[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 103 (Thursday, July 22, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1493]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         WARSAW UPRISING 60TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE SPEECH

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM O. LIPINSKI

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 2004

  Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, on August 1, 1944, the greatest armed 
uprising by underground Europe against the German occupant began in 
Warsaw. The Warsaw Uprising lasted for 63 days and cost the lives of 
about 250,000 people. These two months of heroic combat serve as a 
symbol of courage, chivalry, the price of independence, but also of the 
harsh reality of world politics.
  The Uprising was started by the Polish underground Home Army, which 
at the beginning of August had only about 20,000 poorly equipped 
soldiers, but over time managed to actively involve over 400,000 men, 
women and children. It was largely thanks to young Polish Boy Scouts 
that messages between fighting insurgents were spread, medications were 
delivered and symbols of independence were painted on walls of 
buildings to show the people--and the Nazis--that Poland was fighting 
and would not bow to the overwhelming force of German troops, tanks, 
airplanes and artillery. Even German war correspondents noted that the 
intensity and difficulty of combat in Warsaw could only be compared to 
the street battles of Stalingrad, which greatly attributed to the fall 
of the Germans on the eastern front. The United States recognized the 
valiance of the Polish insurgents by officially proclaiming them 
military combatants on August 30, 1944.
  Although a quarter million people died in the Uprising and the city 
was leveled to the ground on Hitler's orders, which showed the world 
how high a price Poland was prepared to pay for its freedom, the Poles 
did not gain full independence until 1989, 45 years after the 
Uprising's end.
  The Soviet dictator, Josef Stalin, had a vision of a communist Polish 
state with a vassal government long before the Warsaw Uprising started. 
During the conference in Teheran in 1943, Stalin managed to convince 
the United Sates and Great Britain to shift Poland's borders west, thus 
reassuring his strong position and the authority to make practically 
unilateral decisions about the future of Central & Eastern Europe. In 
July 1944, the Red Army was within fifty kilometers from Poland's 
capital, but though their primary objective was to crash the Wehrmacht, 
they did not mean to liberate Poland, but to install a quasi-Polish 
government that had already been prepared in Moscow to rule in 
compliance with Soviet principles and under Stalin's supervision. The 
Home Army was seen as a perilous force, as it sought independence, 
therefore the communist propaganda renounced the Home Army led uprising 
as a ``reckless and irresponsible adventure'' to which the Soviet 
government could not lend its support. In fact, soon after the collapse 
of the Uprising most of Home Army officers and many soldiers were 
prosecuted and sentenced for treason. Ironically, had the home Army's 
commanders decided not to rise against the occupant, they would no 
doubt have been accused of collaboration with the Nazis and of 
cowardice. Having made the tragic decision to take arms against the 
oppressor that not long before had controlled most of Europe, the 
leaders of the Uprising had every right to expect support from their 
western allies. And they did receive it.

  Airplanes flew from Italy across half of Europe delivering arms and 
other provisions to the insurgents, sustaining heavy casualties, but 
were not allowed to land on the Soviet side of the front. Not until 
September 18, 1944, two and a half weeks before the collapse of the 
Uprising, were over one hundred B-17 American flying fortresses able to 
appear above Warsaw to drop arms, medications and other provisions and 
then land on the Soviet side of the front. Unfortunately, it was 
already too late, as the areas of Warsaw in the hands of the Home Army 
had significantly diminished when compared with the first half of 
August, making it possible for the Poles to collect less than one-third 
of the dropped cargo.
  The Soviets entered eastern Warsaw lying on the right bank of the 
Vistula River in the middle of September, but did not move into the 
center of the city, where the insurgents were still fighting, having 
decided to wait until those who were willing to sacrifice their lives 
for Poland's independence have perished.
  On August 1, sixty years will have passed since the outbreak of the 
bloodiest battle in over 1000 years of Polish history and one of the 
most heroic combats in the Second World War. Rarely has the price of 
freedom and independence been so high and the fate of those who paid it 
so tragic. For fifteen years now Poland has been a free country, a 
member of NATO for five years and since May, a member of the European 
Union. Its successful transition from an oppressive regime to a 
peaceful democracy proves the determination of Poles to be a free 
nation. Such courageous events as the Warsaw Uprising show that it is 
freedom they deserve. They surely earned it.

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