Poland

1944: Operation Tempest and the Warsaw Uprising

July – October 1944 · 2 battles

When the Red Army entered the territory of pre-war Poland in the summer of 1944, the Home Army put Operation Tempest into effect: underground units attacked the retreating Germans and greeted the arriving Soviet troops as the rightful hosts. At Wilno and Lwów Home Army soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder with the Red Army, only to be disarmed, and their commanders arrested by the NKVD. On 1 August 1944 the Warsaw Uprising broke out – the largest armed rising in occupied Europe. For 63 days the insurgents fought German troops and police formations, which committed mass atrocities against the civilian population, while help from outside – Allied air drops and the landing of the 1st Polish Army at Czerniaków – proved insufficient. The capitulation of 2 October ended the uprising; the Germans drove out the population and systematically razed the city.

15 January – 26 October 1944Key battleOperation TempestFrom January to October 1944 the Home Army struck the retreating Germans and greeted the Red Army as hosts. The Soviets disarmed its units.
1 August – 2 October 1944Key battleWarsaw UprisingFrom 1 August to 2 October 1944 the Home Army fought the Germans for Warsaw. After 63 days it capitulated; the city was emptied and razed.