Grojecka Street

Having broken through the border defenses of the Polish “Łódź” Army near Częstochowa on Sept. 3rd, the German 4th Panzer Division, commanded by Major-General Reinhardt, began its drive towards the river Vistula and Poland’s capital city of Warsaw. Most of …

1939-09-09

PoH06

Having broken through the border defenses of the Polish “Łódź” Army near Częstochowa on Sept. 3rd, the German 4th Panzer Division, commanded by Major-General Reinhardt, began its drive towards the river Vistula and Poland’s capital city of Warsaw. Most of Warsaw’s authorities had dispersed, including significant parts of the police force, fire fighter and military garrisons. Only 4 battalions of infantry and one battery of artillery were left in Warsaw. The Polish Commander in Chief, Marshal of Poland Edward Śmigły-Rydz, ordered the creation of an improvised Command of the Defence for Warsaw. General Walerian Czuma was named its commander. Czuma and the mayor of Warsaw, Stefan Starzyński, began to organize the Civil Guard to replace the police forces and fire fighters. They also implored all civilians to construct barricades and antitank barriers on the outskirts of Warsaw. After the decisive three day battle near the city of Piotrków, the German XVI Panzer Corps managed to break through the Polish front lines and make its way towards the outskirts of the Polish capital. The German staff was confident that Poland would collapse in the coming days and that they would occupy Warsaw without a fight. On the morning of September 8th, the suburbs of Grójec, Radziejowice, Nadarzyn, Raszyn and Piaseczno were captured and German propaganda announced that the Wehrmacht had entered Warsaw. “The end of the war is near” it proclaimed. However, later that day the German 4th Panzer Division attempted an assault on the western borough of Ochota, but was repulsed with heavy casualties.

Warsaw, Poland

The Siege of Warsaw in 1939 was fought between the Polish Warsaw Army garrisoned and entrenched in Warsaw and the invading German Army. It began with huge aerial bombardments initiated by the Luftwaffe starting on September 1, 1939 following the Nazi invasion of Poland. Land fighting started on September 8, when the first German armored units reached the Wola district and south-western suburbs of the city. Despite German radio broadcasts claiming to have captured Warsaw, the initial enemy attack was repelled and soon afterwards Warsaw was placed under siege. The siege lasted until September 28, when the Polish garrison, commanded under General Walerian Czuma, officially capitulated. The following day approximately 140,000 Polish troops left the city and were taken as prisoners of war. On October 1 the Wehrmacht entered Warsaw, which started a period of German occupation that lasted until the devastating Warsaw Uprising and later until January 17, 1945, when the Wehrmacht troops abandoned the city due to the advance of Soviet forces.

Wikipedia: Siege of Warsaw (1939)

German

Polish