Waubonsee Community College

Battle for Warsaw '44, by Wanda Koscia and October Films

eng

videorecording

For High School; College; Adult audiences

Battle for Warsaw '44

electronic resource

747796219

by Wanda Koscia and October Films

47

The Warsaw Uprising was the largest and bloodiest military operation undertaken by any resistance movement in World War II. From August 1 - October 2, 1944 the Nazis were challenged by an underground army of irregular volunteers - the vast majority barely adult. The Poles wanted to free their capital and greet the advancing Red Army as a free people. They counted on help from the Allies but this did not come. 200,000 people, one-third of Warsaw s population perished, 15,000 resistance fighters were taken prisoner-of-war, and 80% of Warsaw was destroyed. Battle for Warsaw 44 contains unique testimony from Polish, British, and German participants. Hugh Lunghi, a member of British Military Mission to Moscow, speaks for the first time about the British involvement at the time of the Uprising and pilots from the RAF and Red Army Air Force describe their airlifts to Warsaw. Included is the extraordinary film shot by the Poles themselves who used photo reporters and a special film unit to document the uprising. Today, two decades after the collapse of communism, hundreds of thousands of people gather at the Warsaw military cemetery on August lst, to mark the outbreak of the insurrection.The commemoration in Poland was considered an act of defiance during the communist era, which government authorities monitored but dared not stop. Understanding what happened in 1944 helps explain the nature of Polish opposition to communism

general