Before the Warsaw Uprising broke out the Home Army intelligence had known perfectly well where German fortified objects in the city centre were located. It was aware both of their manning numbers and armament strength (relevant reports have survived).Apart from one place – the University of Warsaw which was a German arsenal, much bigger than the Main Post Office at Napoleon Square. Did the Home Army intelligence not know about a German weapons stockpile, which, had it been taken over during the first hours of combat, could have changed the course of fighting in the City Centre?

A quarter to the “W” hour

We know of the garrison defending the university complex from a librarian Bohdan Korzeniewski’s account written down in October 1944 in Milanówek by Wacław Borowy, head of the university library in the years 1936-38.

Before the war Korzeniowski worked for the National Library. Arrested in 1940 he was deported to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Released, since August 1941 he had been a librarian at the University Library. He was active in the Home Army underground under the codenames of “Marcin” and “Truskolaski”.

Three weeks after the fall of the rising he passed on to Borowy that the action around the University began on August 1. At 4:45 pm (16:45) he added “…by a pitiful Home Army attack from the direction of Powiśle, Traugutta & Oboźna St.”

SIGN UP TO OUR PAGE Włodzimierz Rosłoniec, a cadet codename “Karski” in the rising, after the war a chronicler of the 8th “Krybar” Grouping, basing on preserved documents and relations reconstructed thoroughly the first hours of the rising.

The assault on the University did actually commence at 4:45 pm from the direction of Oboźna St. A quarter to the “W” hour shooting was already audible from Napoleon & Małachowski Sq as well as Kredytowa St. It was all about taking advantage of the stupefaction of the Germans. Before noon Home Army soldiers would observe the Germans reinforce shooting stands: those of machinegun artillery and grenade launchers.

At 5.00 pm, at the “W” hour, three clerks-librarians were present at the library and on the premises of the university: dr. Józef Krampera, Marian Toporowski and Bohdan Korzeniewski as well as the storeman Stanisław Włodarski with his wife, the wife of a stoker with a small child and a stoker from a building neighboring the library.

From Korzeniewski’s account: “There was a huge German arsenal on the premises of the University, almost no crew, because only 30 soldiers from a company of recovered soldiers, so-called Genesungs-Compagnie, later renamed Sicherungs-Bataillon 944. This formation was led by a captain who rarely showed up at the Library, but the two lieutenants, Schmidt and Gerber, were constantly seen”.

Sicherungs-Bataillon 944 liczył, oprócz trzech oficerów, 70 żołnierzy. „Głównym ich zadaniem – relacjonował Korzeniewski – była obrona arsenału niemieckiego, który został tu umieszczony. W gmachu pomuzealnym ulokowane zostały koszary i podręczny magazyn broni, zawierający 4500 karabinóThe Sicherungs-Bataillon 944 had, in addition to three officers, 70 soldiers. “Their main task - reported Korzeniewski – was to defend the German arsenal that had been placed here. Barracks and a handy weapons storage facility, containing 4,500 ordinary rifles and 150 machine guns, were located in the post-museum building. This was trivial in comparison to what was located in other edifices. The grenade cases alone filled two rooms in the auditorium building. All the others were crammed with guns from top to bottom. The uprising could have looked completely different if the attack on the university had been successful (which was possible at the very beginning when there were so few German soldiers and not a single officer in the area). In the university yard, from the morning hours of August 1, there were three cannons with a lot of ammunition (medium caliber), as well as 4 field guns and about 10 grenade launchers”.

Włodzimierz Rosłoniec, historian of the 8th “Krybar” Grouping, established: “the restricted mobility of prof. [at that time he was not a professor yet – ed. MK] Korzeniewski on the grounds (several buildings, large internal courtyards and courtyards mostly covered with lush trees and shrubs), the presence of Germans in individual buildings or dug sites in the field, could not give any orientation as to the actual state of the German garrison at the University of Warsaw on August 1, 1944. Soldiers of 8th Grouping captured by the counterattacking Germans: Lucjan Stępień – second lieutenant “Seweryn” physician of the “Krybar” Group, in his written account of July 12, 1985 and Henryk Wesołowski, private “Strzelecki”, also in a written account from May 24, 1982 speak with one voice that there was a large garrison on the premises of the University where they were led to, and the university gate by the side of Oboźna St. was defended by a tank and a machine gun nest”. w zwyczajnych i 150 karabinów maszynowych. Była to błahostka wobec tego, co znajdowało się w innych gmachach. Same skrzynie z granatami wypełniały dwie sale w gmachu audytoryjnym. Wszystkie inne były od góry do dołu zapchane bronią. Powstanie mogło wyglądać zupełnie inaczej, gdyby atak na teren uniwersytecki był się udał (co było możliwe na samym początku, kiedy na terenie znajdowało się tak mało żołnierzy niemieckich, a ani jednego oficera). Na dziedzińcu uniwersyteckim od porannych godzin 1 sierpnia stały trzy działa z mnóstwem amunicji (średniego kalibru), a nadto 4 polówki i ok. 10 granatników”.

Włodzimierz Rosłoniec, historyk VIII Zgrupowania „Krybar”, ustalił: „Ograniczenie możliwości poruszania się prof. [wówczas jeszcze nie był profesorem – przyp. MK] Korzeniewskiego po terenie (kilka budynków, wewnętrzne dziedzińce o dużej powierzchni oraz podwórza w większości pokryte bujnym drzewostanem i krzewami), przebywanie Niemców w poszczególnych budynkach lub wykopanych stanowiskach w terenie, nie mogły zatem dawać orientacji co do rzeczywistego stanu załogi niemieckiej w Uniwersytecie Warszawskim w dniu 1 VIII 1944 r. Wzięci do niewoli przez kontratakujących Niemców żołnierze VIII Zgrupowania: Lucjan Stępień ppor. »Seweryn«, lekarz Grupy »Krybar«, w swej pisemnej relacji z dnia 12 VII. 1985 r. oraz Henryk Wesołowski, strz. »Strzelecki«, również w pisemnej relacji z 24 V. 1982 r., zgodnie stwierdzają, że na terenie Uniwersytetu, dokąd zostali doprowadzeni, znajdowała się liczna załoga, a bramy uniwersyteckiej od strony ul. Oboźnej bronił ustawiony czołg i gniazdo karabinu maszynowego”.

Korzeniewski described what he saw from the building of the university library, where the uprising found him. The condition of the German university garrison is presented in the preserved German documents.

From the beginning of the combat, the manning, apart from the above-mentioned thirty convalescents, consisted of about 200 Wehrmacht soldiers in two companies, commanded by captain Uhlich. Both companies were part of the regiment commanded by major Nothe. Three battalions from this regiment, commanded by major Schmidt, captain Berndt and captain von Schöning, were stationed in the building of the Council of Ministers at Krakowskie Przedmieście.

And these well-armed units were to be attacked by the 8th “Krybar” Grouping insurgent companies. The 2nd company, commanded by lieutenant “Bicz” Marian Mokrzycki, together with the 1105 platoon of the Motor Column “Wydra” under the command of Lieutenant “Niesobi” Jerzy Łęczycki supported by a sapper squad, was to capture the southern part of the university from Oboźna St, garages in Dynasy St. and the Staszic Palace at Krakowskie Przedmieście.

The 1st company of lieutenant “Dan” Edward Kiełczykowski with a sapper squad from the platoon of lieutenant "Zaremba" Stanisław Andrzejewski was to attack the eastern part of the university from Browarna St. and the tannery in Gęsta St.

The 4th company of lieutenant “Pobóg” Marian Malinowski was to take over the palace of the Council of Ministers and the “Bristol” hotel by attacking from the gardens on the Escarpment from the direction of Karowa, Furmańska and Mularska Streets.

The 3rd company did not manage to assemble at the “W” hour.

The entire 8th Grouping with four companies, at the “W” hour numbering approx. 480-500 insurgents was armed with 61 pistols, with an average of one magazine, 8 submachine guns with about 1,500 bullets, 18 rifles (including some with corrosion of the barrels), one mortar with 47 shells, a thousand “Filipinkas” (underground production grenades), 20 British drop anti-tank grenades, over a dozen German hand grenades and 20 mines of conspiratorial production.

The 8th Grouping was surpassed in fire power so dramatically that its forces were doomed to extermination the very moment the uprising broke out. But if they had taken the arsenal, the roles could have been reversed.

Unsuccessful advances

2nd company of lieutenant “Bicz” Mokrzycki, attacking from the direction of Oboźna St. from the tenement houses at numbers 8 and 10, was supported by an English drop mortar “Stokes”, caliber 81 mm, firing from the gate of a tenement in Cicha St. The grouping’s command fixed that the first shot from it would hit the garages near Dynassy, and the third was to be a signal to attack the university and the palace of the Council of Ministers. After the second shot, garages caught fire, which, according to Rosłoniec, were manned by Ukrainians. After the third one, the attack broke down on a slope densely covered with barbed wire entanglements.

Rosłoniec wrote: “the soldiers of the 2nd company and the section of the 119th sapper platoon ran up the slope covered with barbed wire entanglements, set deep as far as the building of the University Faculty of Chemistry. The first two daredevils tried to cut the wires. The first one was killed on the spot. The second – platoon sergeant “Krzysztof” Wojciech Brzozowski – was injured in the eye. With mines and charges made of explosives, placed in long wooden boxes, the sappers were striving to rip the entanglements. There was no time for cutting them with scissors, because from all sides of the University bursts of rifles and submachine guns poured out. Single shots by German sharpshooters were also fired. German grenade launchers and mortars also joined the defense. The action took a dizzying pace. There were wounded and perished falling on the Polish side. The German fire was so intense that those who had not yet jumped out of the windows of the buildings in Oboźna St. on the escarpment could not even put their hand out. The wounded became entangled in the spikes of the wires, unable to break free. Rushing to help his colleagues, they shared the vicissitudes of those who came to help. Some pulled off wounded colleagues with fire hooks”.

From the memoirs of Bohdan Korzeniewski, observing the actions from the library windows: “18 young boys were crawling up the university hill from below. One old German soldier with a machine gun put an end to everything”.

These young boys who fell on the hill belonged to the 1st company of lieutenant “Dan” Edward Kiełczykowski. The attack on the university embankment started from the tannery building at Gęsta St. They were given the task of breaking through the University to the gate in Krakowskie Przedmieście and destroying a manned bunker there.

After the war Włodzimierz Rosłoniec “Karski” on the basis of preserved account established that despite heavy losses, the insurgents reached the ruins of the Auditorium Maximum burnt edifice. Those who got there, shot at by the Germans, lay among the ruins. After dark, after exhausting their ammunition and with lack of support, they retreated through the burning tannery to Browarna Street. The chronicler did not specify how many insurgents died in this attack. He wrote that “the company suffered very serious losses”. Among the fallen he listed out the names of two officers, a corporal and three privates.

Also the 4th company, attacking the Bristol hotel and the Palace of the Council of Ministers, was stopped by machine gun nests placed by German soldiers and officers from the Bristol Hotel in the gardens of the palace, in the building of the Hygiene Society and the tenement house at the stairs in Karowa St.

The losses suffered by the insurgents in the unsuccessful attack on the University will never be calculated again. Rosłoniec, a participant in the attack, wrote about large losses, difficult to determine due to many men and women from outside the 8th Group joining the attack – “many unnamed soldiers died in the battle”.

Unbelievable gluttony

Colonel “Monter” Antoni Chruściel, commander of the uprising, wrote in the situational report no. 12 of August 8 that in the morning the German were pushing from the direction of Karowa and the University towards the Power Plant in Powiśle and the Filters substation at Lipowa St. Both attacks were repulsed.

Around August 15 in the Tyszkiewicz Palace on the premises of the university the German garrison discovered a food warehouse including sugar, biscuits, canned food, all prepared by the City Council for the nearby St. Roch’s Hospital. Was it another thing the Home Army intelligence didn’t know before the outbreak of the uprising?

What nationalities, apart from Germans, did the University garrison consist of? Korzeniewski heard that “there was an order of lieutenant Gerber [promoted in mid-August to the rank of captain – ed. MK] to shoot people fleeing a burning house. The soldiers swore to the librarians that they hadn’t shot at the helpless, that they hadn't killed a woman or a child. They believed that if they had no crimes on their conscience, God would rescue them from the war. There were Silesians among these soldiers, there were many Slovaks, there were also Czechs. In general, everyone behaved decently towards the Polish librarians and even helped them as much as they could”.

Korzeniewski recalled that “in the Deutsches Haus [former building of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers – ed. MK] unheard of gluttony reigned: Polish chefs prepared steaks, French fries and other delicacies unbelievable at that time for the officers. It was a royal feast. The military kitchen was plentiful, and you could take huge portions from it: instead of 10 people - 60. Not only was it plentiful for everyone at the University, but you could also (as it has been already mentioned) feed up the refugees. The Germans themselves, sitting in the office, sometimes gave something to the refugees: tinned food, 20 kilogram packets of biscuits, etc.”

For the second time, the “Krybar” units attacked the university on August 23. This time they were better armed, inter alia with two heavy machine guns and two armoured cars: “Kubuś” built by the insurgents and a captured German transporter called “Jaś”. At 4 am both vehicles, having breached the gate in Krakowskie Przedmieście, stormed the university area. Under strong German fire, they had to retreat, threatened by the approaching tanks from the direction of Piłsudski Square. The attempt to seize the university failed, but the insurgent units on the other side of Krakowskie Przedmieście captured the Police Headquarters and the Church of the Holy Cross.

For the last few days of August, captain “Krybar” Odorkiewicz prepared the units of his 8th Grouping, the 3rd Grouping, as well as a unit from the Power Plant in Powiśle, for the third attack on the university. According to the findings of Włodzimierz Rosłoniec, “the factories of explosives and grenades in Powiśle prepared special mines with greater explosive power. Significant amounts of grenades, pickaxes and wire cutters have been collected”. Both armoured cars were being prepared for the action.

On September 1, an order to attack was passed on to captain “Krybar”, by colonel “Radwan” Pfeiffer, commander of the Downtown District. The units from Powiśle were strengthened by insurgents who came from the Old Town through the sewers. The forces attacking the University numbered about 250 soldiers.

Włodzimierz Rosłoniec “Karski” reconstructed the plan of the attack: “the main attack on the University, which was scheduled for 16.00 on September 2, was decided to be executed from the direction of Oboźna Street. The insurgents were to attack in two groups towards the university gates: one located below the exit of Sewerynów St, the second one opposite Słowacki St. [unlike in the previous attempt, the attempt to force the gate in Krakowskie Przedmieście was abandoned beforehand – ed. MK].

This attempt was unsuccessful too. The chronicler Rosłoniec summed it up as follows: “the third defeat at the University caused understandable depression in the ranks of the insurgents. It was the result of a lack of sufficient amount of appropriate weapons and ammunition. One could feel the lack of grenades, of which the “Krybar” group was a serious producer, and which had to serve units engaged in heavy battles in other parts of the city. Finally, it was the cooperation that failed.

Until the end of the uprising, the university remained a German base with weapons and food storages.

–Maciej Kledzik
–translated by Dominik Szczęsny-Kostanecki

TVP WEEKLY. Editorial team and jornalists

The text uses excerpts from the following books: 1) Wacław Borowy, “The Period of the Uprising 1944 at the University of Warsaw Library. (Bohdan Korzeniewski’s account written down by Wacław Borowy), Warsaw1965; 2) Włodzimierz Rosłoniec, Grupa Krybar. Powiśle 1944”, Warsaw 1989.