Figure 1.--These boys are three young insurgents of the Szare Szeregi (Gray Ranks). This was a codename for the Związek Harcerstwa Polskiego (Polish Boy Scout Association) during the War. It was outlawed by the Geemans andvthus became an underground paramilitary group. These boys fought with the Miotła Battalion of the Radosław Group. The photograph was taken (September 2, 1944). The boys had just toured the sewers that connected Krasiński Square and Warecka Street, in the Śródmieście district. The boy with the helmet is Tadeusz Rajszczak 'Maszynka' (15 years old). The teen wearing a cap, in the center is Kazimierz Gabara 'Łuk' (17 years old), and the teen on the right is Ryszard Michał Lach 'Pestka' (also 17 years old). Tadeusz Rajszczak after Uprising left city with civilians and in 1978 he was awarded the Righteous Among the Nations award by Israel. He died in 1996. Kazimierz Gabara after the Uprising became a prisoner of war in a German POW camp. He is living in Warsaw. Ryszard Lach after Uprising was also made a prisoner of war. He died in 1993. So all thre managed to survove the War.

The AK struck in Warsaw (August 1, 1944). The Germans were badky defeated east of the Vistula but the Red Army had not yet reached the Vistula. The Vistyula cut through Waesaw, but most of the city was west of the River. West of the Vistula the Germans still had well armed fotces. The massive Red Army victoriesin Belarus and eastern Poland which had destroying Arny Group Center, which had been the most powerful German formation. German military power was , however, still overwhelming siperior to the lightly armed and equipped AK volunteers west of the Vistula. The AK at first managed to gain some important successes against the surprised German Warsaw garrison. The AK had two main objectivs. First was to drive the Germans out of Warsaw. Second was to liberate Warsaw and assert Polish sovereignty before the Soviet-backed Polish Committee of National Liberation (the Lublin Committee) could establish control. The AK did managed to gain control over most central Warsaw on the west bank of the Vistula. They also gained cintrol over other areas of the city. The Germans managed, hiwever, to hold mamy pockers throughout the cuty. The Germans quickly mobilized reserves and the resulting fighting in the city was fierce. The AK had control over most of central Warsaw, but even here there were pockets of resistance. This included Warsaw University buildings, PAST skyscraper, the headquarters of the German garrison in the Saxon Palace, the Polish excluded area near Szucha Avenue, and the bridges over the Vistula. The AK was unable to establish a central stronghold, secure communication links to other areas, or a secure land corridor to the northern area of Żoliborz through the northern railway line and the Citadel. The AK gained control of areas outside the city center, but here their control was nore tenous with larger areas of Germnan control. Even more ominous, the Red Army which the AK had been counting on, ignored AK radio transmissions attemoting to coordunare military efforts. Fighting between the Germans and Poles intensified as the Germans reinforcements began to arrive with heavy weapons. The AK reached the limits of its liberation effort (August 4). The AL fighters managed to establish front lines in the westernmost neighnothppds Wola and Ochota. It was at this point that the German forces stoped falling back and well-armed reinforcements began to arrive.

Created: 12:49 PM 4/6/2020
Last updated: 12:49 PM 4/6/2020