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Warsaw remembers 1944 Wola Massacre victims

06.08.2024 00:05
The Polish capital on Monday commemorated a bloody Nazi German massacre in the city’s western Wola district during the first days of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.
Mondays commemorations in Warsaw.
Monday's commemorations in Warsaw.Photo: PAP/Piotr Nowak

The massacre was the systematic killing of between 30,000 and 65,000 people by Nazi troops during the early phase of the uprising, which started on August 1, 1944.

Monday’s commemorations were attended by former underground fighters who took part in the insurgency against the German occupation of Warsaw.

Between August 5 and 12, 1944, tens of thousands of Polish civilians along with captured Home Army resistance fighters were systematically murdered by the Nazis in mass executions.

It is estimated that up to 10,000 civilians were killed in the Wola district on August 5 alone, the first day of the operation. Many of the victims were the elderly, women and children.

The 1944 Warsaw Uprising lasted 63 days before being put down by better equipped and more numerous German forces.

The insurgency resulted in the death of some 18,000 Polish fighters and 200,000 civilians.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier last Thursday paid tribute to the victims of the Wola Massacre.

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Source: IAR, PAP, polskieradio24.pl