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Dialogue and Universalism

Volume 16, Issue 7/9, 2006
Europeization and Universalization of the Tragism and Meanings of the Warsaw Uprisings of 1943 and 1944

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Displaying: 1-16 of 16 documents


1. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 16 > Issue: 7/9
The Editor

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2. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 16 > Issue: 7/9
Wacław Sadkowski

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memory and significance of the warsaw uprising of 1944

3. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 16 > Issue: 7/9
Jerzy Kłoczowski

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The author, an insurgent and a historian, presents a series of remarks on the subject of the Warsaw Uprising and related research work. Among others, he points to the necessity of establishing an Institute that would research the issues in a complex way and demands speeding up the work on critical papers about military actions by the insurgent forces; he also remarks that the Polish insurgents, without knowing it, became the defenders of Europe’s freedom against Stalinism. There is mention that Warsaw constituted a monument to “Nazi Barbarity”, as well as Polish-Polish controversies on the issue of the Uprising, that still remain, even today.
4. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 16 > Issue: 7/9
Jan Strzelecki

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The author recounts his part in the Warsaw Uprising through the prism of general human concepts like brotherhood, death, faith, freedom, memory, etc. in an attempt to show what such ideals meant for his comrades in battle and himself, how they functioned in later years—and how they influenced his generation's world outlook and life. For Strzelecki the Warsaw Uprising stood in defense of supreme human values, was a necessity without which there would have been no hope of survival either for human values or the Polish nation.
5. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 16 > Issue: 7/9
Witold Kieżun

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World War II broke out as the result of an alliance between Germany and Soviet Union with the aim to conquer and partition Poland. Having broken off the treaty of friendship and co-operation, Germany attacked the USSR in 1941, forcing the Soviet Union to change sides from that of a German ally to the ally of the anti-German coalition. In 1943, following the German discovery of the graves of Polish officers murdered by Soviet forces in Katyń, Stalin declared that the crime had been committed by the German army and broke off diplomatic relations with the Polish Government-in-Exile in London which had requested that an official investigation be launched by the Red Cross committee in Geneva. Some one hundred German officers were sentenced to death for the Katyń massacre as the result of Stalin’s prosecution trials. 50 years later, the world was rocked by the discovery of a document signed by Stalin ordering the execution of Polish officers in Katyń.In a secret meeting in 1943 in Teheran, President Roosevelt and Stalin agreed on the plan to annex Poland’s eastern territories.The decision to stage an independent fight for independence during the Warsaw Uprising was justified by the inevitable approach of the Red Army, the fear of German reprisal actions for disobeying the order to participate in fortification works, the fear of a spontaneous uprising fuelled by a Soviet radio broadcast in Polish which appealed to the people of Warsaw to put up a fight against the oppressor.Stalin’s decision to withhold the Soviet offensive and ban American and British planes carrying humanitarian aid for Warsaw from landing in Soviet airports contributed to the downfall of the Uprising. The Warsaw Uprising was a cue for the civil outbreaks that followed in Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Paris and Prague. The halt on the Soviet Army’s offensive, which enabled the German forces to eliminate the Polish centre of political command subordinate to the Government-in-Exile in London, limited the European territory that fell subject to Soviet supremacy. The memory of the heroic fight put up by the entire population of Warsaw deterred the Soviet Union’s ambitions to curtail Poland’s sovereignty.
6. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 16 > Issue: 7/9
Marian Marek Drozdowski

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In 1944, American Polonia consisted of two separate social groups. The first one was the so-called “old Polonia”. This group was significantly assimilated into America’s culture and way of life, and had strong self-help organizations. The second group, “new Polonia”, was formed of wartime émigrés, mainly with intellectual backgrounds. They experienced at first hand the anti-human policies of the Nazi and Soviet systems.In the Polish American Congress, founded in 1944 by representatives of both groups, there was great concern about the policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The fear was that these policies would allow Stalin, by a method of fait accompli, to introduce the Soviet system in all countries “liberated” by the Red Army. Old Polonia was under the influence of the US Administration and, despite reservations, supported the approach of Polish Prime Minister Stanisław Mikołajczyk who was committed to finding a Polish-Soviet compromise. Such a compromise turned out to be impossible because of Stalin’s demands. Firstly, nearly 50% of the pre-war territory of Poland was to be ceded to the Soviet Union. Secondly, fundamental changes were to be made in the government leadership of the Polish satellite state.New Polonia, which in 1942 formed the National Committee of Americans of Polish Descent, had a strong intellectual group. They warned the Polish American Congress and the US Administration against conceding to Stalin’s demands. From the perspective of the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, their evaluation of Stalin’s policy has turned out to be correct.There was also a small group of Polish American activists centered around Professor Oskar Lange and the eminent poet Julian Tuwim, who belonged to the so-called Kościuszko League. During the Warsaw Uprising they were willing to accept Stalin’s demands and in connection with this supported the policies of the Polish Committee for National Liberation (a pro-communist coalition).The overwhelming majority of American Polonia was involved in unmasking false information about the Warsaw Uprising in the American press. They signed petitions to the President and Secretary of State. They collected money. They organized religious and patriotic meetings at which true information about the Warsaw Uprising was presented.
7. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 16 > Issue: 7/9
Stanisław Lem

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political thought in times of the warsaw uprisings

8. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 16 > Issue: 7/9
Andrzej Friszke

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Political thought of the war and occupation period continued the ideological and program searches started already before 1939. The concept of democracy was mostly associated with the values such as individual freedom, civil rights, safety of citizens, society of the state; cooperation among nations in the fields of politics, economy and protection of peace. The author deals with topics like: democratic international order; democratic political order and economic system. The author concludes the article with a few synthesizing remarks.
9. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 16 > Issue: 7/9
Krzysztof Dunin-Wąsowicz

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The decision to start the uprising rested chiefly with a few persons from the high command of the Home Army. Political authorities, including Kazimierz Pużak, PPS and the National Unity Council leader, had no influence on the Uprising outbreak and date decisions.Immediately after the uprising outbreak, the socialist movement joined the action, both in the civilian and military area, as did all socialist movement factions. A very important role was played by the well-developed and influential press, coming out in all districts of liberated Warsaw. Socialist activists repeatedly appealed to the allied authorities for active aid for fighting Warsaw.In the city military socialist groups took active part in military operations in all Warsaw’s districts, and in particular in Śródmieście, Wola, Stare Miasto, Powiśle and Żoliborz. Similarly socialist activists took active part in organizing relief for civilian population. The socialist movement was the largest and the most influential political movement in the fighting Warsaw. In the face of insufficient aid from the allied states and the Soviet Army, Warsaw had to capitulate which was reported by socialist Robotnik in words full of sorrow and pathos on 4 October 1944.
10. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 16 > Issue: 7/9
Józef Warszawski

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testimony of those days [continued from 3–4/2003 and 5–9/2004]

11. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 16 > Issue: 7/9
Ryszard Józef Boreński

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12. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 16 > Issue: 7/9
Mieczysław Sztejerwald

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13. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 16 > Issue: 7/9
Antoni Czarkowski

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The author recounts the dramatic life of Warsaw’s population during the uprising against the Germans. After miraculously escaping death in a mass execution,Czarkowski teamed up with several other men and lived the hard life of a refugee among the city’s ruins. He and his companions continuously risked death, both from the hands of Nazi execution squads as well as in the buildings, methodically demolished by the occupant as the city was razed to the ground in revenge for the insurgency.

generalization of the uprisings experience

14. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 16 > Issue: 7/9
Jerzy Krzyżanowski

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In an autobiographical account the author, born in 1922, describes his childhood and school years in Lublin, then briefly presents the experiences of his generation during the German occupation, devoting more space to the period 1944–1947 he spent in Soviet camps deported as a soldier of AK (Home Army).Upon his return to Poland he embarked upon professional work in publishing industry and academic study. He left Poland in 1959 resuming a teaching career at several of American universities, and publishing a significant number of studies and novels. He considers freedom to be the key to his success.
15. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 16 > Issue: 7/9
Andrzej Grzegorczyk, Franek Lyra

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links and personifications of events and polish fate

16. Dialogue and Universalism: Volume > 16 > Issue: 7/9
Aleksandra Ziółkowska-Boehm

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This paper is a fragment of the book “Kaja od Radosława, czyli historia Hubalowego Krzyża”, which was published by Warszawskie Wydawnictwo Literackie Muza in 2006. It will be published by the American publisher The Military History Press under the title “Kaia Savior of the Hubal Cross”. Covering a century of Polish history, it is full of tragic and compelling events. Such historic events as Polish life in Siberia, Warsaw before the war, the German occupation, the Warsaw Uprising, life in Ostaszków, and the rebuilding of Warsaw are included.The hero Kaia is a woman, christened Cesaria, whose father was expelled to Siberia in 1905 for conspiring against the tsar. Kaia spent her early childhood there, and the family lived near the mountain Altaj. A chapter shows how the Polish community lived there, organized their daily lives, etc. In 1922, the family returned to free Poland, the train trip back taking almost a year. This ordeal is highlighted as a series of stops sometimes lasting for weeks because of heavy snow accumulation, the men shoveling a pathway for the train to pass through, many deaths occurring from the frigid cold with the “caboose” used as a mortuary for Poles to be returned to their homeland for burial. Kaia entered the school system, was eventually educated as an architect, and then World War II started. She lived under the German occupation for the first few years, and later became a conspirator by helping the underground movement. She joined the Armia Krajowa in 1942. At considerable risk, her apartment became a meeting place for the conspirators.After Hubal’s death, one of his couriers gave Kaia the Hubal Cross Virtuti Militari. The cross was with her for the ensuing 50 years. During the Warsaw Uprising, in which she was a courier, she carried the cross around her neck. Many times, she had to travel via the Warsaw underground sewer system. Twice, she was wounded. After the Warsaw Uprising collapsed, she went to the east territory to look for her mother. She was captured by the Russian NKVD in Białystok and sent to Ostaszków. An interesting scene describes one of many interrogations: the Russian interrogator asks if she knows about the cross. Her reply causes a puzzled look on his face. The cross was never discovered (she had hidden it in a specially made shoe). Protection of the Virtuti Militari Cross, which at first had been a challenge to Kaia to survive the Uprising and Russian imprisonment, later became a symbol of courage and determination of the Polish people. In 1946, Kaia returned to Poland very ill and weighing only 38 kg (83.6 pounds). Eventually recovering her health, she worked as an architect involved in the rebuilding of Warsaw totally decimated by the Germans.In the Warsaw Uprising chapter, Kaia’s diary is included, and the book relates the scenes and events that she described. One such experience is most moving. It was a quiet moment, i.e. the shooting had subsided. On a warm beautiful August night, she was sitting, enjoying the quiet alone when, a young man sat down next to her. He was a colleague from architectural school. Together, a few months earlier, they had attended a university ball, and Kaia remembered him as always being funny and amusing. Then, she noticed he was missing one eye and part of his chin. He returned her gaze and jokingly said, “I still have one eye left”. And then, he quietly sang a popular song that they had danced the waltz to… “Not to be in love on such a beautiful night is a sin”… Kaia had to be in the same mood as he was and smiled. A few days later, half of his body was covered in ruins…he could not be helped. His death lasted several days, and he is buried in Powązki Cemetery, like many soldiers of the Uprising.