01/08/2026
“W” Hour
On Tuesday, August 1, 1944, at 5 pm, coded as “W” Hour, the Rising began with barely 25,000 soldiers of the Home Army, since not all the Insurgents were able to reach their designated meeting points. The resistance fighters were tragically inadequately armed; only every tenth had any sort of weapon, mostly a fuel-filled bottle or a homemade hand gr***de. Against them stood the German garrison of some 20 thousand superbly trained soldiers armed to the teeth, spread across all the key locations around the city. The principal objectives taken by the Poles in the early encounters did not offer any tactical advantages. Nevertheless, they succeeded in occupying most of the Old Town and a good part of the center, including the tallest building at the time in Warsaw, the sixteen-story-high Prudential. However, the Germans continued to defend themselves in several strongholds, maintaining control of the city.
On the first day of the Rising, the Germans suffered significant casualties, estimated at 500 soldiers. But Polish losses were much heavier, amounting to almost two thousand dead.
The image depicts: Georgian Emigration in Poland (1921–1944): "Grigol Peradze" Commemorative Postage Stamp.
© D.Kolbaia
