"This is Poland calling. This is Warsaw calling. This is Warsaw calling. Warsaw calling. Warsaw calling all the free nations."-Radio Błyskawica (Radio Lightning the radio-station of Warsaw Uprising)
This is the very first post in English on this blog and for a good reason so.
The topic isn't really very much connected to Wargaming, but I feel it really deserves mentioning.
I have two stories to tell, one about an event that happened today, and one about an battle that started 66 years ago.
As I was driving through the city today and listening to the radio I didn't really know what hour it was. Then I stopped at the lights and looked at the clock- it was 16:59. Then all around sirens started to wail. I dropped the gear and got out of the car.
What I witnessed is what I wouldn't expect. Everybody in eye-sight was standing, some people almost like at attention. Cars stopped everywhere and more people were getting out of them and standing up-right. I have never seen anything like this before, nor did I think there was such a spirit to honor our history in so many of my fellow citizens.
This was to honor what started exactly 66 years ago.
17 O'clock August the 1st 1944 was the "W"-hour. The Warsaw Uprising had started. An action unprecedented in the history of XXth century Europe.
It has been questioned time and time again if it decision to start the Uprising was right. I'm not going to discus this- that's a topic for a entire series of books.
I'm going to concentrate on the people who fought and died in the Warsaw Uprising. Their courage to stand for what is right, to stand against the oppressors, even in face of death - has cost tenths of thousands of freedom fighters from the Home Army and other Polish military organizations their lives. Now in free Poland they can be treated as Heroes again. In their honor the Polish nation was united today- I didn't expect to see what I saw today.
Soldiers of Poland who fought in the Operation Tempest and specifically in the Warsaw Uprising I salute you!
I was moved by what I saw today and just wanted to share this with all the international readers.
Onto wargaming and if you want to know more about the Uprising:
on the battefront webpage you can find a Briefing about Polish Home Army and Warsaw Uprising, as with most of their materials they are quite accurate and informative:
http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=1622
and on the webpage of the Warsaw Uprising museum:
http://www.1944.pl/en/
