September 27-28, 1939 – Warsaw Surrenders

Continuing Rulka Langer’s account of the early days of World War II from the point of view of a young working mother in Warsaw, from her book The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt.

Beginning Monday, September 25, 1939, the Germans launched an all-out bombing campaign that would either obliterate Warsaw from the face of the earth, or force its surrender. For two days, the city was subjected to a constant barrage of bombs.

But on the morning of Wednesday, September 27, 1939, the city woke to silence:

CHAPTER 23
September 27: Warsaw Surrenders

(pp. 300, 306, 308)

The  next morning we woke up conscious of an unusual silence. No bombs, no planes, no artillery fire. The stillness was uncanny. But it was a relief. The Germans at last were giving us a respite.

The house at once began to bustle with activity. People were leaving the shelter, children were allowed to go out and play in the courtyard….

…Zosia was standing in the middle of the room swinging her hat in one hand. She talked breathlessly, and seemed beside herself with excitement.

“Yes, good news!” she shouted. “The colonel told me himself. The British have landed at Gdynia. And General Bortnowski’s army has broken through at Radom, and is marching to the rescue of Warsaw. They are only thirty miles away. They’ll be here day after tomorrow. Yes, it’s good news, tell it to everyone you meet!”

She was almost hysterical….

Suddenly an officer stepped out from the crowd. His face was contorted with grief and rage.

“You crazy women!” he shouted. “How can you go around repeating such monstrous lies? Don’t you know Warsaw has surrendered?”

CHAPTER 24
Bitter Days

(pp. 310–313)

Oh the bitterness of those days…

So it had all been for nothing! The thousands of victims, the gallant effort, the supreme sacrifice, the destruction, all for nothing.

In the streets people wept. Others went around with stony faces. Through the devastated city the wind blew gusts of dust and ashes. The smell of smoke still hung in the air…

For nothing!

That afternoon all over town posters appeared on the battered walls, announcing the capitulation of Warsaw…. In sober terms they stated the reason for surrender—the destruction of the water supply. Gave the terms—soldiers would be disarmed and allowed to return to their homes, only officers were to be taken prisoner—and appealed for peace and order. Twenty-four prominent citizens had gone to the Germans as hostages.

Lack of water, of course. A town of over a million inhabitants could not go on defending itself without an adequate supply of water.

But if so, some people said, why didn’t we surrender on Sunday, when the filters were already destroyed? Why didn’t Warsaw spare itself those last two days of inhuman slaughter and destruction? Think how many lives, how many buildings would have been saved…

Yes, that was true. But if Warsaw had surrendered on Sunday, Warsaw would not have been Warsaw, the gallant city of the Mermaid.

Cities, like nations, like human beings, have to remain true to their own natures. Warsaw had pledged itself to fight to the bitter end, and to the bitter end it had fought. It had done its duty. Perhaps, some day, history would acknowledge the fact, repay for all the death and destruction.

Perhaps….