Nine weeks of blood and glory
Warsaw Uprising of 1944 day by day.




August 4, 1944 - Fourth day of the Uprising
Friday

Name day: Jan, Dominik
Sunrise 5:16 am; sunset 8:39 pm; air temperature: 17°C
Isolated showers, cloudy, sunny spells in the evening; Vistula river level: 123 cm




          All troops of the People's Army and the Polish People's Army join the military action and establish contact with the Home Army groups.

          Ochota - heavy German attacks. The insurgents capture a tank near Narutowicza Square and damage another.
          The RONA troops are charging the positions of the II and IV "Golski" company and the "Odwet II" ("Retaliaton II") battalion in the Staszic Colony residential area in Ochota.
          The mercenaries of the Kamiński brigade murder, plunder and rape the inhabitants of the Staszic Colony in Ochota. The population is thrown out from the houses and kept at Zieleniak at 95 Grójecka Street in critical conditions.

          Mokotów - an unsuccessful attack of the insurgents from Odyńca Street on Różana and Dworkowa Streets results in heavy partisan losses.
          The insurgents control the area between Puławska, Woronicza, Al. Niepodległości and Szustra Streets.
          The Germans massacre a few thousand people in the vicinity of Puławska and Szustra Streets. Each day hundreds of people are executed on Szucha Alley.

          Praga - Lieutenant Colonel Antoni Żurowski "Andrzej" orders to cease firing until the situation is clarified. The troops are to stand by.

          The Germans attempt to secure the east-west communication routes. Supported by tanks, they are charging along Aleje Jerozolimskie and reach Marszałkowska Street.
          Simultaneously, the enemy is trying to recapture the Post Train Station at the intersection of Żelazna Street and Aleje Jerozolimskie, taken the previous day by the unit commanded by Lieutenant Zbigniew Brym "Zdunin". The defenders of the station and of the Military Geographical Institute on the other side of Aleje, which is also controlled by the insurgents, repel the assault.
          In south Śródmieście, the Polish troops carry out a successful night attack on "Soldatenheim" in Królowa Jadwiga Gymnasium.

          The Germans are charging the Castle Square and the ruins of the Royal Castle.

          The poet Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński (Officer Cadet "Krzysztof") dies on his post in the Blank Palace on Theatre Square, shot by a German sniper's bullet.

          Wola - the German tanks, supported by air force, are continuing the attack along Wolska and Górczewska Streets.

          Following a drag-out fight, at dawn the insurgents pull back from the ground floor of the PASTa building on Zielna Street.

          The Staff of the Home Army Command of the District of Warsaw moves from the "Victoria" hotel to the building of the Postal Saving Bank (PKO) at 9 Jasna Street (the corner of Świętokrzyska Street).

          On the night of August 4 and 5, the Allied planes are dropping weaponry and ammunition. The containers land in the territory of Wola, Śródmieście and the Old City.

          The German planes are dropping leaflets urging the Warsaw dwellers to leave the city. The ultimatum goes unanswered.





          SS-Gruppenführer Heinrich Reinefahrt takes command over a military unit composed of 16 Police Companies and other smaller squads.

          The Red Army is near Kraków.

          The British troops capture Florence.




edited by: Maciej Janaszek-Seydlitz

translated by: Beata Murzyn



Copyright © 2023 Maciej Janaszek-Seydlitz. All rights reserved.