Prisoners of Gęsiówka and the Szare Szeregi fighters after the liberation of the camp in August 1944
Gęsiówka (Polish pronunciation: [ɡɛ̃ˈɕufka]; Polish informal name for the prison on Gęsia Street; literally: 'Goose Farm'), was a German Nazi concentration camp in German-occupied Warsaw, Poland.
History of Gęsiówka[]
Before the war, Gęsiówka was a military prison of the Polish Army on Gęsia Street (now Anielewicza Street). Beginning in 1939, after the German occupation of Poland, it became a re-education camp of the German security police (Arbeitserziehungslager der Sicherheitspolizei Warschau). In 1943 it was turned into a concentration camp for inmates from beyond Warsaw and Poland, equipped with a crematorium. The camp was joined with a nearby Pawiak prison and formed the backbone of the Warsaw concentration camp complex. Inmates (mostly Jews) included prisoners from Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Hungary, Belgium and Germany.
Attack on Gęsiówka[]
Soldiers of tank platoon "Wacek" of "Zośka" Battalion on a Panther tank on the corner of Okopowa and Żytnia Street. August 2, 1944
Liberated Jewish women posing with Zośka fighters
Members of the armored platoon Batalion Zośka pose on a captured German Panther Tank
On August 5, 1944, during the early phase of Warsaw Uprising, Armia Krajowa's Battalion "Zośka" (Radosław Group of Szare Szeregi) led by Ryszard Białous and Eugeniusz Stasiecki attacked the Gęsiówka camp which was being liquidated at the time. The Panther tank "Magda", one of two captured by the insurgents on August 2, was instrumental in the attack, supporting the assault with fire of its main gun. In the ensuing one-and-half-hour battle most of the SD guards were killed or captured, although some of the Germans managed to flee in direction of Pawiak. Only two Polish fighters were killed in the attack and 348 able-bodied Jewish prisoners, who were left in Gęsiówka to assist with the destruction of the evidence of mass murder, were rescued from certain death. Most of these survivors joined the Zośka unit and fought in the uprising. Later in the uprising, most of them were killed, together with those who had freed them.[1]
.jpg "Gęsiowka Prison in Warsaw Patrol Giewonta (1944).jpg (38 KB)")
.jpg "Gęsiowka Prison in Warsaw (1944).jpg (41 KB)")
References[]
- ↑ Stefan Korbonski The Polish Underground State: A Guide to the Underground, 1939-1945
See also[]
Coordinates: 52°14′40.7″N 20°58′44.18″E / 52.244639°N 20.9789389°E
The original article can be found at Gęsiówka and the edit history here.