This week marks the 75th anniversary of the start of the Warsaw Uprising, which began on August 1, 1944 and continued for two months. The “battle for Warsaw,” is it was known at the time, was a desperate attempt by Poles to free their capital from Nazi occupation, and during its course thousands of soldiers and civilians were killed, many of them young people. At the uprising’s conclusion, 85% of the city lay in ruins. Some people question the Home Army’s decision to take on the Germans – though it was believed at the time that help would come from outside – but nobody questions the bravery of the participants. The lack of attention this anniversary is receiving in the West is indicative not only of Eastern Europe’s perennially low profile here, but also, perhaps, a lingering sense of shame.
