It is worth beginning with the fact that many Warsaw Uprising insurgents knew very well what Sybir meant. “My father was sent to Sybir under the Tsar,” recalled Mieczysław Cielecki, codenamed “Wiatr” [wind] (a sapper in the “Baszta” Regiment). The grandparents of Senior Rifleman Kazimierz Grabczyński, codenamed “Janosik” (2nd Platoon, Headquarters Security Unit of the Warsaw District of the Home Army), were deported for their participation in the January Uprising. As a result, his mother was born in Yakutia and attended school in Irkutsk.

Could people with such family histories have remained passive in August 1944? “Ever since I can remember, in every generation of my family, my ancestors fought for Poland. The first died in battle during the November Uprising, the next fought in the January Uprising and was deported to Sybir. His wife went with him. He returned in 1916 and, sadly, died of heart failure three months later…” recalled Ewa Orzechowska, codenamed “Ewa” (a liaison officer who served in the sewers during the Uprising).

However, the Warsaw Uprising was fought not only by descendants of Siberian exiles, but also by members of families whose relatives were still living in the distant taiga or steppes, as well as by Siberian exiles themselves. How was this possible?

In September 1944, soldiers of the 1st Polish Army – the so-called “Berling’s Army” – reached the besieged capital. After capturing Warsaw’s Praga district, they stood on the eastern bank of the Vistula, looking across at the bleeding city. On 15 September, General Zygmunt Berling received orders from the Soviet command to prepare a crossing operation. During the night, the first units crossed the Vistula. The operation was extremely difficult and came at a heavy cost in casualties. Nevertheless, its objective was achieved: the troops secured the so-called Czerniaków bridgehead, followed on 18 September by the establishment of a bridgehead in Żoliborz.

At the Czerniaków bridgehead, the soldiers of Berling’s Army joined forces with the insurgents and fought alongside them for several days. On 21 September, the German counter-offensive began. During the night of 22–23 September, the soldiers of Berling’s Army, together with some of the insurgents, were evacuated across the Vistula. Nearly 3,000 soldiers of Berling’s Army were killed in the fighting at the Warsaw bridgeheads. Many of them were decorated for their participation in the Warsaw Uprising. The fact that these awards were granted by the Soviet command, however, was not without significance.

There is one more aspect to consider: the majority of members of the armed underground who were arrested by the Soviets from October 1944 until the spring of 1945 were deported to labour camps in Siberia. Many Warsaw insurgents were among them.

Translated from Polish by Małgorzata Giełzakowska