29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS RONA ( 1st Russian ) 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS " RONA " ( 1st Russian ) ( ) was a Waffen SS Grenadier division intended to be formed from the personnel of the S . S . Sturmbrigade R . O . N . A . ( also known as the Kaminski Brigade ) following Heinrich Himmler ' s order of August 1 , 1944 . 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS " RONA " ( 1st Russian ) never existed as such . At that time the brigade ' s manpower was estimated to be 3 , 000 - 4 , 000 men . The reorganization was postponed during the Warsaw Uprising which started that same day . On August 4 , 1944 the brigade was ordered to assist in the efforts in crushing the Uprising . A mixed regiment of 1600 - 1700 unmarried soldiers from the brigade was used against insurgents until the end of August 1944 when German commanders decided that the unit was too undisciplined and unreliable . Waffen - Brigadeführer der SS Bronislav Kaminski and chief - of - staff Waffen - Obersturmbannführer Ilya Shavykin were said to have been secretly shot by the Germans due to the atrocities and widespread plunder by their troops in Warsaw . The death of Kaminski and unreliability of his troops as a combat unit ended plans to expand the Kaminski Brigade to a division . In 1945 its number was reassigned to 29th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS ( 1st Italian ) . History . Plans to form a division from the personnel of the S . S . Sturmbrigade R . O . N . A . ( also known as the Kaminski Brigade ) which appeared in 1942 as an anti - partisan formation made of the people from the so - called Lokot Autonomy territory in the Nazi Germany - occupied areas of Russia during World War II . Its leader Bronislav Kaminski named it as Russian Liberation People ' s Army ( " Russkaya Osvoboditelnaya Narodnaya Armiya " , RONA ) . In spring 1943 , Kaminski Brigade increased to 10 - 12 thousand soldiers armed with equipment provided by captured soviet tanks and artillery . From the beginning of its existence the formation was involved in action against partisans and also took part in reprisal operations against the civilian population , committing numerous atrocities against it . After Operation Citadel , personnel of the R . O . N . A . retreated to Belarus and were stationed in the Lepel area of Vitebsk , and were involved in anti - partisan activities and committed numerous atrocities against the civilian population . In March 1944 , the unit was renamed Volksheer - Brigade " Kaminski ( Peoples Brigade Kaminski ) for a brief period , before it was absorbed as a part of the Waffen - SS in June 1944 . With its transfer to the Waffen - SS , the brigade was renamed Waffen - Sturm - Brigade " RONA , and Kaminski was given the rank of Waffen - Brigadeführer der SS . After Operation Bagration , personnel retreated again further west and by the end of July 1944 remains of the Kaminski unit ( 3 - 4 thousands [ some sources give 6 - 7 thousands ] were collected at the SS training camp Neuhammer . [ Citation needed ] Participation in the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 . The Warsaw Uprising ( Polish : powstanie warszawskie ) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army ( Polish : Armia Krajowa ) to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany . The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union ' s Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces . However , the Soviet advance stopped short , enabling the Germans to regroup and demolish the city while defeating the Polish resistance , which fought for 63 days with little outside support . The uprising began on 1 August 1944 , as part of a nationwide plan , Operation Tempest , when the Soviet Army approached Warsaw . The main Polish objectives were to drive the German occupiers from the city and help with the larger fight against Germany and the Axis powers . Secondary political objectives were to liberate Warsaw before the Soviets , to underscore Polish sovereignty by empowering the Polish Underground State before the Soviet - backed Polish Committee of National Liberation could assume control . Also , short - term causes included the threat of a German round - up of able - bodied Poles , and Moscow radio calling for the Uprising to begin . Initially , the Poles established control over most of central Warsaw , but the Soviets ignored Polish attempts to establish radio contact and did not advance beyond the city limits . Intense street fighting between the Germans and Poles continued . By 14 September , Polish forces under Soviet high command occupied the East bank of the Wisła River opposite the insurgents ' positions ; but only 1 , 200 men made it across to the West bank , and they were not reinforced by the bulk of the Red Army . This , and the lack of Soviet air support from a base 5 minutes flying time away , led to allegations that Joseph Stalin tactically halted his forces to let the operation fail and allow the Polish insurrectionists to be crushed . Arthur Koestler called the Russian attitude " one of the major infamies of this war which will rank for the future historian on the same ethical level with Lidice . " 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 . Later , after gaining Soviet air clearance , the US Army Air Force sent one high - level mass airdrop as part of Operation Frantic . Russia refused to allow American bombers from Western Europe to land on Soviet airfields after dropping supplies to the Poles . Although the exact number of casualties remains 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 8 , 000 soldiers killed and missing , and 9 , 000 wounded . During the urban combat approximately 25 % of Warsaw ' s buildings were destroyed . Following the surrender of Polish forces , German troops systematically leveled 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 . The Kaminsky Brigade took active part in the suppression of the Uprising , committing numerous atrocities against civilian population , so much so that the German military authorities were forced to disarm and disband the brigade . Its commnader Bronislaw Kaminsky was court - martialled and shot .