[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 98 (Monday, July 25, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         WARSAW GHETTO UPRISING

  Mr. ROTH. Mr. Speaker, 50 years ago the people of Warsaw rose up to 
fight the Nazi's forced evacuation of their city.
  Led by a small group of Polish patriots, the ordinary people of 
Warsaw took up arms against the occupying army of the Third Reich. 
Young and old, men and women, all joined together in acts of incredible 
bravery to fight for their freedom.
  The revolt lasted 2 months, but against the Nazi army, it was 
destined to fail. In truth, the uprising was suppressed with vicious 
brutality.
  No one can go to memorials like Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and not come 
away deeply moved by the horrible evidence of how the Polish people 
suffered.
  But with their bravery, with their courage and with their sacrifice 
the Polish people stirred the free world and inspired the other 
occupied nations to resist the Nazis.
  Forty-five years later, the Polish people again inspired the world by 
throwing off the yoke of Communist domination and embracing freedom. 
Other nations in Eastern Europe followed Poland's example, and the 
Soviet empire was brought to an end.
  So in a very real sense, the heroes of the cold war were the Polish 
people--they led the way to freedom.
  I know the deep commitment of the Polish people to freedom for their 
native land, and to the ideal of freedom that is the bedrock of our own 
country.
  My congressional district has many Americans of Polish ancestry.
  In the town of Pulaski in particular, Polish-Americans carry the 
torch of freedom in their hearts--for their homeland and for our 
country where their forebears made their home.
  That is why--today--we in Congress salute the brave and freedom-
loving people of Poland with this resolution.
  Let me commend the gentlelady from Ohio Ms. Kaptur for her leadership 
in drafting this resolution.
  And let me urge my colleagues to join me in voting for this tribute 
to a brave people.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Joint Resolution 
388.
  The 55th anniversary of the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and 
the Soviet Union arrives this September 1.
  Just as important, the 50th anniversary of the Polish uprising in 
Warsaw against the Nazi occupation is also to take place next Monday, 
August 1.
  Both of these anniversaries provide us with an opportunity to 
recognize the courage of the Polish Home Army in resisting the 
occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Communist Soviet Union.
  These anniversaries also provide us the opportunity to recognize the 
vital contribution that the Polish resistance made to the Allied 
victory over Nazi Germany.
  If only for those reasons alone, this resolution deserves our 
support.
  At the same time, however, this resolution can serve another 
important purpose.
  It reminds us of the strategic role that Poland has played and 
continues to play in eastern Europe and how the sovereignty of that 
country depends on its inclusion in an effective system of collective 
defense.
  Today, a successful defensive military alliance exists in Europe--the 
North Atlantic Treaty Organization--and Poland should be admitted 
expeditiously into it.
  In his recent visit to Poland, President Clinton stated before the 
Polish Parliament that, although there appears to be no threat to 
Polish sovereignty today, history shows us that we cannot take this 
moment for granted.
  President Clinton also stated that it is no longer a question of 
whether countries such as Poland are to be brought into NATO, but when.
  Mr. Speaker, I suggest that it is time to seriously consider the 
question of when Poland will joint NATO.
  As you know, I have introduced the NATO Expansion Act of 1994 as a 
means of getting that important debate underway.
  The resolution before this House today reminds us of what is at 
stake, not just for the Polish people, but for the peace and stability 
of Europe, and, possibly, the world.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join in passing this resolution, 
which honors the bravery of the Polish Home Army in fighting for a free 
Poland and victory over fascism.
  Mrs. MEYERS of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this 
resolution. The gallant uprising of the Armija Krajowa--the Polish Home 
Army--shall live forever as an example of a heroic struggle against 
impossible odds. A struggle that was made worse by the duplicity of the 
Soviets.
  As July 1944 ended, the Red Army swept through eastern Poland to the 
banks of the Vistula River. As the Soviet offensive reached the 
outskirts of Warsaw, Russian broadcasts announced the impending 
liberation of the city and urged the workers of the resistance to rise 
against the retreating invader. This made it necessary for the Polish 
Government-in-exile in London to issue the order to Lieutenant General 
Bor-Komorowski, commander of the Home Army, to begin the uprising.
  Not to act would have resulted in the Soviet puppet Lublin Government 
denouncing the Home Army and the legitimate Polish Government as 
ineffectual at best and virtual Nazi collaborators at worst. But had 
the Poles succeeded, the political effect of having forces loyal to the 
legitimate Polish Government liberate the capital themselves and greet 
the Soviet Army as allies rather than supplicants would have made the 
post war communization of the country more difficult, if not 
impossible. For if there had been an up-and-running Polish Government 
in Warsaw, with troops on the ground it, not the Red Army, would have 
handled the civil administration in postwar Poland.
  On August 1, General Bor issued the proclamation for the Home Army to 
take up arms and begin the open fight against the German occupier. At 5 
p.m. the Polish partisans began their attacks against the German 
forces. Forty thousand fighting men, only a quarter of them initially 
armed, stormed strongpoints and key installations. They had ammunition 
stocks for 7 days and planned to capture enough German equipment to 
supplement it, but were forced to fight fixed defenses without heavy 
weapons. They still came oh so close to victory. By the 6th they held 
almost the entire city, and were planning to fly in the first 
representatives of the Government from London within a few days. Then 
two developments occurred that sealed their fate--the Soviets stopped 
their advance and the Germans brought in reinforcements.

  The Soviets had to deal with a German counterattack to the north and 
Stalin had no interest in letting rivals to his puppets assume control 
in Poland. German and Russian soldiers were seen bathing on opposite 
sides of the Vistula. The Soviet high command refused to allow the 
Western Allies refueling support for a proposed airlift of supplies.
  The Nazis deployed two formations against the Home Army on August 8--
both, under the command of SS Gruppenfuhrer von dem Bach-Zewlewski--
Kaminski's Russian Legion and the Dirlewanger SS Brigade. Dirlewanger's 
Bridgade consisted of German convicts who specialized in horrific 
atrocities. Kaminski's unit was made up of turncoat Russians who has 
also participated in liquidating the Warsaw ghetto a year before and 
managed to outdo Direlwanger's troops in the use of terror. The Germans 
also committed heavy armor, artillery, and specialized weapons such as 
radio controlled ``Goliath'' robot tanks and the largest artillery 
piece in the world--an 80 centimeter railroad gun that required two 
parallel tracks, four special flatcars, and a crew of over 1,000. The 
SS troops were brutal beyond belief. Prisoners were burned alive, 
babies were impaled on bayonets, and the city was systematically 
destroyed on direct orders of Hitler. Heinrich Himmler told Joseph 
Goebbels that the sheer violence and terror of the repression would 
extinguish the revolt ``in a very few days.''
  It took the Germans significantly longer than that. The Poles 
tenaciously held on, as August turned into September. As the Germans 
took back the city house-by-house and block-by-block, the Home Army 
maintained communications between the separated elements of their 
forces through the sewers.
  The British and Americans attempted to airdrop arms and ammunition 
and consideration was given to dropping the Polish Parachute Brigade. 
But the Soviet refusal to do anything to provide logistical support 
doomed these operations. The Soviets finally allowed their puppet 
Polish Army to attempt to break into Warsaw in mid-September, but the 
Germans had prepared their defenses and repulsed this attach.
  As the Home Army was running out of food, ammunition, and medicine--
both to carry on the battle and to sustain the civilian population, 
General Bor was forced to try and negotiate terms with Bach. Here was 
when the incredible bravery and tenacity of the Poles made a 
difference. The Germans were so impressed that they agreed to treat the 
members of the Home Army and all members of the Polish resistance as 
combatants under the Geneva Convention. This meant the survivors went 
to POW camps rather than being executed as partisans. Finally on 
October 4, after over 250,000 Poles were killed or wounded, the 
remnants of the Home Army surrendered.
  The crushing of the Home Army eliminated any significant non-
Communist resistance to the puppet Lublin government, which would rule 
Poland until 1989. But the sacrifice of the Polish Home Army may have 
had another effect. The Red Army was not able to break through the 
German positions on the Vistula River, capture Warsaw, and proceed 
toward Berlin until January 1945. How much more of central Europe would 
Stalin have been able to swallow up had his advance not been delayed by 
that 4\1/2\ months? That is unknown, but what is known is that the 
heroic struggle to free Warsaw 50 years ago must be remembered and 
commemorated as long as people love freedom.

                              {time}  1240

  Mr. BEREUTER Mr. Speaker, having no further requests for time, I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I, too, have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fields of Louisiana). The question is on 
the motion offered by the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Hamilton] that 
the House suspend the rules and pass the joint resolution, House Joint 
Resolution 388.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended, and the joint resolution was passed.
   A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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