shop was sold out. More and more people went to sleep hungry.
Our family also got ready for the night. From our balcony I saw the empty yard. The fires over Warsaw were casting a pale glow over the roofs and from the field of Mokotow came volleys of shots. In the neighbouring street I could hear an occasional single shot echoing along the walls. Our guards were patrolling the yard. From the windows next door I could hear loud sobbing.
At two in the morning we were awakened by the ringing of the bell and insistent hammering at our door. Marushka rushed to open it.
"Who is there?"
"Aufmachne" (open the door). Marushka obeyed and two S.S. men entered with their automatic guns in their hands.
"Are there men in this flat?" was their first question.
"Yes,鈥� answered Marushka in German after a second's hesitation.
"How many?"
"Two. My husband and our friend who is staying with us."
One of them opened the door of the first room where Czeslaw was sleeping and both entered.
"Documents,鈥� yelled one, shining his torch in Czeslaw's face. Czeslaw gave him his passport. They started checking.
"He is a foreigner,鈥� called one, reeling on his feet. They were drunk.
"Out with him into the yard,鈥� he yelled, pushing his gun towards Czeslaw. We knew what that meant. The life of our friend was hanging just by a thread.
Enter Marushka. There are moments when strong words of a woman can achieve miracles. In her perfect German she flooded them with words interjected with "foreigner,鈥� "travel orders,鈥� "army follower". They were impressed. The less drunk one, pulling his companion by the sleeves, started to edge towards the door. They forgot about me and left. We could hear their receding footsteps. They whistled through their fingers calling others and at last left our yard.
We could not go to sleep that night. Who could sleep with this white glow of the fighting Warsaw. We sat on the balcony. The opposite walls were bathed in the glow of fires. A light wind carried some burnt paper and the smell of burning. In the yard were the measured steps of the guards. From the balcony next to ours came heavy sighing and whispered prayers and, on the ground floor, a woman was crying. We could hear her sobbing for a long time.
During this night drunken S.S. men attacked four women in our block.
In the morning shooting intensified in the suburbs surrounding us. The rumours were that the insurgents were attacking from Puiawa Street. The heavy cannonade which we had heard during the first days of the uprising had stopped. Some planes were circling over the city. At about ten o'clock Germans appeared again. This time there were many army men in their camouflage uniforms holding their automatic guns at the ready. They covered all the exits and ordered all men to come down to the yard. There was no way out. Slowly and full of distrust we assembled in the yard. We were surrounded by the S.S. men. Behind them stood our women, weeping. Their sons, husbands and brothers were here. The Germans ordered us to line up against the walls with hands up. A thorough search did not reveal any arms. After the search was completed we were let go free. Thus ended the act of pacification of our block.
From this day onwards the Germans visited our block more often in a random fashion. They tried to converse with the inhabitants, they came and sat on benches in the yard, they tried to play with the children, they offered smokes to the men and smiled at the women. After the pacification of the block, they tried to win over its inhabitants.
They were getting bored sitting in the trenches on the fields of Mokotow - nobody was shooting at them. Here one could be with people, look at good-looking women and play with children. The children were just children; it did not matter that they were Polish children. There was the same childish prattle, the same tiny little hands touching them. Many of the soldiers had in their 'Heimat' similar toddlers who also tried to pull out the bayonets leaning against their daddies. What a pleasant feeling to remember. The soldiers would try to speak to the mothers in a mixture of German and Polish words. They would open their tunics and show their most treasured possessions - photos of their families and, pointing to the snaps, would say "I have two children. Here, look, my daughter two years, look here is my Frau.鈥�
The German soldiers felt good. It was so much better to talk like this than to sit in the damp trenches. One could even forget the war for a little while. A queer thing is war and its psychology. Yesterday they were threatening to shoot us all and today they are playing with our children. Yesterday there was a brutal search and attack and today they come as visitors bringing brandy and cigarettes.
Slowly we began to get used to the new way of life. Many of us still shrank back instinctively when we sighted a German. We were all still very distrustful but, with time, we got used to them. The Germans brought us the news that the Russian Army was pushed far back from Warsaw. They were quite certain in their assertion received from the Fuehrer's headquarters that the Soviet Army under the German attack had retreated a hundred kilometres. We did not want to believe it. But still there must be some truth in it. People were saying, "Why didn't the Russians standing in the Praga suburb of Warsaw attack the city? Why had the Front become so silent?" Some were saying, "It can't be true. The Germans are saying those things on purpose to undermine our morale." But a nagging doubt remained.
About noon there were again planes over Warsaw. They were very high and seemed to circle very slowly. I was sitting on a bench, talking, when children began calling "Look, look, papers and more papers." Looking up, we saw leaflets fluttering down on the roofs. Some fell down behind our walls and were lost to us, others floating gently settled down between our walls. We started chasing them; some even tried to catch them from their balconies. Children and grown-ups alike were trying to grab these papers. There were not many of them which landed in our block; therefore everyone was vying for the privilege to be the first. These leaflets represented the first news from the outside world. Anyone able to catch a leaflet was immediately surrounded by a crowd. One had to read loudly. I was in luck and caught a leaflet and started reading:

SOLDIERS OF THE NATIONAL ARMY
Our Government from London announces that Prime Minister MIKALAYJCZK's position in Moscow is such that he is unable to reach free decision and to have freedom of speech.
ONE HAS NO DOUBT WHAT INTENTIONS ARE HIDDEN BEHIND IT.
I started to negotiate with representatives of German authorities, looking for common ground to co-ordinate actions against the Moscow traitors.
I HEREBY ORDER a stop to all acts of hostility against occupational German authorities and an immediate return to initial meeting places of alert!
Everyone disregarding this order is taking sides with those who made an attempt on the life of our Prime Minister and will be shot immediately.
Further orders will be issued.
Long live Poland!

Chief Commander of Polish National Armed Forces.
(-) BOR. Warsaw 2nd August, 1944.

I finished reading and all were still holding their breath and listening to the echo of such odd and quite incompressible words. "Has BOR really signed it?" asked someone.
It was read for a second time.
"It is quite impossible."
"You are quite right."
"This is just a plain in lie, a forgery."
"It certainly is," agreed the others.
"Just listen. You see what the main point is - stop fighting the Germans and return to the point of alert. This is their main aim."
"It certainly is the work of the Germans."
"Oh! These buggers, these bandits, the forgers, trying to pretend to be BOR."
"This way they have not a hope to win the war - they will surely come to grief."
This was the general reaction and opinion of our yard. I folded the leaflet carefully and put it in my wallet. It was certainly a unique document. The group dispersed, looking for other leaflets to compare whether they had the same contents.
In the afternoon the firing from the city became heavier. This was probably the partisans鈥� reply to the leaflets. A few hours later German bombers appeared over the city. They were flying quite low and one could easily see the black crosses of the Luftwaffe. The bombing of the city began. Again we sheltered in the basement. The walls were trembling from the heavy explosions. A cloud of dust rose above the roofs. Some were of the opinion that we would not be bombed and they were right, as we were in the part of the city where Germans had full control and, in addition, their heavy artillery was positioned next to our block. Some even went outside to watch the planes. They were flying low, making turns over the centre of the city and dropping their bombs. The erupting dust clouds pinpointed the places of explosion.

颁辞苍迟颈苍耻别诲鈥︹赌�
'This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by 大象传媒 Radio Merseyside鈥檚 People鈥檚 War team on behalf of the author and has been added to the site with his / her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.'

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