Dec 15 2020 - Dec 15 2020

Mazowiecka 11a Street

Date

Dec 15 2020 - Dec 15 2020

Location

The House of Artists and Designers (Dom Artysty Plastyka) in the very centre of the city at Mazowiecka Street is a well-known and widely recognisable building that still bears the marks of the Warsaw Uprising. In the time of the German occupation the building stood next to the pre-war headquarters of the Land Owners Credit Society (Towarzystwo Kredytowe Ziemskie), which had been taken over by the Arbeitsamt – the German labour office. Because of its strategic significance and a strong association with forced labour deportations, it immediately became a priority target for the insurgents.

The first attempt to capture it was made at „W” Hour – in the first moments of the uprising. Platoons 101 and 116 of the Home Army „Bartkiewicz” Group under the command of 2nd Lt Jan “Bohun” Martynkin forced their way through a wall behind the building and took over its courtyard, but were unable to advance from there. The Germans guarding the Arbeitsamt pushed back the enemy troops and fortified their position on Mazowiecka 11.

The second attack took place on the very same day. It was organised by soldiers of the 2nd Platoon, 4th Company under Lt Kazimierz “Rygiel” Pogorzelski. The insurgents attacked the building via its courtyard, passing through a destroyed wall. This time, the attack was successful and the Germans, who had suffered some losses, decided to retreat through Małachowski Square. Members of the insurgency secured 20 rifles, several boxes of ammunition and some German uniforms that day.
Most of the damage done to the building by Mazowiecka 11a occurred on the 22nd of August 1944, when German infantry, supported by tanks, advanced from Małachowski Square and attacked the barricades at the end of Traugutta and Mazowiecka Streets.

On the 7th March 1941, a group of soldiers belonging to the counterintelligence branch of the District of Warsaw, Home Army, executed Igon Sym – the director of Theater der Stadt Warschau during the occupation and a German intelligence agent. The sentence was carried out on the 4th floor of a townhouse opposite the building by Mazowiecka 11a.

address

Mazowiecka 11a Street

key figures

2nd Lieutenant Jan Martynkin „Bohun”, Lt Kazimierz “Rygiel” Pogorzelski

date of event

22 August 1944 – German infantry attack under the cover of tanks.

wartime fate

During the uprising, due to the vicinity of the Arbeitsamt headquarters, it became a place of fierce fighting.

modern-day fate

The House of Artists and Designers is located here.

„This is how I remember August 1st – the shooting started just after five o’clock. Our people opened fire at a German patrol that was marching through Dąbrowskiego Square. That’s how it all began. Some time later, troops from Cpt “Żmudzina’s” company were defending part of Królewska road because Saski Garden remained under German control. It’s there Cpt “Żmudzin” established a line of defence and held his ground with the help of his boys.”
Bogdan Łuniewski „Puchacz”Battalion „Kiliński”

„For me the uprising began on Mazowiecka Street, that’s where my unit was stationed. We, the youth, could hardly wait for it to start. At last! At last! That’s how the youth welcomed the beginning of the insurgency. […] We had drills at 3 Mazowiecka Street, if I’m not mistaken – there was a school there. That place was somehow connected with the underground, and so we received training just like any other soldiers would. I remember the orders – “get down, get up”. The drill instructor stepped on my back.”
Danuta Wesołowska „Danka”, „Mina”liason officer, sharpshooter, „Bartkiewicz” Group, 4th Company under Cpt „Żmudzin”