Warsaw Uprising commemorated 70 years on

The 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising will include 70 seconds of silence at 17:00 with sirens and church bells sounded across the city. Today, Warsaw remembers the beginning of its ill-fated uprising against Nazi occupation in 1944. Commemorations will include wreath-laying ceremonies and choirs singing “banned” songs.

For non-historians, the uprising occurred towards the end of WWII. In late summer of 1944, thousands of poorly-armed city residents rose up against German forces in an attempt to take control of Warsaw ahead of the advancing Soviet army. The citizen-fighters at one point secured most of the city center, but never managed to liberate the entire city. Except for token efforts, help from the allied forces did not come and the besieged fighters had to go on the defensive. They held on for 63 days before surrendering.

The city was set ablaze and entire districts were leveled. The legacy of the uprising is often hotly debated, as two hundred thousand civilians were killed and its main objectives were not accomplished.

Furthermore, as commemorations gain on scope and popularity, many former combatants are calling for a focus on solemnity. According to Wprost weekly, a pop-culture representation of the uprising is diluting the message of agony and replacing it with youthful vigor. Motion picture and video game representations of the uprising are not uncommon.

A midday wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier included government officials, former combatants and citizens. Warsaw president Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz was quoted by Gazeta Wyborcza as saying, “For 63 days, the insurgents fought an uneven fight for dignity, honor, freedom and democracy.”

The event is also commemorated in other parts of Europe, as Berlin's Topography of Terror Museum is currently showing its "Warsaw Uprising of 1944" exhibition, as reported by DW.

At 17:00, sirens will sound and the entire city will literally freeze for over a minute in remembrance of the insurgents. TV broadcasts and radio stations will interrupt their regularly scheduled program. Meanwhile, shopping malls will cease activity during the commemoration.