title: Areca nut

text: Chewing areca nut is a cause of oral submucous fibrosis, a premalignant lesion which frequently progresses to mouth cancer. According to Medline Plus, "Long-term use [of betel-areca preparations] has been associated with oral submucosal fibrosis (OSF), pre-cancerous oral lesions and squamous cell carcinoma. Acute effects of betel chewing include asthma exacerbation, hypertension, and tachycardia. There may additionally be a higher risk of cancers of the liver, mouth, esophagus, stomach, prostate, cervix, and lung with regular betel use. Other effects can include altered blood sugar levels, which may in turn increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes."


title: Areca nut

text: Use of areca nut has been associated with deterioration of psychosis in people with preexisting psychiatric disorders . Areca nut consumption is also tied to chronic kidney disease in men as well as reports of milk-alkali syndrome.


title: Areca nut

text: In 2003 the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a World Health Organization sponsored group, found sufficient evidence that the habit of chewing betel quid, with or without tobacco, causes cancer in humans. In October 2009, 30 scientists from 10 countries met at IARC to reassess the carcinogenicity of various agents including areca nut, and mechanisms of carcinogenesis. They confirmed there is sufficient evidence that areca nut, with or without tobacco, can cause cancer.


title: Areca nut

text: The harm caused by consumption of betel quid or areca nut by hundreds of millions of people worldwide (mainly with southern and eastern Asian origins and connections) has been characterized as a "neglected global public health emergency".


title: Areca nut

text: Chewing "paan" (or other areca nut and betel leaf formulations) during pregnancy significantly increases adverse outcomes for the baby. The habit is associated with higher incidences of preterm birth and low birth weight and height. Biologically, these effects may be a consequence of the arecoline that is found in areca nuts. The habit also exposes the fetus to various other toxic components linked to cancer.


title: Areca nut

text: The major alkaloid in betel nut is arecoline. There are other compounds, such as arecaidine, guvacine, isoguvacine, and guvacoline. Tannins present in betel nut are mainly proanthocyanidins along with catechins and arecatannin. Two new alkaloids were recently discovered and named acatechu A and acatechu B. Several non-alkaloid compounds including benzenoids, terpenes, acids, aldehydes, alcohols, and esters were also identified.


title: Areca nut

text: The oldest unequivocal evidence of betel chewing is from the Philippines. Specifically that of several individuals found in a burial pit in the Duyong Cave site of Palawan island dated to around 2680±250 BCE. The dentition of the skeletons is stained, typical of betel chewers. The grave also includes "Anadara" shells used as containers of lime, one of which still contained lime. Burial sites in Bohol dated to the first millennium CE also show the distinctive reddish stains characteristic of betel chewing. Based on linguistic evidence of how the reconstructed Proto-Austronesian term "*buaq" originally meaning "fruit" came to refer to "areca nut" in Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, it is believed that betel chewing originally developed somewhere within the Philippines shortly after the beginning of the Austronesian expansion (~3000 BCE). From the Philippines, it spread back to Taiwan, as well as onwards to the rest of Austronesia and in neighboring cultures through trade and migration.


title: Areca nut

text: Chewing the mixture of areca nut and betel leaf constitutes an important and popular cultural activity in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, East Asian and Oceanic countries. How or when the areca nut and the betel leaf were first combined into one psychoactive drug is not known. Archaeological evidence from Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines suggests they have been used in tandem for at least 4000 years.


title: Areca nut

text: In Vietnam, the areca nut and the betel leaf are such important symbols of love and marriage that in Vietnamese the phrase "matters of betel and areca" ("chuyện trầu cau") is synonymous with marriage. The tradition of chewing areca nuts starts the talk between the groom's parents and the bride's parents about the young couple's marriage. Therefore, the leaves and juices are used ceremonially in Vietnamese weddings. The folk tale explaining the origin of this Vietnamese tradition is a good illustration of the belief that the combination of areca nut and the betel leaf is ideal to the point they are practically inseparable, like an idealized married couple.


title: Areca nut

text: Formerly, in both India and Sri Lanka, it was a custom of the royalty to chew areca nut with betel leaf. Kings had special attendants whose duty it was to carry a box with all the necessary ingredients for a good chewing session. There was also a custom for lovers to chew areca nut and betel leaf together, because of its breath-freshening and relaxant properties. A sexual symbolism thus became attached to the chewing of the nut and the leaf. The areca nut represented the male principle, and the betel leaf the female principle. Considered an auspicious ingredient in Hinduism and some schools of Buddhism, the areca nut is still used along with betel leaf in religious ceremonies, and also while honoring individuals in much of southern Asia.


title: Areca nut

text: In Assam, as well as most of its neighbouring Northeastern states, Areca Nut is preferably consumed in its fermented form, which is supposed to make the fruit harder and sweeter. The raw nut may also be eaten during certain seasons when the fermented variety becomes unavailable, although it has more of ritual importance. Standard sized pieces of the nut and leaf are usually consumed in combination with lime and a bit of tobacco. In Assam, betel nut and leaf has indispensable cultural value; offering betel leaf and nut, (together known as "gua") constitutes a part of social greeting and socialising. It is a tradition to offer "pan-tamul" (betel leaves and raw areca nut) to guests immediately upon arrival, and after tea or meals, served in a brass plate with stands called "bota". In traditional Assamese societies carrying a pouch of "tamul-pan" upon one's person during journeys or during farming activities, and sharing of the same, was an essential requirement. Among the Assamese, the areca nut also has a variety of uses during religious and marriage ceremonies, where it has the role of a fertility symbol. No religious ritual is complete without the offering of "tamul-pan" to the gods and spirits as well as to the assembled guests A tradition from Upper Assam is to invite guests to wedding receptions by offering a few areca nuts with betel leaves. During Bihu, the "husori" players are offered areca nuts and betel leaves by each household while their blessings are solicited.


title: Areca nut

text: Spanish mariner Álvaro de Mendaña reported observing Solomon Islanders chewing the nut and the leaf with caustic lime, and the manner in which the habit stained their mouths red. He noted the friendly and genial chief Malope, on Santa Isabel Island, would offer him the combination as a token of friendship every time they met.


title: Areca nut

text: In Bhutan, the areca nut is called "doma". The soft and moist raw areca nut is very potent. When chewed it can cause palpitation and vasoconstriction. This form is eaten in the lower regions of Bhutan and in North Bengal, where the nut is cut into half and put into a local "paan" leaf with a generous amount of lime. In the rest of Bhutan the raw nut, with the husk on, is fermented such that the husk rots and is easy to extract. The fermented doma has a putrid odour, which can be smelled from miles. Traditionally, this fragrant nut is cut in half and placed on top of a cone made of local betel leaf, which has a dash of lime put into it. "Myth has it that the inhabitants of Bhutan traditionally known as Monyul, the land of Monpas where Buddhism did not reach lived on raw flesh, drank blood, and chewed bones. After the arrival of Guru Rinpoche in the eighth century, he stopped the people from eating flesh and drinking blood and created a substitute which is betel leaf, lime and areca nut. Today, chewing doma has become a custom. Doma is served after meals, during rituals and ceremonies. It is offered to friends and is chewed at work places by all sections of society and has become an essential part of Bhutanese life and culture."


title: Areca nut

text: The addition of tobacco leaf to the chewing mixture is a relatively recent innovation, as tobacco was not introduced from the American continent until the colonial era.


title: Areca nut

text: In India (the largest consumer of areca nut) and the rest of the Indian subcontinent, the preparation of nut with or without betel leaf is commonly referred to as "paan". It is available practically everywhere and is sold in ready-to-chew pouches called "pan masala" or "supari", which is the dried form of the Areca Nut, as a mixture of many flavours whose primary base is dried areca nut crushed into small pieces. Poor people, who may eat only every other day, use it to stave off hunger pangs. "Pan masala" with a small quantity of tobacco is called "gutka". The easily discarded, small plastic "supari" or "gutka" pouches are a ubiquitous pollutant of the South Asian environment. Some of the liquid in the mouth is usually disposed of by spitting, producing bright red spots wherever the expectorate lands.


title: Areca nut

text: In the Maldives, areca nut chewing is very popular, but spitting is frowned upon and regarded as an unrefined, repulsive way of chewing. Usually, people prefer to chew thin slices of the dry nut, which is sometimes roasted. "Kili", a mixture of areca nut, betel, cloves, cardamom and sugar is sold in small home-made paper pouches. Old people who have lost their teeth keep "chewing" by pounding the mixture of areca nut and betel with a small mortar and pestle.


title: Areca nut

text: In Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, fresh areca nut, betel leaf or 'fruit leaf' ("daka" in the former) and lime are sold on street corners. In these countries, dried or flavoured areca nut is not popular. Betelnuts there are referred to in Tok Pisin as buai. There has recently been a controversial ban on selling and chewing betelnut in public places in Port Moresby. Because of this, many people have tried to smuggle betelnut into Port Moresby. Notably, there was a raid in Hanuabada in May 2015 where several bags of betelnut were confiscated, the total value of the confiscated nuts exceeding US$180,000. Areca nut chewing has recently been introduced into Vanuatu, where it is growing in popularity, especially in the northern islands of the country.


title: Areca nut

text: In Guam and the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands, betel and areca nut chewing is a social pastime as a means to extend friendship, and can be found in many, if not most, large gatherings as part of the food display.


title: Areca nut

text: In Palau, betel nut is chewed with lime, piper leaf and nowadays, with the addition of tobacco. Older and younger generations alike enjoy the use of betel nut, which is readily available at stores and markets. Unlike in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, where the inner areca nut is used, in Palau, the areca nut's skin is chewed along with lime, leaf and tobacco and the juice is not swallowed but spat out.


title: Areca nut

text: In Taiwan, bags of 20 to 40 areca nuts are purchased fresh daily by a large number of consumers. To meet the steady year-round demand, two kinds of betel-nut shops sell betel and nuts, as well as cigarettes and drinks, including beer: Small mom and pop shops, often poorly maintained and with unassuming façades, and shops which will often consist of nothing more than a single, free-standing room, or booth. The latter is usually elevated one meter above the street, and measures less than 3 by 2 m. Large picture windows comprise two or more of the walls, allowing those who pass by a complete view of the interior. The interior is often painted brightly. Within such a shop, a sexily dressed young woman, a "betel nut beauty", can be seen preparing betel and areca nuts. Shops are often identified by multicoloured (commonly green) fluorescent tubes or neon lights that frame the windows or that are arranged radially above a store. Customers stop on the side of the road and wait for the girls to bring their betel and areca nut to their vehicles. The habit of chewing betel nut is often associated with blue-collar labor industries such a long-haul transportation, construction, or fishing. Workers in these labor-intensive industries use betel nut for its stimulating effect, but it also becomes a tool for socializing with coworkers. For example, studies have shown chewing betel nut is prevalent among taxi, bus and truck drivers, who rely on the stimulating effect of betel nut to cope with long work hours. For these reasons, oral cancer has been identified as a leading cause of death in professions with high betel nut-chewing rates.


title: Areca nut

text: In Hainan and Hunan Province, China, where Xiangtan is a center of use and processing, a wide range of old and young people consume areca nut daily. Most, though, consume the dried variety of the nut by itself, without the betel leaves. Some people also consume the areca nut in its raw, fresh form with or without the betel leaves. Betel nuts are sold mostly by old women walking around trying to sell it, but the dried version can be found in most shops that sell tea, alcohol, and cigarettes.


title: Areca nut

text: In Thailand, the consumption of areca nut has declined gradually in the last decades. The younger generation rarely chews the substance, especially in the cities. Most of the present-day consumption is confined to older generations, mostly people above 50. Even so, small trays of betel leaves and sliced tender areca nut are sold in markets and used as offerings in Buddhist shrines.


title: Areca nut

text: In the Philippines, chewing the areca nut and betel leaf was a very widespread tradition in the past. Now, though, this tradition is almost dead among the urban people in the cities and big towns, and has largely been replaced by gum and tobacco. Nowadays, older people are the only ones chewing betel nuts. But in rural areas, betel nut chewing is very much alive.


title: Areca nut

text: In the United States, areca nut is not a controlled or specially taxed substance and may be found in some Asian grocery stores. However, importation of areca nut in a form other than whole or carved kernels of nuts can be stopped at the discretion of US Customs officers on the grounds of food, agricultural, or medicinal drug violations. Such actions by Customs are very rare.


title: Areca nut

text: Places such as Guwahati (গুৱাহাটী) in India, Penang in Malaysia, Ko Mak (เกาะหมาก) in Thailand, Fua Mulaku in Maldives and Binlang Islet in Taiwan have been named after the areca nut.


title: Areca nut

text: In 2017, world production of areca nut was 1.3 million tonnes, with India providing 54% of the total. As other leading producers, Myanmar, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Taiwan combined contributed 38% of the world total (table).


title: Luis Enrique

text: Luis Enrique Martínez García (; born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player.


title: Luis Enrique

text: A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playing in several different positions, but usually played as a midfielder or forward, and was also noted for his temperament and stamina. Starting in 1991 and ending in 2004, he represented both Real Madrid and Barcelona with both individual and team success, appearing in more than 500 official games and scoring more than 100 goals. He appeared with the Spain national football team in three World Cups and one European Championship.


title: Luis Enrique

text: Luis Enrique started working as a manager in 2008 with Barcelona B, before moving to Roma three years later. In the 2013–14 season he managed Celta, before returning to Barcelona and winning the treble in his first year and the double in his second; in 2018, he was appointed Spain head coach for the first time before resigning for family reasons in 2019. He reassumed the position the same year and subsequently led the team to the semi-finals of Euro 2020 and the second place in the 2020–21 Nations League, resigning at the end of the 2022 World Cup.


title: Luis Enrique

text: Luis Enrique was born in Gijón, Asturias, and began his career with local Sporting de Gijón, where he gained the nickname "Lucho" after Luis Flores, a Mexican forward in the team. He then spent most of his playing days with the two biggest Spanish clubs: first Real Madrid for five seasons and, in 1996, after seeing out his contract and notably scoring in a 5–0 home win against FC Barcelona in January 1995, stating later he "rarely felt appreciated by the Real Madrid supporters and didn't have good memories there", he moved to their fierce rivals at the Camp Nou on a free transfer. The Catalans' supporters were at first hesitant about their new acquisition, but he soon won the hearts of the "cules", staying eight years, eventually becoming team captain and scoring several times in "El Clásico" against his former employers; he passionately celebrated at the Santiago Bernabéu, where he grabbed his jersey after a 25-yard strike that beat the opposing goalkeeper.


title: Luis Enrique

text: Luis Enrique netted 46 La Liga goals in his first three seasons with Barcelona, with the side finishing runner-up in 1996–97 and subsequently winning back-to-back domestic championship accolades. Furthermore, he was named Spanish Player of the Year by "El País" in the following campaign. He also scored the opening goal in the 1997 UEFA Super Cup, a 3–1 aggregate triumph against Borussia Dortmund.


title: Luis Enrique

text: During his final years in Barcelona, Luis Enrique was often injured, and did not want to renew his contract. He had been offered a deal by his first club Sporting, which he, however, declined, stating that "he wouldn't be able to reach the level he demanded of himself" and that "he wouldn't be doing Sporting much of a favour by going there." His concerns about his level and fitness made him retire on 10 August 2004 at the age of 34, and he finished his professional career with league totals of 400 games and 102 goals, being named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March.


title: Luis Enrique

text: Luis Enrique played for Spain in three FIFA World Cups: 1994, 1998 and 2002 (as well as UEFA Euro 1996), and scored 12 goals while gaining 62 caps. He was also a member of the gold-winning squad at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and made his debut for the main side on 17 April 1991, featuring for 22 minutes in a 0–2 friendly loss to Romania in Cáceres.


title: Luis Enrique

text: In the 1994 World Cup, held in the United States, Luis Enrique scored his first international goal, in the round-of-16 3–0 win over Switzerland in Washington, D.C. In the 1–2 quarter-final defeat against Italy at Foxboro Stadium, Mauro Tassotti's elbow made contact with his face to bloody effect, but during the match the incident went unpunished – Tassotti was banned for eight games afterwards; when Spain met Italy at Euro 2008 on 22 June, to battle for a place in the semi-finals, Luis Enrique reportedly called for the team to "take revenge" for the 1994 World Cup incident by beating Italy. Tassotti, an assistant coach with A.C. Milan at the time, told the newspaper "Marca" that he was tired of always being reminded of this incident, and that he had never intended to hurt the Spaniard.


title: Luis Enrique

text: At the 1998 World Cup, Luis Enrique played a major role in a 6–1 rout of Bulgaria in the last game of the group, scoring and assisting once and also winning a penalty, but the Spaniards were eliminated nonetheless. On 5 June of the following year he netted a hat-trick, in a 9–0 win in Villarreal over San Marino in the Euro 2000 qualifiers.


title: Luis Enrique

text: On 23 June 2002, Luis Enrique retired from international football, in order to give the younger players more playing time and focus only on his club.


title: Luis Enrique

text: Having occupied several positions, Luis Enrique was most noted for his exceptional versatility and consistency. He was capable of playing anywhere in midfield or along the front line, and was fielded in all positions on the pitch throughout his career, except those of central defender and goalkeeper. A strong, courageous, energetic and hard-working team player, with good technical skills, flair and notable stamina, his usual position was as an attacking midfielder in the centre of the pitch, due to his ability to link-up the forwards and the midfield, or as a right winger, but he was capable of playing anywhere along the right flank, and was often deployed as an attacking full back or wing-back, or even as a left winger on occasion.


title: Luis Enrique

text: Due to his keen eye for goal and ability to make attacking runs into the box, Luis Enrique frequently played as a forward, either in a withdrawn role as a second striker behind the team's main goalscorer, or even as an out-and-out striker or centre forward – he was also used in deeper midfield roles. In addition to his playing abilities, he also stood out for his commitment, temperament, determination and leadership.


title: Luis Enrique

text: On 26 May 2008, Luis Enrique returned to Barcelona, taking over the reins of the B team, renamed Barcelona Atlètic for that season. As he succeeded long-time Barcelona teammate Pep Guardiola, he stated: ""I have come home"", and ""I finished playing here and now I will start coaching here.""; in his second season he found success, helping the club return to Segunda División after an absence of 11 years.


title: Luis Enrique

text: In mid-March 2011, Luis Enrique announced he would leave at the end of the campaign, despite still having two years left on his contract. He led the side to the playoffs, but they were ineligible for promotion.


title: Luis Enrique

text: On 8 June 2011, Luis Enrique reached an agreement with Italian Serie A club A.S. Roma to become the "Giallorossi"'s new head coach. He signed a two-year contract, being joined by a staff of four members, including Iván de la Peña who played two years for crosstown rivals S.S. Lazio, as technical collaborator.


title: Luis Enrique

text: Roma was eliminated from the UEFA Europa League by ŠK Slovan Bratislava, amid great discussion of the substitution of legendary Francesco Totti for Stefano Okaka. The capital-based side also lost their first game in the domestic league against Cagliari Calcio, making it just the third time that they lost the opener in 18 years.


title: Luis Enrique

text: Even though he still had two years remaining on his contract, Luis Enrique decided to leave Roma at the end of the season after failure to qualify for any European competition.


title: Luis Enrique

text: On 8 June 2013, Luis Enrique became RC Celta de Vigo's new manager, replacing former national teammate Abel Resino. He led the Galicians to the ninth position in his first and only season, highlights including a 2–0 home win against Real Madrid that ended the opposition's possibilities of winning the league title.


title: Luis Enrique

text: On 19 May 2014, Luis Enrique returned to Barcelona as a manager on a two-year deal. He was recommended by sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta, his former national teammate. His first competitive match was a 3–0 home league win over Elche CF, where he handed debuts to new signings Claudio Bravo, Jérémy Mathieu and Ivan Rakitić, and gave youth products Munir El Haddadi, Rafinha and Sandro their maiden league appearances for the club, while summer signing Luis Suárez was unavailable for selection due to suspension.


title: Luis Enrique

text: Luis Enrique suffered his first defeat in the competition on 25 October 2014, away against Real Madrid, and although Barcelona had a successful run in the year, his management came under scrutiny because of his tactics involving several lineup changes in consecutive games. Moreover, a quarrel with Lionel Messi and other players further accentuated the team's poor form.


title: Luis Enrique

text: Amid reports of dressing room unrest, in early January, and on back of a defeat to Real Sociedad Zubizarreta was sacked, weakening Luis Enrique's standing at the club. A significant upturn in form followed, as a result of the coach deciding on a settled lineup with a tweak in the formation: Messi and Neymar now played as inverted wingers, while Suárez was the lone striker. The team won at home to champions Atlético Madrid who had previously defeated them 6 times in a row in all competitions. He soon equaled Guardiola's record of 11 consecutive victories, while the side went on to beat Atlético Madrid and Villarreal CF convincingly in the Copa del Rey to advance to the final. In the domestic league, after eight wins in nine matches, they returned to the top of the table after 15 weeks.


title: Luis Enrique

text: On 21 April 2015, Luis Enrique recorded his 42nd win after 50 games in charge of Barcelona with a 2–0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain FC, the best record of any manager. He went on to lead the club to the final of the UEFA Champions League and, on 17 May, led it to its 23rd national championship with one match to spare following a 1–0 win at the Vicente Calderón Stadium against Atlético Madrid. On 6 June, having earlier won the domestic cup against Athletic Bilbao by the same score, the team sealed a treble with a 3–1 defeat of Juventus F.C. in the Champions League Final in Berlin, and three days later he signed a new contract until 2017.


title: Luis Enrique

text: On 11 August 2015, Barcelona won the 2015 UEFA Super Cup 5–4 against Sevilla FC. On 2 December, against CF Villanovense in the Copa del Rey round of 32, Luis Enrique decided against bringing on a new player following Mathieu's injury with 12 minutes to go even though two replacements could still be made, as the score was 6–1 at that time and the manager said he did not want to risk introducing players to the game without adequate warm-up.


title: Luis Enrique

text: In his first two seasons, Luis Enrique rotated his goalkeepers, with Bravo playing league games and Marc-André ter Stegen playing cup and European matches. Both players, however, expressed opposition to this policy. A second double was achieved on 22 May 2016, following a 2–0 Copa del Rey victory over Sevilla FC after extra time in which the team played more than 50 minutes with one player less, following the dismissal of Javier Mascherano.


title: Luis Enrique

text: On 1 March 2017, Luis Enrique announced that he would not continue as team manager after 30 June on expiration of his contract.


title: Luis Enrique

text: Luis Enrique was named coach of the Spain national team on 9 July 2018, replacing former club and country teammate Fernando Hierro. His first match in charge occurred on 8 September, and he led the side to a 2–1 win against England in the UEFA Nations League at Wembley Stadium.


title: Luis Enrique

text: In November 2019, Luis Enrique rejoined the national team after having quit his post for personal reasons four months prior. Speaking to the press after his return, a visibly angry Luis Enrique alleged his friend and colleague of six years Robert Moreno — who managed the national team after his resignation — was "disloyal" and wanted to hold on to his interim position.


title: Luis Enrique

text: When Luis Enrique selected a 24-man Euro 2020 squad — despite being allowed 26 — that contained no Real Madrid players, he was accused of having an anti-Madrid bias. Several high-profile omissions from his squad were seen as a way for him to assert control over the dressing room and the team. However, he led Spain to the tournament's semi-finals, in which they lost against Italy on penalties, after a 1–1 draw.


title: Luis Enrique

text: At the 2022 World Cup, Luis Enrique's team was ousted in the round of 16 following another shootout, 3–0 against Morocco. In the wake of this performance, he stepped down from his position.


title: Luis Enrique

text: One of the most renowned and successful managers of his generation, Luis Enrique's incisive and direct football featuring quick transitions from defense to attack, though reliant on the front three of Messi, Suárez and Neymar, was in sharp contrast to the possession-heavy approach of Barcelona managers immediately prior to him. Statistically, Luis Enrique's Barcelona, in his first two years at the club, were better than Guardiola's: Comparatively his team had scored more goals and conceded fewer, had a higher win percentage and won competitions at a similar rate. Guardiola hailed them as the best counter-attacking team in the world.


title: Luis Enrique

text: In his first two seasons at the Camp Nou, Luis Enrique fielded a 4–3–3 formation. Results improved after he stopped tinkering with his starting eleven. The team's creative outlet was the wings with Neymar and Messi as inside forwards flanking Suárez, a departure from their usual playing style. Ivan Rakitić played a pivotal role in transitioning defense to attack, and Andrés Iniesta's influence withered, while Xavi, the club's captain, reduced to a part-time, substitute role. With overlapping full-backs offering width, Neymar and Messi often drifted in-field, encouraging midfielders, Rakitic and Iniesta, to move into channels and attack in and around the box. In his third and final year, struggling for form and results, the manager switched to a 3–4–3 offense morphing into a 4–4–2 defensive shape, reminiscent of Antonio Conte's Premier League winners Chelsea more than Johan Cryuff's Dream Team, with Messi at the top of a midfield diamond, acting as chief play-maker, and Sergio Busquets, the sole holding defensive midfielder, responsible for breaking the first-line of opposition press. The system favoured Neymar in particular, who played as a left forward, often cutting inside to link with lone striker Suárez, or to create an overload in the final-third sharing creative responsibilities with Messi. This change in formation was instrumental as they overcame 0–4, the biggest first-leg deficit in Champions League history, by defeating PSG 6–1 in the second-leg; however, the physical and tactical discipline required to sustain a 3–4–3 proved controversial.


title: Luis Enrique

text: Luis Enrique continued to favour 4–3–3 for Spain, and at times the riskier 3–4–3 when the situation demands, with the sole defensive midfielder in the pivot being the only commonality. Lacking the front three he had at Barcelona, his football retains positional and vertical aspects, though with box-to-box central midfielders, like Koke or Pedri, offering attacking thrust while the center forward drops deep to bring wide forwards into play, accompanied by overlapping full-backs who offer width. Whilst pressing oppositions high-up, the center forward, usually Álvaro Morata, screens the opposition defensive midfielder as wide forwards engage opposition center backs. Spain's defensive midfielder, often Busquets, tracks the run of opposition attackers when they drop deep, some times pressing higher than the team's other central midfielders. In possession, Spain usually start playing out from the back, to draw the opposition in, with Thiago Alcântara or any other central midfielder, dropping alongside Busquets to help progress the ball forward. Should the opposition press aggressively, the full-backs link up to offer additional passing options as the center backs go deep and narrow. Wide forwards make diagonal runs into the midfield to link play with those in front of them. Once the ball has been progressed out of the defense, they adjust their attacking rhythm to match opposition's defensive structure, either opting for a speedy transition against a higher block or relying on a more positional approach play against a lower block. To mix it up, Spain initially build up short in the defensive-third to then play long to the center forward who then attempts to bring outfield runners in to play. Wing play is used to stretch opposition and create spaces infield or create crossing opportunities, especially against compact defenses.


title: Luis Enrique

text: Known for his brave and fearless management style, Luis Enrique is quick to curb out source of any influence that undermines his authority. Reports of his altercation with Messi at Barcelona and with Totti at Roma, both of whom wield considerable power at their respective clubs, being prime examples of that. His flexibility in adopting different playing styles, while at odds with the possession-based style synonymous with Barcelona, furthered this narrative, as he continued to remain unfazed in the face of criticism and pressure. Royal Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales, on the back of three consecutive unsuccessful tournaments, appointed him to curb ill-discipline and complacency in the squad, stating: "We are looking for an incontestable leader, who sets out the path, and nobody then strays from that path."


title: Luis Enrique

text: Messi described Luis Enrique as one of the two best managers he has played for, the other being Guardiola. While Guardiola maintains that though he has played against many great footballing sides as a manager, Luis Enrique's Barcelona and Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool were the best he has ever faced.


title: Luis Enrique

text: In comparing the managers he has played for, Spain international Alcântara said, "[Luis Enrique] has the analytical positioning of Pep [and] the aggressiveness of Klopp" while also praising Luis Enrique's communication skills in conveying his footballing ideas.


title: Luis Enrique

text: Luis Enrique was sponsored by sportswear company Nike, and appeared in commercials for the brand. In a global advertising campaign in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, he starred in a "Secret Tournament" commercial (branded "Scorpion KO") directed by Terry Gilliam, appearing alongside footballers such as Luís Figo, Thierry Henry, Hidetoshi Nakata, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Totti, with former player Eric Cantona the tournament "referee".


title: Luis Enrique

text: After retiring from football, Luis Enrique lived for a while in Australia to practise surfing. He took part in the 2005 edition of the New York City Marathon, finished the Amsterdam Marathon in 2006, the Firenze Marathon in 2007 and the "Marathon des Sables" in 2008, while also entering and finishing Frankfurt Ironman in 2007. He was due to take part in the Klagenfurt Ironman competition in July 2008, but eventually declined due to his engagement as manager of Barcelona B.


title: Luis Enrique

text: Luis Enrique married his longtime partner Elena Cullell on 27 December 1997. Their daughter, Xana, died of bone cancer at age 9 on 29 August 2019.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The Warsaw Uprising (; ) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led by the Polish resistance Home Army (). The uprising was timed to coincide with the retreat of the German forces from Poland ahead of the Soviet advance. While approaching the eastern suburbs of the city, the Red Army temporarily halted combat operations, enabling the Germans to regroup and defeat the Polish resistance and to destroy the city in retaliation. The Uprising was fought for 63 days with little outside support. It was the single largest military effort taken by any European resistance movement during World War II.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The Uprising began on 1 August 1944 as part of a nationwide Operation Tempest, launched at the time of the Soviet Lublin–Brest Offensive. The main Polish objectives were to drive the Germans out of Warsaw while helping the Allies defeat Germany. An additional, political goal of the Polish Underground State was to liberate Poland's capital and assert Polish sovereignty before the Soviet-backed Polish Committee of National Liberation could assume control. Other immediate causes included a threat of mass German round-ups of able-bodied Poles for "evacuation"; calls by Radio Moscow's Polish Service for uprising; and an emotional Polish desire for justice and revenge against the enemy after five years of German occupation.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Initially, the Poles established control over most of central Warsaw, but the Soviets ignored Polish attempts to make radio contact with them and did not advance beyond the city limits. Intense street fighting between the Germans and Poles continued. By 14 September, the eastern bank of the Vistula River opposite the Polish resistance positions was taken over by the Polish troops fighting under the Soviet command; 1,200 men made it across the river, but they were not reinforced by the Red Army. This, and the lack of air support from the Soviet air base five-minutes flying time away, led to allegations that Joseph Stalin tactically halted his forces to let the operation fail and allow the Polish resistance to be crushed. Arthur Koestler called the Soviet attitude "one of the major infamies of this war which will rank for the future historian on the same ethical level with Lidice." On the other hand, David Glantz argued that the uprising started too early and the Red Army could not realistically have aided it, regardless of Soviet intentions.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Winston Churchill pleaded with Stalin and Franklin D. Roosevelt to help Britain's Polish allies, to no avail. Then, without Soviet air clearance, Churchill sent over 200 low-level supply drops by the Royal Air Force, the South African Air Force, and the Polish Air Force under British High Command, in an operation known as the Warsaw Airlift. Later, after gaining Soviet air clearance, the U.S. Army Air Force sent one high-level mass airdrop as part of Operation Frantic, although 80% of these supplies landed in German-controlled territory.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Although the exact number of casualties is unknown, it is estimated that about 16,000 members of the Polish resistance were killed and about 6,000 badly wounded. In addition, between 150,000 and 200,000 Polish civilians died, mostly from mass executions. Jews being harboured by Poles were exposed by German house-to-house clearances and mass evictions of entire neighbourhoods. German casualties totalled over 2,000 to 17,000 soldiers killed and missing. During the urban combat, approximately 25% of Warsaw's buildings were destroyed. Following the surrender of Polish forces, German troops systematically levelled another 35% of the city block by block. Together with earlier damage suffered in the 1939 invasion of Poland and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943, over 85% of the city was destroyed by January 1945 when the course of the events in the Eastern Front forced the Germans to abandon the city.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: In 1944, Poland had been occupied by Nazi Germany for almost five years. The Polish Home Army planned some form of rebellion against German forces. Germany was fighting a coalition of Allied powers, led by the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. The initial plan of the Home Army was to link up with the invading forces of the Western Allies as they liberated Europe from the Nazis. However, when the Soviet Army began its offensive in 1943, it became clear that Poland would be liberated by it instead of the Western Allies.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The Soviets and the Poles had a common enemy—Germany—but were working towards different post-war goals: the Home Army desired a pro-Western, capitalist Poland, but the Soviet leader Stalin intended to establish a pro-Soviet, socialist Poland. It became obvious that the advancing Soviet Red Army might not come to Poland as an ally but rather only as "the ally of an ally".


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: "The Home Commander was, in his political thinking, pledged to the doctrine of two enemies, in accordance with which both Germany and Russia were seen as Poland's traditional enemies, and it was expected that support for Poland, if any, would come from the West".


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The Soviets and the Poles distrusted each other and Soviet partisans in Poland often clashed with a Polish resistance increasingly united under the Home Army's front. Stalin broke off Polish–Soviet relations on 25 April 1943 after the Germans revealed the Katyn massacre of Polish army officers, and Stalin refused to admit to ordering the killings and denounced the claims as German propaganda. Afterwards, Stalin created the Rudenko Commission, whose goal was to blame the Germans for the war crime at all costs. The Western alliance accepted Stalin's words as truth in order to keep the Anti-Nazi alliance intact. On 26 October, the Polish government-in-exile issued instructions to the effect that, if diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union were not resumed before the Soviet entry into Poland, Home Army forces were to remain underground pending further decisions.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: However, the Home Army commander, Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, took a different approach, and on 20 November, he outlined his own plan, which became known as Operation Tempest. On the approach of the Eastern Front, local units of the Home Army were to harass the German "Wehrmacht" in the rear and co-operate with incoming Soviet units as much as possible. Although doubts existed about the military necessity of a major uprising, planning continued. General Bór-Komorowski and his civilian advisor were authorised by the government in exile to proclaim a general uprising whenever they saw fit.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The situation came to a head on 13 July 1944 as the Soviet offensive crossed the old Polish border. At this point the Poles had to make a decision: either initiate the uprising in the current difficult political situation and risk a lack of Soviet support, or fail to rebel and face Soviet propaganda describing the Home Army as impotent or worse, Nazi collaborators. They feared that if Poland was liberated by the Red Army, then the Allies would ignore the London-based Polish government in the aftermath of the war. The urgency for a final decision on strategy increased as it became clear that, after successful Polish-Soviet co-operation in the liberation of Polish territory (for example, in Operation Ostra Brama), Soviet security forces behind the frontline shot or arrested Polish officers and forcibly conscripted lower ranks into the Soviet-controlled forces. On 21 July, the High Command of the Home Army decided that the time to launch Operation Tempest in Warsaw was imminent. The plan was intended both as a political manifestation of Polish sovereignty and as a direct operation against the German occupiers. On 25 July, the Polish government-in-exile (without the knowledge and against the wishes of Polish Commander-in-Chief General Kazimierz Sosnkowski) approved the plan for an uprising in Warsaw with the timing to be decided locally.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: In the early summer of 1944, German plans required Warsaw to serve as the defensive centre of the area and to be held at all costs. The Germans had fortifications constructed and built up their forces in the area. This process slowed after the failed 20 July plot to assassinate the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, and around that time, the Germans in Warsaw were weak and visibly demoralized. However, by the end of July, German forces in the area were reinforced. On 27 July, the Governor of the Warsaw District, Ludwig Fischer, called for 100,000 Polish men and women to report for work as part of a plan which envisaged the Poles constructing fortifications around the city. The inhabitants of Warsaw ignored his demand, and the Home Army command became worried about possible reprisals or mass round-ups, which would disable their ability to mobilize. The Soviet forces were approaching Warsaw, and Soviet-controlled radio stations called for the Polish people to rise in arms.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: On 25 July, the Union of Polish Patriots, in a broadcast from Moscow, stated: "The Polish Army of Polish Patriots ... calls on the thousands of brothers thirsting to fight, to smash the foe before he can recover from his defeat ... Every Polish homestead must become a stronghold in the struggle against the invaders ... Not a moment is to be lost." On 29 July, the first Soviet armoured units reached the outskirts of Warsaw, where they were counter-attacked by two German Panzer Corps: the 39th and 4th SS. On 29 July 1944 Radio Station Kosciuszko located in Moscow emitted a few times its "Appeal to Warsaw" and called to "Fight The Germans!": "No doubt Warsaw already hears the guns of the battle which is soon to bring her liberation. ... The Polish Army now entering Polish territory, trained in the Soviet Union, is now joined to the People's Army to form the Corps of the Polish Armed Forces, the armed arm of our nation in its struggle for independence. Its ranks will be joined tomorrow by the sons of Warsaw. They will all together, with the Allied Army pursue the enemy westwards, wipe out the Hitlerite vermin from Polish land and strike a mortal blow at the beast of Prussian Imperialism." Bór-Komorowski and several officers held a meeting on that day. Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, who had arrived from London, expressed the view that help from the Allies would be limited, but his views received no attention.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: "In the early afternoon of 31 July the most important political and military leaders of the resistance had no intention of sending their troops into battle on 1 August. Even so, another late afternoon briefing of Bor-Komorowski's Staff was arranged for five o'clock(...) At about 5.30 p.m. Col 'Monter' arrived at the briefing, reporting that the Russian tanks were already entering Praga and insisting on the immediate launching of the Home Army operations inside the city as otherwise it 'might be too late'. Prompted by 'Monter`s report, Bor-Komorowski decided that the time was ripe for the commencement of 'Burza' in Warsaw, in spite of his earlier conviction to the contrary, twice expressed during the course of that day".


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: "Bor-Komorowski and Jankowski issued their final order for the insurrection when it was erroneously reported to them that the Soviet tanks were entering Praga. Hence they assumed that the Russo-German battle for Warsaw was approaching its climax and that this presented them with an excellent opportunity to capture Warsaw before the Red Army entered the capital. The Soviet radio appeals calling upon the people of Warsaw to rise against the Germans, regardless of Moscow's intentions, had very little influence on the Polish authorities responsible for the insurrection".


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Believing that the time for action had arrived, on 31 July, the Polish commanders General Bór-Komorowski and Colonel Antoni Chruściel ordered full mobilization of the forces for 17:00 the following day.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The Home Army forces of the Warsaw District numbered between 20,000, and 49,000 soldiers. Other underground formations also contributed; estimates range from 2,000 in total, to about 3,500 men including those from the National Armed Forces and the communist People's Army. Most of them had trained for several years in partisan and urban guerrilla warfare, but lacked experience in prolonged daylight fighting. The forces lacked equipment, because the Home Army had shuttled weapons to the east of the country before the decision to include Warsaw in Operation Tempest. Other partisan groups subordinated themselves to Home Army command, and many volunteers joined during the fighting, including Jews freed from the Gęsiówka concentration camp in the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto. Morale among Jewish fighters was hurt by displays of antisemitism, with several former Jewish prisoners in combat units even killed by antisemitic Poles.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Colonel Antoni Chruściel (codename "Monter") who commanded the Polish underground forces in Warsaw, divided his units into eight areas: the Sub-district I of Śródmieście (Area I) which included Warszawa-Śródmieście and the Old Town; the Sub-district II of Żoliborz (Area II) comprising Żoliborz, Marymont, and Bielany; the Sub-district III of Wola (Area III) in Wola; the Sub-district IV of Ochota (Area IV) in Ochota; the Sub-district V of Mokotów (Area V) in Mokotów; the Sub-district VI of Praga (Area VI) in Praga; the Sub-district VII of Warsaw suburbs (Area VII) for the Warsaw West County; and the Autonomous Region VIII of Okęcie (Area VIII) in Okęcie; while the units of the Directorate of Sabotage and Diversion ("Kedyw") remained attached to the Uprising Headquarters. On 20 September, the sub-districts were reorganized to align with the three areas of the city held by the Polish units. The entire force, renamed the Warsaw Home Army Corps () and commanded by General Antoni Chruściel – who was promoted from Colonel on 14 September – formed three infantry divisions (Śródmieście, Żoliborz and Mokotów).


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The exact number of the foreign fighters ("obcokrajowcy" in Polish), who fought in Warsaw for Poland's independence, is difficult to determine, taking into consideration the chaotic character of the Uprising causing their irregular registration. It is estimated that they numbered several hundred and represented at least 15 countries – Slovakia, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, the United States, the Soviet Union, South Africa, Romania, Germany, and even Nigeria.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: These people – emigrants who had settled in Warsaw before the war, escapees from numerous POW, concentration and labor camps, and deserters from the German auxiliary forces – were absorbed in different fighting and supportive formations of the Polish underground. They wore the underground's red-white armband (the colors of the Polish national flag) and adopted the Polish traditional independence fighters' slogan 'Za naszą i waszą wolność'. Some of the 'obcokrajowcy' showed outstanding bravery in fighting the enemy and were awarded the highest decorations of the AK and the Polish government in exile.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: During the fighting, the Poles obtained additional supplies through airdrops and by capture from the enemy, including several armoured vehicles, notably two Panther tanks and two Sd.Kfz. 251 armored personnel carriers. Also, resistance workshops produced weapons throughout the fighting, including submachine guns, K pattern flamethrowers, grenades, mortars, and even an armoured car (). As of 1 August, Polish military supplies consisted of 1,000 guns, 1,750 pistols, 300 submachine guns, 60 assault rifles, 7 heavy machine guns, 20 anti-tank guns, and 25,000 hand grenades. "Such collection of light weapons might have been sufficient to launch an urban terror campaign, but not to seize control of the city".


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: In late July 1944 the German units stationed in and around Warsaw were divided into three categories. The first and the most numerous was the garrison of Warsaw. As of 31 July, it numbered some 11,000 troops under General Rainer Stahel.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: These well-equipped German forces prepared for the defence of the city's key positions for many months. Several hundred concrete bunkers and barbed wire lines protected the buildings and areas occupied by the Germans. Apart from the garrison itself, numerous army units were stationed on both banks of the Vistula and in the city. The second category was composed of police and SS, under SS and Police Leader SS-"Oberführer" Paul Otto Geibel, numbering initially 5,710 men, including "Schutzpolizei" and "Waffen-SS". The third category was formed by various auxiliary units, including detachments of the "Bahnschutz" (rail guard), "Werkschutz" (factory guard) and the Polish Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans in Poland) and Soviet former POW of the "Sonderdienst" and "Sonderabteilungen" paramilitary units.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: During the uprising the German side received reinforcements on a daily basis. Stahel was replaced as overall commander by SS-General Erich von dem Bach in early August. As of 20 August 1944, the German units directly involved with fighting in Warsaw comprised 17,000 men arranged in two battle groups:


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The Nazi forces included about 5,000 regular troops; 4,000 Luftwaffe personnel (1,000 at Okęcie airport, 700 at Bielany, 1,000 in Boernerowo, 300 at Służewiec and 1,000 in anti-air artillery posts throughout the city); as well as about 2,000 men of the Sentry Regiment Warsaw ("Wachtregiment Warschau"), including four infantry battalions ("Patz", "Baltz", No. 996 and No. 997), and an SS reconnaissance squadron with ca. 350 men.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: After days of hesitation, at 17:00 on 31 July, the Polish headquarters scheduled "W-hour" (from the Polish "wybuch", "explosion"), the moment of the start of the uprising for 17:00 on the following day. The decision was a strategic miscalculation because the under-equipped resistance forces were prepared and trained for a series of coordinated surprise dawn attacks. In addition, although many units were already mobilized and waiting at assembly points throughout the city, the mobilization of thousands of young men and women was hard to conceal. Fighting started in advance of "W-hour", notably in Żoliborz, and around Napoleon Square and Dąbrowski Square. The Germans had anticipated the possibility of an uprising, though they had not realized its size or strength. At 16:30 Governor Fischer put the garrison on full alert.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: That evening the resistance captured a major German arsenal, the main post office and power station and the Prudential building. However, Castle Square, the police district, and the airport remained in German hands. The first days were crucial in establishing the battlefield for the rest of the fight. The resistance fighters were most successful in the City Centre, Old Town, and Wola districts. However, several major German strongholds remained, and in some areas of Wola the Poles sustained heavy losses that forced an early retreat. In other areas such as Mokotów, the attackers almost completely failed to secure any objectives and controlled only the residential areas. In Praga, on the east bank of the Vistula, the Poles were sent back into hiding by a high concentration of German forces. Most crucially, the fighters in different areas failed to link up with each other and with areas outside Warsaw, leaving each sector isolated from the others. After the first hours of fighting, many units adopted a more defensive strategy, while civilians began erecting barricades. Despite all the problems, by 4 August the majority of the city was in Polish hands, although some key strategic points remained untaken.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The uprising was intended to last a few days until Soviet forces arrived; however, this never happened, and the Polish forces had to fight with little outside assistance. The results of the first two days of fighting in different parts of the city were as follows:


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: An additional area within the Polish command structure was formed by the units of the Directorate of Sabotage and Diversion or "Kedyw", an elite formation that was to guard the headquarters and was to be used as an "armed ambulance", thrown into the battle in the most endangered areas. These units secured parts of Śródmieście and Wola; along with the units of "Area I", they were the most successful during the first few hours.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Among the most notable primary targets that were not taken during the opening stages of the uprising were the airfields of Okęcie and Mokotów Field, as well as the PAST skyscraper overlooking the city centre and the Gdańsk railway station guarding the passage between the centre and the northern borough of Żoliborz.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The leaders of the uprising counted only on the rapid entry of the Red Army in Warsaw ('on the second or third or, at the latest, by the seventh day of the fighting') and were more prepared for a confrontation with the Russians. At this time, the head of the government in exile Mikolajczyk met with Stalin on 3 August 1944 in Moscow and raised the questions of his imminent arrival in Warsaw, the return to power of his government in Poland, as well as the Eastern borders of Poland, while categorically refusing to recognize the Curzon Line as the basis for negotiations. In saying this, Mikolajczyk was well aware that the USSR and Stalin had repeatedly stated their demand for recognition of the Curzon line as the basis for negotiations and categorically refused to change their position. 23 March 1944 Stalin said 'he could not depart from the Curzon Line; in spite of Churchill's post-Teheran reference to his Curzon Line policy as one 'of force', he still believed it to be the only legitimate settlement'. Thus, the Warsaw uprising was actively used to achieve political goals. The question of assistance to the insurrection was not raised by Mikolajczyk, apparently for reasons that it might weaken the position in the negotiations. 'The substance of the two-and-a-half-hour discussion was a harsh disagreement about future of Poland, the Uprising – considered by the Poles as a bargaining chip – turned to be disadvantageous for Mikolajczyk's position since it made him seem like a supplicant (...) Nothing was agreed about the Uprising.' The question of helping the "Home Army" with weapons was only raised, but Stalin refused to discuss this question until the formation of a new government was decided.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The Uprising reached its apogee on 4 August when the Home Army soldiers managed to establish front lines in the westernmost boroughs of Wola and Ochota. However, it was also the moment at which the German army stopped its retreat westwards and began receiving reinforcements. On the same day SS General Erich von dem Bach was appointed commander of all the forces employed against the Uprising. German counter-attacks aimed to link up with the remaining German pockets and then cut off the Uprising from the Vistula river. Among the reinforcing units were forces under the command of Heinz Reinefarth.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: On 5 August Reinefarth's three attack groups started their advance westward along "Wolska" and "Górczewska" streets toward the main east–west communication line of Jerusalem Avenue. Their advance was halted, but the regiments began carrying out Heinrich Himmler's orders: behind the lines, special SS, police and "Wehrmacht" groups went from house to house, shooting the inhabitants regardless of age or gender and burning their bodies. Estimates of civilians killed in Wola and Ochota range from 20,000 to 50,000, 40,000 by 8 August in Wola alone, or as high as 100,000. The main perpetrators were Oskar Dirlewanger and Bronislav Kaminski, whose forces committed the cruelest atrocities.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The policy was designed to crush the Poles' will to fight and put the uprising to an end without having to commit to heavy city fighting. With time, the Germans realized that atrocities only stiffened resistance and that some political solution should be found, as the thousands of men at the disposal of the German commander were unable to effectively counter the resistance in an urban guerrilla setting. They aimed to gain a significant victory to show the Home Army the futility of further fighting and induce them to surrender. This did not succeed. Until mid-September, the Germans shot all captured resistance fighters on the spot, but from the end of September, some of the captured Polish soldiers were treated as POWs.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Despite the loss of Wola, the Polish resistance strengthened. "Zośka" and "Wacek" battalions managed to capture the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto and liberate the Gęsiówka concentration camp, freeing about 350 Jews. The area became one of the main communication links between the resistance fighting in Wola and those defending the Old Town. On 7 August German forces were strengthened by the arrival of tanks using civilians as human shields. After two days of heavy fighting they managed to bisect Wola and reach Bankowy Square. However, by then the net of barricades, street fortifications, and tank obstacles were already well-prepared; both sides reached a stalemate, with heavy house-to-house fighting.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Between 9 and 18 August pitched battles raged around the Old Town and nearby Bankowy Square, with successful attacks by the Germans and counter-attacks from the Poles. German tactics hinged on bombardment through the use of heavy artillery and tactical bombers, against which the Poles were unable to effectively defend, as they lacked anti-aircraft artillery weapons. Even clearly marked hospitals were dive-bombed by Stukas.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Although the Battle of Stalingrad had already shown the danger a city can pose to armies which fight within it and the importance of local support, the Warsaw Uprising was probably the first demonstration that in an urban terrain, a vastly under-equipped force supported by the civilian population can hold its own against better-equipped professional soldiers—though at the cost of considerable sacrifice on the part of the city's residents.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The Poles held the Old Town until a decision to withdraw was made at the end of August. On successive nights until 2 September, the defenders of the Old Town withdrew through the sewers, which were a major means of communication between different parts of the Uprising. Thousands of people were evacuated in this way. Those that remained were either shot or transported to concentration camps like Mauthausen and Sachsenhausen once the Germans regained control.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Soviet attacks on the 4th SS Panzer Corps east of Warsaw were renewed on 26 August, and the Germans were forced to retreat into Praga. The Soviet army under the command of Konstantin Rokossovsky captured Praga and arrived on the east bank of the Vistula in mid-September. By 13 September, the Germans had destroyed the remaining bridges over the Vistula, signalling that they were abandoning all their positions east of the river. In the Praga area, Polish units under the command of General Zygmunt Berling (thus sometimes known as "berlingowcy" – "the Berling men") fought on the Soviet side. Three patrols of his First Polish Army () landed in the Czerniaków and Powiśle areas and made contact with Home Army forces on the night of 14/15 September. The artillery cover and air support provided by the Soviets was unable to effectively counter enemy machine-gun fire as the Poles crossed the river, and the landing troops sustained heavy losses. Only small elements of the main units made it ashore (I and III battalions of 9th infantry regiment, 3rd Infantry Division).


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The limited landings by the 1st Polish Army represented the only external ground force which arrived to physically support the uprising; and even they were curtailed by the Soviet High Command due to the losses they took.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The Germans intensified their attacks on the Home Army positions near the river to prevent any further landings, but were not able to make any significant advances for several days while Polish forces held those vital positions in preparation for a new expected wave of Soviet landings. Polish units from the eastern shore attempted several more landings, and from 15 to 23 September sustained heavy losses (including the destruction of all their landing boats and most of their other river crossing equipment). Red Army support was inadequate. After the failure of repeated attempts by the 1st Polish Army to link up with the resistance, the Soviets limited their assistance to sporadic artillery and air support. Conditions that prevented the Germans from dislodging the resistance also acted to prevent the Poles from dislodging the Germans. Plans for a river crossing were suspended "for at least 4 months", since operations against the 9th Army's five panzer divisions were problematic at that point, and the commander of the 1st Polish Army, General Berling was relieved of his duties by his Soviet superiors.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: On the night of 19 September, after no further attempts from the other side of the river were made and the promised evacuation of wounded did not take place, Home Army soldiers and landed elements of the 1st Polish Army were forced to begin a retreat from their positions on the bank of the river. Out of approximately 900 men who made it ashore only a handful made it back to the eastern shore of the Vistula. Berling's Polish Army losses in the attempt to aid the Uprising were 5,660 killed, missing or wounded. From this point on, the Warsaw Uprising can be seen as a one-sided war of attrition or, alternatively, as a fight for acceptable terms of surrender. The Poles were besieged in three areas of the city: Śródmieście, Żoliborz and Mokotów.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: In 1939 Warsaw had roughly 1,350,000 inhabitants. Over a million were still living in the city at the start of the Uprising. In Polish-controlled territory, during the first weeks of the Uprising, people tried to recreate the normal day-to-day life of their free country. Cultural life was vibrant, both among the soldiers and civilian population, with theatres, post offices, newspapers and similar activities. Boys and girls of the Polish Scouts acted as couriers for an underground postal service, risking their lives daily to transmit any information that might help their people. Near the end of the Uprising, lack of food and medicine, overcrowding and indiscriminate German air and artillery assault on the city made the civilian situation more and more desperate. Booby traps, such as thermite-laced candy pieces, may have also been used in German-controlled districts of Warsaw; targeting Polish youth.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: As the Uprising was supposed to be relieved by the Soviets in a matter of days, the Polish underground did not predict food shortages would be a problem. However, as the fighting dragged on, the inhabitants of the city faced hunger and starvation. A major break-through took place on 6 August, when Polish units recaptured the Haberbusch i Schiele brewery complex at Ceglana Street. From that time on the citizens of Warsaw lived mostly on barley from the brewery's warehouses. Every day up to several thousand people organized into cargo teams reported to the brewery for bags of barley and then distributed them in the city centre. The barley was then ground in coffee grinders and boiled with water to form a so-called spit-soup (). The "Sowiński" Battalion managed to hold the brewery until the end of the fighting.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Another serious problem for civilians and soldiers alike was a shortage of water. By mid-August most of the water conduits were either out of order or filled with corpses. In addition, the main water pumping station remained in German hands. To prevent the spread of epidemics and provide the people with water, the authorities ordered all janitors to supervise the construction of water wells in the backyards of every house. On 21 September the Germans blew up the remaining pumping stations at Koszykowa Street and after that the public wells were the only source of potable water in the besieged city. By the end of September, the city centre had more than 90 functioning wells.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Before the Uprising the Bureau of Information and Propaganda of the Home Army had set up a group of war correspondents. Headed by Antoni Bohdziewicz, the group made three newsreels and over 30,000 meters of film tape documenting the struggles. The first newsreel was shown to the public on 13 August in the Palladium cinema at Złota Street. In addition to films, dozens of newspapers appeared from the very first days of the uprising. Several previously underground newspapers started to be distributed openly. The two main daily newspapers were the government-run "Rzeczpospolita Polska" and military "Biuletyn Informacyjny". There were also several dozen newspapers, magazines, bulletins and weeklies published routinely by various organizations and military units.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The "Błyskawica" long-range radio transmitter, assembled on 7 August in the city centre, was run by the military, but was also used by the recreated Polish Radio from 9 August. It was on the air three or four times a day, broadcasting news programmes and appeals for help in Polish, English, German and French, as well as reports from the government, patriotic poems and music. It was the only such radio station in German-held Europe. Among the speakers appearing on the resistance radio were Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, Zbigniew Świętochowski, Stefan Sojecki, Jeremi Przybora, and John Ward, a war correspondent for "The Times" of London.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: According to many historians, a major cause of the eventual failure of the uprising was the almost complete lack of outside support and the late arrival of that which did arrive. The Polish government-in-exile carried out frantic diplomatic efforts to gain support from the Western Allies prior to the start of battle but the allies would not act without Soviet approval. The Polish government in London asked the British several times to send an allied mission to Poland. However, the British mission did not arrive until December 1944. Shortly after their arrival, they met up with Soviet authorities, who arrested and imprisoned them. In the words of the mission's deputy commander, it was "a complete failure". Nevertheless, from August 1943 to July 1944, over 200 British Royal Air Force (RAF) flights dropped an estimated 146 Polish personnel trained in Great Britain, over 4,000 containers of supplies, and $16 million in banknotes and gold to the Home Army.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The only support operation which ran continuously for the duration of the Uprising were night supply drops by long-range planes of the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, and units of the Polish Air Force, which had to use distant airfields in Italy, reducing the amount of supplies they could carry. The RAF made 223 sorties and lost 34 aircraft. The effect of these airdrops was mostly psychological—they delivered too few supplies for the needs of the resistance, and many airdrops landed outside Polish-controlled territory.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: From 4 August the Western Allies began supporting the Uprising with airdrops of munitions and other supplies. Initially the flights were carried out mostly by the "1568th Polish Special Duties Flight" of the Polish Air Force (later renamed No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron) stationed in Bari and Brindisi in Italy, flying B-24 Liberator, Handley Page Halifax and Douglas C-47 Dakota planes. Later on, at the insistence of the Polish government-in-exile, they were joined by the Liberators of 2 Wing –No.31 and No. 34 Squadrons of the South African Air Force based at Foggia in Southern Italy, and Halifaxes, flown by No. 148 and No. 178 RAF Squadrons. The drops by British, Polish and South African forces continued until 21 September. The total weight of allied drops varies according to source (104 tons, 230 tons or 239 tons), over 200 flights were made.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The Soviet Union did not allow the Western Allies to use its airports for the airdrops for several weeks, so the planes had to use bases in the United Kingdom and Italy which reduced their carrying weight and number of sorties. The Allies' specific request for the use of landing strips made on 20 August was denied by Stalin on 22 August. Stalin referred to the Polish resistance as "a handful of criminals" and stated that the Uprising was inspired by "enemies of the Soviet Union". Thus, by denying landing rights to Allied aircraft on Soviet-controlled territory the Soviets vastly limited effectiveness of Allied assistance to the Uprising, and even fired at Allied airplanes which carried supplies from Italy and strayed into Soviet-controlled airspace.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: American support was also limited. After Stalin's objections to supporting the uprising, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill telegraphed U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 25 August and proposed sending planes in defiance of Stalin, to "see what happens". Unwilling to upset Stalin before the Yalta Conference, Roosevelt replied on 26 August: "I do not consider it advantageous to the long-range general war prospect for me to join you".


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Finally on 18 September the Soviets allowed a USAAF flight of 107 B-17 Flying Fortresses of the Eighth Air Force's 3rd Division to re-fuel and reload at Soviet airfields used in Operation Frantic, but it was too little too late. The planes dropped 100 tons of supplies but only 20 were recovered by the resistance due to the wide area over which they were spread. The vast majority of supplies fell into German-held areas. The USAAF lost two B-17s with a further seven damaged. The aircraft landed at the Operation Frantic airbases in the Soviet Union, where they were rearmed and refueled, and the next day 100 B-17s and 61 P-51s left the USSR to bomb the marshalling yard at Szolnok in Hungary on their way back to bases in Italy. Soviet intelligence reports show that Soviet commanders on the ground near Warsaw estimated that 96% of the supplies dropped by the Americans fell into German hands. From the Soviet perspective, the Americans were supplying the Nazis instead of aiding the Polish resistance. The Soviets refused permission for any further American flights until 30 September, by which time the weather was too poor to fly, and the Uprising was nearly over.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Between 13 and 30 September Soviet aircraft commenced their own re-supply missions, dropping arms, medicines and food supplies. Initially these supplies were dropped in canisters without parachutes which led to damage and loss of the contents. Also, a large number of canisters fell into German hands. The Soviet Air Forces flew 2,535 re-supply sorties with small bi-plane Polikarpov Po-2's, delivering a total of 156 50-mm mortars, 505 anti-tank rifles, 1,478 sub-machine guns, 520 rifles, 669 carbines, 41,780 hand grenades, 37,216 mortar shells, over 3 million cartridges, 131.2 tons of food and 515 kg of medicine.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Although German air defence over the Warsaw area itself was almost non-existent, about 12% of the 296 planes taking part in the operations were lost because they had to fly out and the same distance back over heavily defended enemy territory (112 out of 637 Polish and 133 out of 735 British and South African airmen were shot down). Most of the drops were made during the night, at no more than altitude, and poor accuracy left many parachuted packages stranded behind German-controlled territory (only about 50 tons of supplies, less than 50% delivered, was recovered by the resistance).


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The level of losses during the operation was very high, especially for the conditions of mid-1944. In the first flight on 4–5 August, 5 out of 7 aircraft were lost. In subsequent flights, the level of losses decreased, but remained very high. For example, on 13–14 August, 3 planes out of 28 were shot down, and 4 planes were forced to make forced landings in territories occupied by the USSR due to damage.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The role of the Red Army during the Warsaw Uprising remains controversial and is still disputed by historians. The Uprising started when the Red Army appeared on the city's doorstep, and the Poles in Warsaw were counting on Soviet front capturing or forwarding beyond the city in a matter of days. This basic scenario of an uprising against the Germans, launched a few days before the arrival of Allied forces, played out successfully in a number of European capitals, such as Paris and Prague. However, despite easy capture of area south-east of Warsaw barely from the city centre and holding these positions for about 40 days, the Soviets did not extend any effective aid to the resistance within Warsaw. At that time city outskirts were defended by the under-manned and under-equipped German 73rd Infantry Division which was destroyed many times on the Eastern Front and was yet-again being reconstituted. The weak German defence forces did not experience any significant Soviet pressure during that period, which effectively allowed them to strengthen German forces fighting against uprising in the city itself.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The Red Army was fighting intense battles further to the south of Warsaw, to seize and maintain bridgeheads over the Vistula river, and to the north of the city, to gain bridgeheads over the river Narew. The best German armoured divisions were fighting on those sectors. Despite the fact, both of these objectives had been mostly secured by September. Yet the Soviet 47th Army did not move into Praga (Warsaw's suburbs) on the right bank of the Vistula, until 11 September (when the Uprising was basically over). In three days the Soviets quickly gained control of the suburb, a few hundred meters from the main battle on the other side of the river, as the resistance by the German 73rd Division collapsed quickly. Had the Soviets done this in early August, the crossing of the river would have been easier, as the Poles then held considerable stretches of the riverfront. However, by mid-September a series of German attacks had reduced the Poles to holding one narrow stretch of the riverbank, in the district of Czerniaków. The Poles were counting on the Soviet forces to cross to the left bank where the main battle of the uprising was occurring. Though Berling's communist 1st Polish Army did cross the river, their support from the Soviets was inadequate and the main Soviet force did not follow them.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: One of the reasons given for the collapse of the Uprising was the reluctance of the Soviet Red Army to help the Polish resistance. On 1 August, the day of Uprising, the Soviet advance was halted by a direct order from the Kremlin. Soon afterwards the Soviet tank units stopped receiving any oil from their depots. Soviets knew of the planned outbreak from their agents in Warsaw and, more importantly, directly from the Polish Prime Minister Stanisław Mikołajczyk, who informed them of the Polish Home Army uprising plans:


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The Soviet side was informed post-factum. "The Russians learned about possibility for the first time from Mikolajczyk, at about 9 p.m. on 31 July, that is about 3 hours after Bor-Komorowski had given the order for the insurrection to begin".


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: One way or the other, the presence of Soviet tanks in nearby Wołomin 15 kilometers to the east of Warsaw had sealed the decision of the Home Army leaders to launch the Uprising. However, as a result of the initial battle of Radzymin in the final days of July, these advance units of the Soviet 2nd Tank Army were pushed out of Wołomin and back about . On 9 August, Stalin informed Premier Mikołajczyk that the Soviets had originally planned to be in Warsaw by 6 August, but a counter-attack by four Panzer divisions had thwarted their attempts to reach the city. By 10 August, the Germans had enveloped and inflicted heavy casualties on the Soviet 2nd Tank Army at Wołomin.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: On 1 August 1944, the underground Polish Home Army, being in contact with and loyal to the Polish government-in-exile in London, began offensive operations in Warsaw, in an attempt to free the city from the occupying German forces before the Red Army could secure the capital. Zygmunt Berling became the deputy commander of the Polish Army in the USSR on 22 July 1944. With his own army stopped on the Vistula River and facing Warsaw itself, and without first consulting his Soviet superiors, Berling may have independently issued orders to engage the German enemy and to come to the aid of the Polish resistance but it was a small landing without any tactical support from Berling or other Soviet units that could not make a difference in the situation of Warsaw. Yet this behaviour may have caused Berlings' dismissal from his post soon after.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: When Stalin and Churchill met face-to-face in October 1944, Stalin told Churchill that the lack of Soviet support was a direct result of a major reverse in the Vistula sector in August, which had to be kept secret for strategic reasons. All contemporary German sources assumed that the Soviets were trying to link up with the resistance, and they believed it was their defence that prevented the Soviet advance rather than a reluctance to advance on the part of the Soviets. Nevertheless, as part of their strategy the Germans published propaganda accusing both the British and Soviets of abandoning the Poles.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The Soviet units which reached the outskirts of Warsaw in the final days of July 1944 had advanced from the 1st Belorussian Front in Western Ukraine as part of the Lublin–Brest Offensive, between the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive on its left and Operation Bagration on its right. These two flanking operations were colossal defeats for the German army and completely destroyed a large number of German formations. As a consequence, the Germans at this time were desperately trying to put together a new force to hold the line of the Vistula, the last major river barrier between the Red Army and Germany proper, rushing in units in various stages of readiness from all over Europe. These included many infantry units of poor quality, and 4–5 high quality Panzer Divisions in the 39th Panzer Corps and 4th SS Panzer Corps pulled from their refits.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Other explanations for Soviet conduct are possible. The Red Army geared for a major thrust into the Balkans through Romania in mid-August and a large proportion of Soviet resources was sent in that direction, while the offensive in Poland was put on hold. Stalin had made a strategic decision to concentrate on occupying Eastern Europe, rather than on making a thrust toward Germany. The capture of Warsaw was not essential for the Soviets, as they had already seized a series of convenient bridgeheads to the south of Warsaw, and were concentrating on defending them against vigorous German counterattacks. Finally, the Soviet High Command may not have developed a coherent or appropriate strategy with regard to Warsaw because they were badly misinformed. Propaganda from the Polish Committee of National Liberation minimized the strength of the Home Army and portrayed them as Nazi sympathizers. Information submitted to Stalin by intelligence operatives or gathered from the frontline was often inaccurate or omitted key details. Possibly because the operatives were unable, due to the harsh political climate, to express opinions or report facts honestly, they "deliberately resorted to writing nonsense".


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: According to David Glantz (military historian and a retired US Army colonel, as well as a member of the Russian Federation's Academy of Natural Sciences), the Red Army was simply unable to extend effective support to the uprising, which began too early, regardless of Stalin's political intentions. German military capabilities in August—early September were sufficient to halt any Soviet assistance to the Poles in Warsaw, were it intended. In addition, Glantz argued that Warsaw would be a costly city to clear of Germans and an unsuitable location as a start point for subsequent Red Army offensives.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Declassified documents from Soviet archives reveal that Stalin gave instructions to cut off the Warsaw resistance from any outside help. The urgent orders issued to the Red Army troops in Poland on 23 August 1944 stipulated that the Home Army units in Soviet-controlled areas should be prevented from reaching Warsaw and helping the Uprising, their members apprehended and disarmed. Only from mid-September, under pressure from the Western Allies, the Soviets began to provide some limited assistance to the resistance.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Modern Russian historians generally hold the view that the failure of the uprising in Warsaw was caused primarily by the mistakes of the leadership of the uprising. They point out that in July 1944, according to the Directive of the command, the Soviet troops did not have the goal of attacking Warsaw, but only to the suburbs of Warsaw – Praga with access to the Vistula river line. Since the Soviet command understood that it was unlikely to be possible to capture the bridges over the Vistula and the Germans would blow them up. The Soviet forces aimed to advance in the northern direction with the capture of East Prussia and with the priority task of reaching the line of the Vistula and Narew rivers and capturing bridgeheads. Then the offensive against East Prussia was to begin from these bridgeheads. ("on the West Bank of the Narew river in the area of Pultusk, Serotsk and South and North of Warsaw – on the West Bank of the Vistula river in the area of Demblin, Zvolen, Solec. In the future keep in mind to advance in the General direction of Thorn and Lodz").


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The liberation of Warsaw was planned by a flanking maneuver after the start of a General offensive in the direction of East Prussia and Berlin. This is exactly how it happened, only in January 1945. The AK leadership made a mistake, it took the left flank of the 2nd Tank army, which was advancing to north, for the vanguard, which was allegedly advancing on Warsaw and the order was given to start the uprising, which led to defeat. A terrible mistake, but in essence inevitable, if the leadership of the uprising took a political line about the lack of coordination with the Soviet command, if the goal was that Warsaw should be freed from the Germans 'by Polish effort alone 12 hours before the entry of the Soviets into the capital'. The Soviet command had no deliberate purpose against the Warsaw uprising and categorically denied such accusations.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: By the first week of September both German and Polish commanders realized that the Soviet army was unlikely to act to break the stalemate. The Germans reasoned that a prolonged Uprising would damage their ability to hold Warsaw as the frontline; the Poles were concerned that continued resistance would result in further massive casualties. On 7 September, General Rohr proposed negotiations, which Bór-Komorowski agreed to pursue the following day. Over 8, 9 and 10 September about 20,000 civilians were evacuated by agreement of both sides, and Rohr recognized the right of Home Army soldiers to be treated as military combatants. The Poles suspended talks on the 11th, as they received news that the Soviets were advancing slowly through Praga. A few days later, the arrival of the 1st Polish army breathed new life into the resistance and the talks collapsed.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: However, by the morning of 27 September, the Germans had retaken Mokotów. Talks restarted on 28 September. In the evening of 30 September, Żoliborz fell to the Germans. The Poles were being pushed back into fewer and fewer streets, and their situation was ever more desperate. On the 30th, Hitler decorated von dem Bach, Dirlewanger and Reinefarth, while in London General Sosnkowski was dismissed as Polish commander-in-chief. Bór-Komorowski was promoted in his place, even though he was trapped in Warsaw. Bór-Komorowski and Prime Minister Mikołajczyk again appealed directly to Rokossovsky and Stalin for a Soviet intervention. None came. According to Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov, who was by this time at the Vistula front, both he and Rokossovsky advised Stalin against an offensive because of heavy Soviet losses.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The capitulation order of the remaining Polish forces was finally signed on 2 October. All fighting ceased that evening. According to the agreement, the "Wehrmacht" promised to treat Home Army soldiers in accordance with the Geneva Convention, and to treat the civilian population humanely.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The next day the Germans began to disarm the Home Army soldiers. They later sent 15,000 of them to POW camps in various parts of Germany. Between 5,000 and 6,000 resistance fighters decided to blend into the civilian population hoping to continue the fight later. The entire civilian population of Warsaw was expelled from the city and sent to a transit camp "Durchgangslager" 121 in Pruszków. Out of 350,000–550,000 civilians who passed through the camp, 90,000 were sent to labour camps in the Third Reich, 60,000 were shipped to death and concentration camps (including Ravensbrück, Auschwitz, and Mauthausen, among others), while the rest were transported to various locations in the General Government and released.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The Eastern Front remained static in the Vistula sector, with the Soviets making no attempt to push forward, until the Vistula–Oder Offensive began on 12 January 1945. Almost entirely destroyed, Warsaw was liberated from the Germans on 17 January 1945 by the Red Army and the First Polish Army.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The destruction of the Polish capital was planned before the start of World War II. On 20 June 1939, while Adolf Hitler was visiting an architectural bureau in Würzburg am Main, his attention was captured by a project of a future German town – "Neue deutsche Stadt Warschau". According to the Pabst Plan Warsaw was to be turned into a provincial German city. It was soon included as a part of the great Germanization plan of the East; the genocidal "Generalplan Ost". The failure of the Warsaw Uprising provided an opportunity for Hitler to begin the transformation.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: After the remaining population had been expelled, the Germans continued the destruction of the city. Special groups of German engineers were dispatched to burn and demolish the remaining buildings. According to German plans, after the war Warsaw was to be turned into nothing more than a military transit station, or even an artificial lake – the latter of which the Nazi leadership had already intended to implement for the Soviet/Russian capital of Moscow in 1941. The "Brandkommandos" (arson squads) used flamethrowers and "Sprengkommandos" (demolition squads) explosives to methodically destroy house after house. They paid special attention to historical monuments, Polish national archives and places of interest.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: By January 1945, 85% of the buildings were destroyed: 25% as a result of the Uprising, 35% as a result of systematic German actions after the uprising, and the rest as a result of the earlier Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and the September 1939 campaign. Material losses are estimated at 10,455 buildings, 923 historical buildings (94%), 25 churches, 14 libraries including the National Library, 81 primary schools, 64 high schools, University of Warsaw and Warsaw University of Technology, and most of the historical monuments. Almost a million inhabitants lost all of their possessions. The exact amount of losses of private and public property as well as pieces of art, monuments of science and culture is unknown but considered enormous. Studies done in the late 1940s estimated total damage at about US$30 billion. In 2004, President of Warsaw Lech Kaczyński, later President of Poland, established a historical commission to estimate material losses that were inflicted upon the city by German authorities. The commission estimated the losses as at least US$31.5 billion at 2004 values. Those estimates were later raised to US$45 billion 2004 US dollars and in 2005, to $54.6 billion.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The exact number of casualties on both sides is unknown. Estimates of Polish casualties fall into roughly similar ranges.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Estimates of German casualties differ widely. Though the figure of 9,000 German WIA is generally accepted and generates no controversy, there is little agreement as to German irrecoverable losses (KIA+MIA). Until the 1990s the Eastern and the Western historiography stuck to two widely different estimates, the former claiming 17,000 and the latter 2,000. The 17,000 figure was first coined by a 1947 issue of a Warsaw historical journal "Dzieje Najnowsze", allegedly based on estimates made by Bach Zelewski when interrogated by his Polish captors (and divided into 10,000 KIA and 7,000 MIA). This figure was initially repeated in West Germany. However, in 1962 a scholarly monograph by Hanns Krannhals coined the 2,000 estimate.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Until the late 20th century the 17,000 figure was consistently and unequivocally quoted in the Polish, though also in the East German and Soviet historiography, be it encyclopedias, scientific monographs or more popular works. It was at times paired or otherwise related to the figure of 16,000 German Warsaw KIA+MIA listed by the so-called "Gehlen report" of April 1945. The 2,000 figure was accepted in West Germany and generally spilled over to Western historiography; exceptions were studies written in English by the Poles and some other works.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Komorowski, who in 1995 opted for 16,000, changed his mind and 10 years later cautiously subscribed to the 2,000 figure; also scholars like Sawicki and Rozwadowski tentatively followed suit. A popular work of Bączyk, who concludes that 3,000 is the maximum conceivable (though not the most probable) figure. In his 2016 analysis Sowa dismissed the 17,000 figure as "entirely improbable" and suggested that its longevity and popularity resulted from manipulation on part of apologists of the Rising.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: In the Russian historiography it is given clear preference, be it in encyclopedias and dictionaries or general works; the same opinion might be found in Belorussia. The 17,000 estimate made it also to the English literature, quoted with no reservations in popular compendia, warfare manuals and a handful of other works. The figure is advanced also by established institutions like BBC. Other works in English offer a number of approaches; some quote both sides with no own preference, some provide ambiguous descriptions, some set 17,000 irrecoverable losses as an upper limit, some provide odd numbers perhaps resulting from incompetent quotations and some remain silent on the issue altogether, which is the case of the only major English monograph.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: A key argument supporting the 17,000 figure – apart from quotations from Bach and Gehlen – are total (KIA+MIA+WIA) losses sustained by Kampfgruppe Dirlewanger, one of a few operational units forming German troops fighting the Poles. They are currently calculated at some 3,500; if extrapolated, they might support the overall 25,000 German casualty estimate.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: Most soldiers of the Home Army (including those who took part in the Warsaw Uprising) were persecuted after the war; captured by the NKVD or UB political police. They were interrogated and imprisoned on various charges, such as that of fascism. Many of them were sent to Gulags, executed or disappeared. Between 1944 and 1956, all of the former members of Battalion Zośka were incarcerated in Soviet prisons. In March 1945, a staged trial of 16 leaders of the Polish Underground State held by the Soviet Union took place in Moscow – (the Trial of the Sixteen). The Government Delegate, together with most members of the Council of National Unity and the C-i-C of the Armia Krajowa, were invited by Soviet general Ivan Serov with agreement of Joseph Stalin to a conference on their eventual entry to the Soviet-backed Provisional Government.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: They were presented with a warrant of safety, yet they were arrested in Pruszków by the NKVD on 27 and 28 March. Leopold Okulicki, Jan Stanisław Jankowski and Kazimierz Pużak were arrested on the 27th with 12 more the next day. A. Zwierzynski had been arrested earlier. They were brought to Moscow for interrogation in the Lubyanka. After several months of brutal interrogation and torture, they were presented with the forged accusations of collaboration with Nazis and planning a military alliance with Germany. Many resistance fighters, captured by the Germans and sent to POW camps in Germany, were later liberated by British, American and Polish forces and remained in the West. Among those were the leaders of the uprising Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski and Antoni Chruściel.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The Soviet government labelled all S.S. Sturmbrigade R.O.N.A. "Russkaya Osvoboditelnaya Narodnaya Armiya" soldiers as traitors, and those who were repatriated were tried and sentenced to detention in Soviet prisons or executed. In the 1950s and 1960s in the USSR, dozens of other former R.O.N.A. members were found, some of them also sentenced to death.


title: Warsaw Uprising

text: The facts of the Warsaw Uprising were inconvenient to Stalin, and were twisted by propaganda of the People's Republic of Poland, which stressed the failings of the Home Army and the Polish government-in-exile, and forbade all criticism of the Red Army or the political goals of Soviet strategy. In the immediate post-war period, the very name of the Home Army was censored, and most films and novels covering the 1944 Uprising were either banned or modified so that the name of the Home Army did not appear. From the 1950s on, Polish propaganda depicted the soldiers of the Uprising as brave, but the officers as treacherous, reactionary and characterized by disregard of the losses. The first publications on the topic taken seriously in the West were not issued until the late 1980s. In Warsaw no monument to the Home Army was built until 1989. Instead, efforts of the Soviet-backed People's Army were glorified and exaggerated.