In a real-life adventure worthy of fiction, treasure hunters in Poland’s Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains, northeast of Kraków) have discovered a cache of gold and silver coins dating back to the 17th century.
Intrigued by legends of treasure hidden away by Antoni Jaczewicz, a notorious 17th century con man, the Świętokrzyska Exploration Group set out to determine the truth.
Members of the Świętokrzyska Exploration Group. Photo courtesy ExplorersWeb.
What they found exceeded expectations: a hoard so significant that Sebastian Grabowiec, president of the Świętokrzyska Exploration Group, admitted that they had delayed their announcement for nearly two years due to the magnitude of the find.
At the end of the 17th century, a recurrence of bubonic plague hit Poland. Thousands of people, hoping to spare themselves and their families, turned to prayers and healers. Jaczewicz, who claimed he was endowed with divine powers by the Virgin Mary, exploited the sick and the desperate who sought his “healing” abilities. The stream of money flowing from his healing business was so great that he hired guards to protect his wealth.
Apparently, fleecing desperate people wasn’t enough for Jaczewicz. Soon, he sent his cadre of guards to rob traveling pilgrims and raid surrounding properties. Jaczewicz was eventually exposed and arrested. He escaped, was recaptured and sentenced to life in prison in 1712.
The legend of Jaczewicz’s treasure outlived him, shrouded in mystery until now.
The hoard included many different types of coins made from both silver and gold. Photo courtesy Miami Herald.
The recovered hoard has been been given to the Historical and Archaeological Museum in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, with the intention of preserving the coins while they undergo analysis.
General Władysław Sikorski, c. 1942. Photo courtesy U.S. Library of Congress.
Polish World War II Commander-in-Chief and Prime Minister Władysław Sikorski was born on May 20, 1881 in the Galicia region (southeastern Poland), which was then ruled by Austria-Hungary under the Partitions. He studied engineering at the Lwów Polytechnic, specializing in road and bridge construction, and received his degree in hydraulic engineering.
Sikorski did his one year of compulsory military service in the Austro-Hungarian Army, but thereafter became active in clandestine organizations preparing to fight for Polish independence.
General Władysław Sikorski, c. 1922. Photo courtesy Stefan Bałuk.
During World War I, Sikorski fought in the Polish Legions under command of Józef Piłsudski. Following the end of World War I in November 1918, Poland regained its independence. Sikorski became a career military officer in the Polish Army.
The Polish–Bolshevik War immediately followed the end of World War I, to settle Poland’s eastern border with Russia. Sikorski was given command of the Polish 5th Army, which played a key role in the decisive Battle of Warsaw that routed the Bolsheviks from the gates of the Polish capital (this battle has become known as the Miracle on the Vistula).
In the early years of Polish independence, Sikorski held several leadership positions in the new Polish government, even serving as Prime Minister for several months. However, he fell out with Piłsudski and his ruling party. From 1928 through September 1939, Sikorski continued on the Polish Army’s active list, but was placed on indefinite leave and given no military commands or civil positions.
During this period, Sikorski devoted himself to study and writing. From 1928 through mid-1932, he lived mostly abroad in France and Switzerland. He maintained relationships with his contacts in the French and Polish military. He also cultivated a close relationship with Ignacy Paderewski, who was an important political figure in newly independent Poland.
He wrote articles and two books. His second book, Modern Warfare—Its Character and Problems, and the Accompanying Issues of the Defense of Poland, was initially published in Warsaw in 1934 and subsequently in French and English translations. In it, Sikorski demonstrated an extensive command of subjects such as advances in technology and weapons development, changes in the art of war, the importance of the internal combustion engine, of armor, air power and air defense, the impacts of availability of fuel and financial factors. Sikorski foresaw almost everything which was to take place a few years later in the European theater of war.
President Władysław Raczkiewicz and General Władysław Sikorski in front of the St. Honoré church in Paris after a solemn mass on the occasion of the swearing in of the newly created government in exile, October 1, 1939. Photo courtesy Stefan Bałuk.
When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Sikorski tried unsuccessfully to get a frontline command from Polish commander-in-chief, Marshal Śmigły-Rydz. Śmigły-Rydz and other high government officials evacuated from Warsaw in early September, but were interned in neutral Romania. When Sikorski, following them to try to get a command, saw that they were going to be interned, he kept traveling and made his way to Paris.
General Sikorski during a visit with British Prime Minister Churchill at 10 Downing Street, after the Polish government-in-exile had evacuated from France to Britain. Seated from the left are: Lord Halifax, General Sikorski, Winston Churchill and August Zaleski. Photo courtesy Stefan Bałuk.
Sikorski was chosen as Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief to lead the Polish government-in-exile and armed forces. Under his leadership, Poland became the fourth largest Allied military force in the European theater of the war — and in the most crucial year of the war, from June 1940 when France surrendered to June 1941 when Germany invaded Russia, Poland was Britain’s largest ally.
General Sikorski after a meeting with General Anders during Sikorski’s tour of Polish forces in the Middle East. From the left: Ambassador Romer, General Sikorski, General Anders, General Klimecki, standing on the veranda of the Mena House Hotel in Cairo, May 28, 1943. Photo courtesy Stefan Bałuk.
Sikorski was tragically killed on July 4, 1943 when, returning from an inspection of Polish forces in the Middle East, his plane crashed on takeoff from Gibraltar. Questions still persist as to the cause of this crash, including various theories of sabotage.
Sikorski’s tomb at Wawel Castle, Kraków. Photo: Witold Dzielski.
He was buried at the Polish War Cemetery in Newark-on-Trent, England. In 1993, after the fall of communism, his remains were finally returned to his homeland. General Władysław Sikorski now rests at Wawel Castle in Kraków.
“General Sikorski is the personification of rectitude and chivalrous nobility…He is always ready to fight to the end for a good cause—and always with his visor up.”
So wrote Ignacy Paderewski on October 16, 1939, in a letter to Władysław Raczkiewicz, president of the newly created Polish government-in-exile in Paris.
This week marks the 80th anniversary of the Allied victory in the Battle of Monte Cassino — thanks to the tremendous effort of the men (and one bear) of the Polish II Corps.
View looking up at the destroyed Monte Cassino monastery atop the hill (Signal Corps photo, May 20, 1944). From the Collection of the National WWII Museum 2002.337.524
Dug in at the hilltop monastery of Monte Cassino, elite units of German paratroopers ably controlled the surrounding hillsides and valleys to defend against Allied assaults. This formidable German stronghold guarded the route to Rome, stopping the Allied advance up Italy.
Beginning in January 1944, three attempts by different Allied units — American, British, New Zealand, Indian, Canadian, French and French Colonial — to take Monte Cassino failed. In April, planning a fourth attempt under the code name Operation Diadem, Allied Command asked General Władysław Anders, commander of Polish II Corps, if he would take on the job of capturing Monte Cassino.
Anders accepted the challenge. He had only two undermanned divisions to commit to the battle, the 3rd Carpathian and the 5th Kresowa, but he had faith in his soldiers — and he knew that they wanted revenge against the German enemy.
The Poles pulled back, regrouped, and launched another attack on May 17. Battling their way up the hill, they fought tenaciously for every foot they advanced.
The Polish flag is planted atop Monte Cassino on May 18, 1944. Photo: public domain.The Hejnał being played at foot of Monte Cassino Abbey after the Polish II Corps’s victory. Photo: Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum via Wikipedia.
By 10:20 am on May 18, the 12th Uhlan Regiment raised the Polish flag above the ruins of the Monte Cassino monastery. Thanks to the Poles, the road to Rome was now open for the Allies.
The Polish II Corps paid a large price for their victory in this battle: about 1,000 killed, more than 3,000 wounded, and around 345 missing in action.
The Polish War Cemetery at Monte Cassino, as seen from the monastery at the top of the hill. General Anders asked to be buried with his men in this cemetery when he died. Photo: Ludmiła Pilecka, via Wikipedia.
Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino (red poppies on Monte Cassino) is one of the best-known Polish military songs from World War II, written during the Battle of Monte Cassino. Some of the more poignant lyrics (translated): “red poppies on Monte Cassino, / Instead of dew drank Polish blood. / …. / And the poppies on Monte Cassino / Will be redder having quaffed Polish blood.” Lyrics by Feliks Konarski, music by Alfred Schütz.
This striking poster, by artist Stefan Mucha, uses the red poppies of Monte Cassino to honor the 4th Armored Regiment of the Polish II Corps, known as the Skorpions, which fought and bore heavy losses during the Battle of Monte Cassino.
It’ll be available in the U.S. on December 3rd, and can be pre-ordered now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your favorite bookstore.
This is the incredible story of Elżbieta Zawacka — the World War II female resistance fighter known as Agent Zo — told here for the very first time. Agent Zo was the only female emissary of the Polish Home Army command to reach London from Warsaw during the war. In Britain, she became the only woman to join the elite Polish Special Forces, the Cichociemni (aka the Unseen & Silent), affiliated with British Special Operations Executive (SOE).
She was secretly trained in the British countryside, and then became the only female member of the Cichociemni to be parachuted behind enemy lines to German-occupied Poland. There, whilst being hunted by the Gestapo who arrested her entire family, she took a leading role in the Warsaw Uprising and the liberation of Poland.
Author Clare Mulley. Photo courtesy IWM.
After the war Agent Zo was demobbed as one of the most highly decorated women in Polish history. Yet the Soviet-backed postwar Communist regime not only imprisoned her, but also ensured that her remarkable story remained hidden for over forty years. Now, through new archival research and exclusive interviews with people who knew and fought alongside Zo, Clare Mulley brings this forgotten heroine back to life, and also transforms how we see the history of women’s agency in the Second World War.
We are happy that we were able to contribute a little to Clare’s research on Zo!
As this week marks the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino, it’s the perfect time to honor one of its most legendary participants and the most famous mascot of World War II, Wojtek the Soldier Bear, as our Mascot of the Month!
Adopting a Cute Little Cub —
Young Wojtek with some of his comrades. Photo courtesy @PastRevealed.
In April 1942, Polish soldiers recently freed from captivity in the Soviet Union were en route to Tehran as part of Anders Army. They came across a young Iranian boy who had found a Syrian brown bear cub whose mother had been shot. The soldiers bought the cub from the boy, and took it under their wing.
Initially they fed the little cub condensed milk out of a vodka bottle, supplementing his diet with fruit and honey, and eventually sharing with him their other rations. As he grew, Wojtek loved drinking beer and cigarettes (which he preferred to eat rather than smoke).
Young Wojtek being fed. Photo courtesy historycollection.com.
To Wojtek, the soldiers were the parents he’d lost. They became his family, and the soldiers loved Wojtek as if he were a member of their families. They liked to play and wrestle with him, and Wojtek would sometimes sleep with them. He’d stand on his hind legs to march with them and was taught to salute when greeted. He sometimes traveled in the front seat of a jeep, his head hanging out the window to the surprise of the people they passed.
Wojtek riding in a jeep. Photo courtesy Pinterest.Wojtek play-wrestling with one of his comrades. Photo courtesy amusingplanet.com.
Private Wojtek —
Wojtek’s unit, the 22nd Artillery Supply Company, was part of the Polish II Corps under the command of General Władysław Anders. They trained and fought with the British Eighth Army. As the Polish II Corps moved from Iran to Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Egypt, Wojtek went with them.
But when the Polish II Corps was assigned to the Italian campaign, a problem arose. The British transport ship which was to carry them from Egypt to Italy did not permit pets or animal mascots.
Wojtek boarding ship with his comrades. Photo courtesy Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum.
To get around this restriction, the clever Poles enlisted Wojtek in the Polish II Corps. He was given the rank of private, with his own serial number and paybook, and thus was able to accompany his unit to Italy.
Battle of Monte Cassino —
From January to May 1944, the Allied push up Italy was stalled at Monte Cassino, where the Germans had established a strong defensive position atop the mountain that enabled them to control the surrounding terrain. They were sheltering in the bombed-out ruins of the monastery that had occupied the mountain top before the war.
During this battle, Private Wojtek pitched in to help. He watched his comrades moving 100-pound crates of artillery shells, which usually took as many as four men to carry. Then he jumped in — he was big enough and strong enough to carry each crate by himself, and place it where his comrades indicated.
Although some have expressed doubts about Wojtek’s service during the Battle of Monte Cassino, according to an article in Der Spiegel, “a British veteran recounted how he was taken aback when he suddenly saw a full-grown bear calmly schlepping mortar shells past him during the bloody Battle of Monte Cassino.”
Promotion and Insignia —
Wojtek’s service during the Battle of Monte Cassino earned him a promotion to corporal, and with the approval of the Polish high command, the 22nd Artillery Supply Company changed its insignia to a bear carrying an artillery shell.
The new insignia of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company commemorated Wojtek’s role in the Battle of Monte Cassino. Image courtesy of the Hoover Institution.
Wojtek stayed with his comrades in the 22nd Artillery Supply Company throughout the rest of the war, as they fought their way up Italy.
Postwar —
After the war ended, Wojtek accompanied the 22nd Artillery Supply Company to Britain, where they were based in Scotland until demobilization in 1947.
But though the Allies had won the war, Poland was not free. Instead, the country was consigned to the postwar communist sphere of influence by its erstwhile allies, the United States and Britain, who ceded Poland and part of Europe as far west as eastern Germany to the Soviet Union.
A large number of the Polish soldiers who had fought in World War II, including many in Wojtek’s unit, did not want to return to a communist Poland. Nor did they want their comrade Wojtek sent to Poland to be used for communist propaganda. But none of them could take the bear with them into private life.
Although it was a difficult decision for the soldiers, they decided that the best solution was for Wojtek to be given to the Edinburgh Zoo until he could be brought to a free Poland. The parting was heartbreaking both for the soldiers and for Wojtek, whose whole life had been spent in the bosom of his military family. But on November 15, 1947, Wojtek moved to the Zoo.
Wojtek, happy to see one of his pals who’s come to visit him at the Edinburgh Zoo. Photo courtesy damninteresting.com.
Thereafter, Wojtek always perked up when he heard visitors to the Zoo speaking Polish. His comrades came to visit him, sometimes jumping into Wojtek’s enclosure to wrestle with him as in old times, or bringing him beer or cigarettes.
Wojtek lived at the Edinburgh Zoo until his death in December 1963, at the age of 21. Poland did not become free until the fall of communism in 1989.
Legacy —
Wojtek’s legacy lives on, a beautiful testament to the bond between man and animal, which can be particularly precious during wartime, when men and women are far from home facing danger every day.
The Wojtek statue in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, unveiled in 2015. Photo courtesy @kirsten_fernand.
Our Mascot of the Month, Wojtek the Soldier Bear, has been memorialized in numerous articles and books; in a 2011 film Wojtek the Bear that Went to War as well as a number of online videos; in many statues in Poland, Scotland and Italy, the most known of which was installed in Edinburgh in 2015. Wojtek has even been honored with his own beer!
Wojtek beer, from Beartown Brewery.
Stefan Tompson (@StefanTompson) has done a terrific video review of Wojtek’s life and wartime experience, see below.
Polish hero Witold Pilecki was born on May 13, 1901 into a patriotic Polish family in Olonets, a small town in Karelia near the Finnish border, in what was then the Russian Empire (Poland, having been partitioned among Russia, Austria-Hungary and Prussia since 1795, did not regain its independence until the end of World War I in 1918).
Cavalry Officer Second Lieutenant Witold Pilecki. Photo from The Auschwitz Volunteer.
From an early age, Pilecki became involved in conspiratorial patriotic Polish organizations, including the Polish scouting movement, preparing for the day when Poland could fight for its freedom. He later fought in the Polish–Bolshevik War of 1919–1920. In 1926, as a member of the Polish military reserve, he was posted to the 26th Uhlan Regiment and promoted reserve second lieutenant in the cavalry.
Pilecki with his wife Maria, daughter Zofia and son Andrzej, 1934. Photo from The Auschwitz Volunteer.
During the 1920s, Pilecki took over the running of his family’s small estate, and in 1931 he married Maria Ostrowska, a local schoolteacher. They had two children, a son and a daughter. Pilecki was a man of many talents — profoundly patriotic and Catholic, he also wrote poetry, painted and played the guitar.
When World War II broke out, Pilecki fought with the regular Polish army until his unit was disbanded. After that, he became a prominent member of the Polish Underground.
In September 1940, Pilecki volunteered for a secret undercover mission: to get himself arrested and sent to Auschwitz as prisoner, in order to smuggle out intelligence about what was going on there and build a resistance organization among the prisoners.
Witold Pilecki, Auschwitz prisoner no. 4859
For nearly three years, Pilecki recorded the horrors he saw in the camp, smuggling reports out to his superiors when he could. His reports were among the first accounts to reach the Western Allies of the German atrocities at Auschwitz, including Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’ for the Jews of Europe — although at the time the Allies thought these reports were exaggerated. Pilecki also succeeded in building a resistance organization among the prisoners in the camp.
Barely surviving nearly three years of starvation, disease and brutality, Pilecki escaped from Auschwitz in April 1943 and made his way back to Warsaw. He fought in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, was taken prisoner by the Germans, and ended the war in a German POW camp.
After the war ended in 1945, Pilecki volunteered for another undercover mission: this time to return to Poland where conditions were chaotic as the communists were asserting control, to liaise with the anti-communist groups and report back to General Władysław Anders.
Pilecki at his communist show trial, which ended in a death sentence. Photo from The Auschwitz Volunteer.
He operated undercover in Poland for almost two years, but was captured by the communist authorities in May 1947, tortured, given a “show trial,” and executed on May 25, 1948 as a Western spy and traitor.
It is only since the fall of communism in 1989 that Pilecki’s story has become known. His most comprehensive report on his Auschwitz mission was published in English for the first time by Aquila Polonica under the title The Auschwitz Volunteer: Beyond Bravery.
This year is the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino.
View looking up at the destroyed Monte Cassino monastery atop the hill (Signal Corps photo, May 20, 1944). From the Collection of the National WWII Museum 2002.337.524
Dug in at the hilltop monastery of Monte Cassino, elite units of German paratroopers ably controlled the surrounding hillsides and valleys to defend against Allied assaults. This formidable German stronghold guarded the route to Rome, stopping the Allied advance up Italy.
Beginning in January 1944, three Allied attempts to take Monte Cassino were unsuccessful. The first took place from January 17 to February 11, and was conducted by French, French Colonial and American troops. The second unsuccessful attempt, from February 15 to 18, was controlled by the New Zealand and 4th Indian Divisions. The third attempt to capture the monastery, from March 15 to 26 and fought principally by Canadian and British troops, was also a failure.
Polish soldiers carry ammunition to the front lines during the battle of Monte Cassino. Photo: public domain, courtesy Wikipedia.
Finally, the fourth attempt, code-named Operation Diadem, began the night of May 11/12, 1944. This time, Allied Command handed the job of taking the monastery to General Władysław Anders’s Polish II Corps. The Poles had to fight their way uphill over rocky, difficult terrain, against the German units burrowed into the bombed-out ruins of the monastery at the top of the hill.
The Germans controlled the high ground, enabling them to shoot downhill against the attacking Poles — all but wiping out the Polish units who led the first attack. The Poles pulled back, regrouped and attacked again on May 17….
“The Germans today surrounded the bunker at Miła 18 in the Ghetto. Among the leaders who were trapped in the headquarters bunker was Mordechaj Anielewicz. Rather than fall into enemy hands, he committed suicide.”
This was not the last entry in Kulski’s diary about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, although it is the last I’ll post in this series. I chose four excerpts from his many entries to provide a small sample of this monumentally heroic and tragically doomed fight in the Ghetto, that lasted almost three weeks in the spring of 1943. In some ways, it foreshadows the larger, also doomed, Warsaw Uprising of 1944 that engulfed the entire city for two months beginning August 1, 1944.
General Stanisław Maczek. Photo public domain; courtesy Centralne Archiwum Wojskowe.
On May 6, 1945, General Stanisław Maczek’s 1st Armored Division accepted the surrender of the main German naval base at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Captured were 32,000 German soldiers and 1,900 officers, including a general and two admirals, along with over 200 ships of the Kriegsmarine.
Following the formal surrender of Germany on May 8 that ended the war in Europe, General Maczek was appointed commander of the Polish I Corps and charged with the administration of a 6,500 square kilometer area around Wilhelmshaven. He became commanding officer of all Polish forces in Britain until demobilization in 1947.
According to Mr. Jan Niebrzydowski’s article on the 1st Armored Division in the March 2013 issue of “Bulletin of the Polonus Philatelic Society,” the area under Polish I Corps administration resembled a mini-Polish state. Five thousand Polish refugees from German labor and POW camps reunited with their fellow countrymen in Maczek’s zone. The German town of Haren, within I Corps zone, became known as “Maczków” during this time. The I Polish Corps administered the area around Wilhelmshaven until 1948.
On May 3, 1791, Poland adopted the first democratic written constitution in Europe, following the lead of the Americans who had adopted their Constitution in 1789. Both were heavily influenced by the 18th century Enlightenment.
The Polish Constitution of May 1791. Painted by Jan Matejko,1891, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the signing. The original oil painting hangs in the Royal Castle in Warsaw.
Among other things, the Polish Constitution of May 1791 protected serfs from noble abuse, equalized political rights between townsfolk and landowners, and implemented a system of checks and balances.
Freedom and revolution seemed to be sweeping the world. Between 1775 and 1781, the American Revolution was successful in ridding the American continent of rule by the British monarchy. The French Revolution began in 1789, aimed at destroying the French nobility.
Poland’s neighbors — Austria-Hungary, Prussia and Russia, all monarchies — did not want the example of a democratically inclined nation adjacent to their borders. Over a period of years they divided up Poland (the “Partitions”), so that by 1795 Poland had disappeared from the map of Europe. For 123 years, from 1795 to the end of World War I in 1918, the Polish nation ceased to exist.
However, throughout the Partition period, May 3rd became an unwritten national holiday, helping to keep alive the spirit of Poland. May 3rd was officially restored as a national holiday in 1919, shortly after Poland regained its independence.
During World War II, the German and Soviet occupiers forbade celebration of Polish Constitution Day. After World War II, as the communists were asserting control over the country, the celebrations on May 3rd led to bloody patriotic revolts. The Polish communist government removed the day from the calendar of national holidays, officially making it illegal in 1951.
It was not until 1990, after the fall of communism, that May 3rd was once again restored as an official national holiday.
The Constitution of May 1791 was in force for less than two years, yet remains an important document in European history. It has stood as a powerful Polish national symbol, even during periods of foreign occupation and political captivity. Constitution Day continues to be one of Poland’s most important national holidays more than 200 years after its original creation.
White storks standing on a nest. Photo courtesy poland-24.com
Check out the live stork cams at the end of this post! In Poland, the sight of a stork circling overhead or tending to its massive nest in the spring is more than just a glimpse of nature; it’s a symbol of rebirth, good fortune, and deep cultural connection. For centuries, these majestic birds have held a revered place in Polish folklore and remain an intrinsic part of the country’s rural landscape.
The white stork (Ciconia ciconia), with its striking black-and-white plumage and long red legs, is the most iconic stork species gracing Polish skies. These remarkable birds undertake extraordinary migrations each year. As summer fades in Poland, storks gather in large flocks, preparing for their long journey southward. Their wintering grounds lie in the heart of Africa, thousands of kilometers away.
Stork nest high atop a telephone poll. Photo courtesy poland-24.com
The stork’s presence in Polish culture runs deep. Their prominent nests, often built atop chimneys, barns, or specially constructed platforms, are a ubiquitous feature of the Polish countryside. Storks are believed to bring good luck and prosperity, their nesting near a household considered a blessing. Legends tell of storks bringing babies, symbolizing fertility and new beginnings.
On my first trip to Poland, which happened to be in the spring, catching sight of stork nests atop telephone polls, chimneys and rooftops was one of the many things that charmed me — and explained to my satisfaction the genesis of the myth that babies are delivered down the chimney by a stork!
Click the screenshot below to go to the live stork cam at Gmina Polanów, where I’ve seen two storks and five eggs. Hope they all hatch!
UPDATE May 9, 2024 – Checking in on the Gmina Polanów nest this morning (Los Angeles time), three of the five eggs have hatched! I saw the three little guys squawking for dinner (Poland time)!
UPDATE June 18, 2024 – The three little guys are now quite grown. Looks to me like they will soon be flying the nest!
UPDATE August 15, 2024 – Checking in the past two weeks, the nest has been empty with only one or two exceptions, where I saw one pretty full-grown stork was standing on the nest. I think this year’s brood has basically grown up and flown the nest. Perhaps they’ve even started their migration south for the winter.
Continuing his description of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, on Monday, April 26, 1943, Julian Kulski wrote in his diary:
A man jumps from an upper floor of a flaming building during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Photo from The Color of Courage.
“General Stroop has reported that more than one thousand Jews have been flushed out of the bunkers and that they were immediately liquidated. In addition, several hundred were killed in battle, and the Germans also captured many Jews who maintained liaison and worked with the Polish ‘terrorist’ groups. At the same time the General Staff of the ŻOB [Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa; Jewish Fighting Organization] has sent out its last communiqué:
Captured Jewish Freedom Fighters. Photo from The Color of Courage.
” ‘ The number of men, women and children lost in the fires and by execution squads is enormous. Our final days are approaching. But, as long as we have weapons in our hands we will continue to fight…’ “
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