Planned destruction of Warsaw

The planned destruction of Warsaw refers to the

largely-realized plans by Nazi Germany to raze the city.
The plan was put into full motion after the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. The uprising had infuriated German leaders
who now wanted to make an example of the city, which
they had long before selected for a major reconstruction
as part of their plans to Germanise eastern Europe:

II. On June 20, 1939 while Adolf Hitler was visiting an

architectural bureau in Wrzburg am Main, he noticed 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 of 130,000.
Third Reich planners drafted precise drawings outlining
a historic Germanic core where a select few landmarks
would be saved such as the Royal Castle which would
serve as Hitlers state residence. The Plan, which was
composed of 15 drawings and a miniature architectural
model, was named after German army architect Friedrich
Pabst who rened the concept of destroying a nations
morale and culture by destroying its physical and architectural manifestations. The design of the actual new
German city over the site of Warsaw was devised by Hubert Gross.[3][4] The project was soon incorporated into
Generalplan Ost. The aftermath of the failure of the Warsaw Uprising presented an opportunity for Hitler to begin
to realize his pre-war conception.[5]

The city must completely disappear from

the surface of the earth and serve only as a
transport station for the Wehrmacht. No stone
can remain standing. Every building must be
razed to its foundation.
SS chief Heinrich Himmler, October 17,
1944, SS ocers conference[1]

Warsaw has to be pacied, that is, razed to

the ground.
Adolf Hitler, 1944[2]

2 Warsaw Uprising aftermath

Even before the uprising, the Germans knew Warsaw
would fall into Allied hands in a matter of few months.
2.1
In spite of this, unprecedented eort was dedicated to
the destruction of the city. This decision tied up considerable resources, which in theory could have been used
on the Eastern Front and on the newly opened Western
Front after the Normandy landings. The Germans destroyed 80%90% of the buildings in Warsaw while an
immense part of the cultural heritage was deliberately demolished, burned to the ground, or stolen.

Expulsion of civilians

Currently, more than half of the antiques and museum

objects consisting of Polish heritage stolen by Germans
in 1944 have not been returned to Poland. After the war,
extensive work was put into rebuilding the city according to pre-war plans and historical documents. As with
most of Poland, the city was rebuilt without any German
help, unlike in Stalingrad and other cities, where German
forced labor was used during and after the war as part of
war reparations.
Most of Warsaw was destroyed by the German forces during the
war. Shown is Old Town Market Place, dated January 1945.

Pre-war plan of destruction

In December 1939 the rst mass shootings of civilians

took place in the Kampinos Forest near Warsaw, where
Main article: Pabst Plan
thousands were killed by 1943. In 1940 round-ups (apanki) of civilians on streets and in homes became the
Destruction of Warsaw was planned before its nal de- norm. Those who did not manage to escape were sent
struction in 1944 and even before the start of World War to concentration camps at Auschwitz and Majdanek or
1

2
forced into slave labour in Germany. The Nazis divided
Warsaw into a Jewish sector, a Polish sector and a German sector. The programme of annihilation and ethnic
cleansing was systematically carried out starting with Polish Jews and Jews from other areas shipped into the Warsaw ghetto.

2 WARSAW UPRISING AFTERMATH

weeks old to the extremely elderly. In a few cases, these
were also people of dierent ethnic backgrounds, including Jews living on Aryan papers.[6]

Some people hid in the deserted city. They were called

"Robinson Crusoes of Warsaw" (after Robinson Crusoe)
or cavemen. Germans called them rats and killed them if
In 1940, the Germans turned the northern part of mid- they were found within the city ruins. The best known
town Warsaw, about one square mile in size, into the Jew- Warsaw Robinson was Wadysaw Szpilman. Szpilish ghetto surrounded by ten foot high walls and watch- mans experiences were adapted in the lm The Pianist.
towers. The population eventually swelled to 500,000 by
some estimates. Between July 22 and October 3, 1942
the ghetto was evacuated. More than 300,000 inhabi- 2.2 Looting and destruction of buildings
tants perished in Nazi camps; the 70,000 remaining in
the ghetto were employed as slave labourers supplying the
German army. In December 1943 Nazis undertook the
nal destruction of the ghetto which triggered the ghetto
uprising. The uprising was put down mercilessly and the
whole district razed to the ground.
Elsewhere in Warsaw collective responsibility was the
rule resulting in the murders of thousands, which resulted in the Warsaw Uprising on August 1, 1944. In
response, under orders from Heinrich Himmler, Warsaw
was kept under ceaseless barrage by Nazi artillery and air
power for sixty-three days and nights with Erich von dem
Bach, SS-Gruppenfhrer and Police General who took
over from Heinz Reinefarth at the helm. Von dem Bach
later wrote about his meeting with Reinefarth: Reinefarth drew my attention to the existence of a clear order
issued by Himmler. The rst thing he told me was that he
has been distinctly ordered not to take any prisoners but to
kill every inhabitant of Warsaw. I asked him, 'women and
children, too?' to which he replied, 'Yes, women and children, too ...'" In the wake of this unprecedented planned
destruction and ethnic cleansing, by 1944 around 800,000
civilians were killed, or 60% of the population.
A few days after the outbreak of the uprising Hans Frank
wrote in his diary: Almost all Warsaw is a sea of ames.
To set houses are is the surest way to deprive the insurgents of their hiding places. When we crush the uprising, Warsaw will get what it deserves complete annihilation.
In 1944 a large transit camp (Durchgangslager) was
constructed in Pruszkw's Train Repair Shops (Zakady
Naprawcze Taboru Kolejowego) to house the evacuees
expelled from Warsaw. In the course of the Warsaw
Uprising and its suppression, the Germans deported approximately 550,000 of the citys residents and approximately 100,000 civilians from its outskirts, sending them
to Durchgangslager 121 (Dulag 121). The security police and the SS segregated the deportees and decided their
fate. Approximately 650,000 people passed through the
Pruszkw camp in August, September, and October. Approximately 55,000 were sent to concentration camps, including 13,000 to Auschwitz. They included people from
a variety of social classes, occupations, physical conditions, and ages. Evacuees ranged from infants only a few

German Verbrennungskommando (Burning Detachment) destroying Warsaw.[7] Taken on Leszno street. From left: building
No. 24, 22 & part of 20.[8]

After the remaining population had been expelled, the

Germans began the destruction of the remnants of the
city.[9] Special groups of German engineers were dispatched throughout the city in order to burn and demolish
the remaining buildings. According to German plans, after the war Warsaw was to be turned into nothing more
but a military transit station.[1][10] The demolition squads
used amethrowers and explosives to methodically destroy house after house. They paid special attention to
historical monuments, the Polish national archives, and
other places of interest whose destruction was carried out
under the supervision of German scholars. What couldn't
be taken by Germans was to be burnt or destroyed. Nothing was to be left of what used to be the city of Warsaw.[2]
By January 1945, between 85% and 90% of the buildings
had been completely destroyed; this includes up to 10%
as a result of the September 1939 campaign and following combat, up to 15% during the earlier Warsaw Ghetto
Uprising, 25% during the Uprising, and 40% due to systematic German demolition of city after the uprising.[9]
Material losses were estimated at 10,455 buildings, 923
historical buildings (94%), 25 churches, 14 libraries including the National Library, 81 primary schools, 64
high schools, the University of Warsaw, the Warsaw University of Technology, and most of the citys historical
monuments.[9] Almost a million inhabitants lost all of

2.3

Burning of libraries

Remains of the Saxon Palace and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, 1945.

Sprengkommando is preparing to blow up the Royal Castle, 8th

September 1944

to $45 billion and in 2005, to $54.6 billion (all equated

to 2004 dollars). The ocial estimates don't include immense losses of private property, which are of unknown
value since almost all of the pre-war documents (such as
insurance values of private collections) have also been destroyed, but are considered between double and triple the
ocial estimates (which are based on documented losses
only[13] - while for example, the National Librarys list of
pre-war property lost estimated to be 1% of its collection
since Germans destroyed all archives too).
Notable dates in the history of destruction of Warsaw, in
1944:
September 4 Royal Castle
October Collection of manuscripts from the
National Library of Poland burned
December 18 Brhl Palace
December 27 Saxon Palace

German demolition unit (Sprengkommando) led by major

Sarnow

their possessions.[9] The exact losses of private and public property, including pieces of art, other cultural artifacts and scientic artifacts, is unknown but must be
considered substantial since Warsaw and her inhabitants
were the richest and wealthiest Poles in pre-war Poland.
Studies done in the late 1940s estimated total damage at
about US$30 billion.[11] In 2004, the President of Warsaw, Lech Kaczyski (later President of Poland) established a historical commission to estimate losses to public
property alone that were inicted on the city by German
authorities. The commission estimated the losses to be at
least $31.5 billion.[12] Those estimates were later raised

December azienki Palace burned, about 1,000

holes drilled in its walls; the structure was preserved,
however.
Alfred Mensebach, one German architect and a number
of camera teams documented the destruction.

2.3 Burning of libraries

During the German suppression of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 around 70 to 80% of libraries were carefully burned by the Verbrennungskommandos (burning
detachments), whose mission was to burn Warsaw.[14] In
October 1944 the Zauski Library, the oldest public library in Poland and one of the oldest and most important libraries in Europe (established in 1747), was burned
down.[15] Out of about 400,000 printed items, maps and

Interior of the Zamoyski Estate Library in a building at abia

Street.

2 WARSAW UPRISING AFTERMATH

1944, the librarys warehouses were shelled by German
artillery and burned almost completely.[17] Some of the
books were preserved, thrown through windows by the
librarys sta.[17] The surviving collection was later deliberately burned by the Germans in October 1944 after
collapse of the Uprising.[17] About 26,000 manuscripts,
2,500 incunables, 80,000 early printed books, 100,000
drawings and printmakings, 50,000 note and theater
manuscripts as well as a large collection of maps and
atlases were lost.[17] The Przedziecki Estate Library
in 6 Foksal Street included 60,000 volumes and 500
manuscripts, a rich archive containing 800 parchment
and paper documents, as well as a cartographic collection consisting of 350 maps, atlases and plans.[16] In addition to 10,000 prints and drawings, there was an extensive art gallery (Portrait of Casimir Jagiellon from
the 15th century, Portrait of John III Sobieski from the
Schleissheim Palace, the House altar of Sophia Jagiellon,
1456), valuable collection of miniatures and decorative
art: textiles, porcelain, faience, glass, gold objects, military, etc.[16] It burned down on September 25, 1939 as a
result of severe aerial bombardment by the Germans (incendiary bombing).[16] The surviving items sheltered in
the neighbouring tenement house at Szczygla Street were
burned in October 1944.[16] The last of above mentioned
libraries, the Zamoyski Estate Library, acquired collections of 70,000 works (97,000 volumes), more than 2,000
manuscripts, 624 parchment diplomas, several thousand
manuscripts, a collection of engravings, coins and 315
maps and atlases.[16] Library collections also gathered numerous collections of art: a rich collection of militaria,
miniatures, porcelain, faience and glass, natural collections, research tools etc.[16] In 1939 about 50,000 items
(about 30%) were destroyed in bombing.[16] On September 8, 1944, the Germans set re to both the Zamoyski
Palace (Blue Palace) and the library building.[16]

The Central Military Library, containing 350,000 books

on the history of Poland, was destroyed, including the
Library of Polish Museum in Rapperswil deposited there
for safekeeping. The collection of the Rapperswil Library was transported to Poland in 1927.[18] The library
The 12th-century Meuse School Bible, one of the books burned
and the museum were founded in Rapperswil, Switzerby the Germans in October 1944.
land, in 1870 as a refuge for [Polands] historic memorabilia dishonored and plundered in the [occupied Polish]
[19]
manuscripts, only some 1,800 manuscripts and 30,000 homeland and for the promotion of Polish interests.
The greater part of librarys collections, originally 20,000
printed materials survived.[15]
engravings, 92,000 books and 27,000 manuscripts, were
In the last phase of the Warsaw Uprising and after its deliberately destroyed by the Germans in 1944.[18]
collapse, in September and October 1944, the three
major private libraries in Warsaw (Krasiski Library, Unlike earlier Nazi book burnings where specic books
Przedziecki Library and Zamoyski Library), including were deliberately targeted, the burning of those libraries
general burning of a large part of the
collections of priceless value to Polish culture, ceased to was part of the[20]
[16]
This resulted in the disappearance of
city
of
Warsaw.
exist. Those libraries had already suered in Septem[16]
many
valuable
old
books and scrolls among about sixber 1939, when they were bombed and burned.
teen million volumes from National Library, museums
An important collection of books belonging to the and palaces burnt indiscriminately by Germans in Poland
Krasiski Estate Library, created in 1844, was largely de- during World War II.[14]
stroyed in 1944.[17] The collection originally consisted of
250,000 items.[17] During the Uprising, on September 5,

2.4

Notable damaged or destroyed structures

[7] Warsaw Uprising of 1944. www.warsawuprising.com.

Retrieved July 14, 2008.
[8] Axis Forum

Rebuilding of the city

The destruction of the city was so severe that in order to

rebuild much of Warsaw, a detailed 18th century landscape of the city painted by the Italian artists Marcello
Bacciarelli and Bernardo Bellotto, who had been commissioned by the government before the Partitions of
Poland, had to be used as a model to recreate most of
the buildings.

[9] Warsaw Uprising: FAQ

[10] Peter K. Gessner, For over two months...
[11] Vanessa Gera Warsaw bloodbath still stirs emotions,
Chicago Sun-Times, August 1, 2004
[12] Warszawa szacuje straty wojenne (in Polish). Retrieved
March 16, 2007.
[13] See the following pages on the ocial site of War-

saw: Raport o stratach wojennych Warszawy LISTOPAD

The city of Warsaw was rebuilt between the 1950s and
2004, Straty Warszawy w albumie and Straty wojenne
1970 without any help from outside. Some of the landWarszawy
marks had been nally reconstructed as late as the 1980s.
While the Old Town has been thoroughly reconstructed, [14] Maria Witt (September 15 and October 15, 2005). The
the New Town had been only partially restored to its forZaluski Collection in Warsaw. The Strange Life of One of
mer state.
the Greatest European Libraries of the Eighteenth Century.
FYI France. Retrieved February 17, 2008. Check date
values in: |date= (help)

See also
Pabst Plan
Destruction of Kalisz
List of Polish cities damaged in World War II
Nero Decree
List of libraries damaged during the World War II

[15] Lech Chmielewski. In the House under the Sign of the

Kings. Welcome to Warsaw. Retrieved February 17,
2008.
[16] Konrad Ajewski. O trzech Bibliotekach Ordynackich w
Warszawie w 60. rocznic ich zniszczenia (PDF). www.
nid.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2011-09-11.
[17] Biblioteka Ordynacji Krasiskich (PDF). www.bn.org.
pl (in Polish). Retrieved August 1, 2010.
[18] The Polish National Museum (18701927)". www.
muzeum-polskie.org. Retrieved August 21, 2010.

References

[1] Krystyna Wituska, Irene Tomaszewski, Inside a Gestapo

Prison: The Letters of Krystyna Wituska, 19421944,
Wayne State University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-8143-32943, Google Print, p.xxii
[2] Anthony M. Tung, PRESERVING THE WORLD'S
GREAT CITIES: The Destruction and Renewal of the
Historic Metropolis, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2001,
ISBN 0-517-70148-0. See CHAPTER FOUR: WARSAW: THE HERITAGE OF WAR (online excerpt).
[3] Getter, Marek (AugustSeptember 2004). Straty ludzkie
i materialne w Powstaniu Warszawskim (PDF). Biuletyn
IPN 89: 71.
[4] Mix, Andreas (September 26, 2009). Eine Germanisierungsphantasie. Berliner Zeitung. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
[5] Niels Gutschow, Barbarta Klain: Vernichtung und Utopie.
Stadtplanung Warschau 1939 1945, Hamburg 1994,
ISBN 3-88506-223-2
[6] Ksiga Pamici, Transporty Polakw z Warszawy do KL
Auschwitz 19401944 (Memorial Book: Transports of
Poles from Warsaw to Auschwitz Concentration Camp
19401944)

[19] Gabriela Pauszer-Klonowska (1969). year XXV, no 8

(281)". W Rapperswilu ladami eromskiego i Prusa (In
Rapperswil in the Footsteps of eromski and Prus) (in Polish). Problemy: organ Towarzystwa Wiedzy Powszechnej. pp. 466467.
[20] Rebecca Knuth (2006). Burning books and leveling libraries: extremist violence and cultural destruction. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 166. ISBN 0-275-99007-9.

6 Bibliography
Ciborowski, Adolf (1969). Warsaw A City Destroyed and Rebuilt. Poland: Interpress Publishers.
p. 328.

7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1

Text

Planned destruction of Warsaw Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_destruction_of_Warsaw?oldid=676202064 Contributors:

William Avery, Ed g2s, David Edgar, Guy Peters, Mattaschen, Piotrus, Necrothesp, Rich Farmbrough, Art LaPella, Anthony Appleyard, Airballrad, Axeman89, Onlyemarie, Rjwilmsi, Cherubino, Volunteer Marek, Hairy Dude, Molobo, Tony1, Gadget850, Emijrp,
Appleseed, Attilios, InverseHypercube, Hibernian, Xx236, AndySimpson, Escottf, Kevlar67, Ohconfucius, ArglebargleIV, Robosh, A.
Parrot, Poeticbent, Urashimataro, Soetermans, Spencer, Ingolfson, Ekabhishek, Reign of Toads, Sfu, CommonsDelinker, Hugo999, Cditadi, Romuald Wrblewski, Nihil novi, Brozozo, Lightmouse, Brian Geppert, MorganaFiolett, Jacurek, Polaco77, Pernambuko, BurgererSF~enwiki, XLinkBot, Koolokamba, Kbdankbot, Addbot, Urbanista1, Palamabron, AnomieBOT, Rockypedia, Xqbot, Governor Jerjerrod, Kobrabones, Malaketh666, RjwilmsiBot, John of Reading, Look2See1, Challisrussia, Alan m, Wingman4l7, Brandmeister, Dreamcatcher25, Helpful Pixie Bot, 4Jays1034, Saltuser, Dexbot, Mogism, Saruman38, Wackelkopp, Monkbot, Joe Vitale 5, Golf, Sciophobiaranger and Anonymous: 32

7.2

Images

File:Bible_Meuse_School.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Bible_Meuse_School.JPG License:

Public domain Contributors: See also Department of National Heritage, Wartime losses (an ocial webpage of Polish Ministry of Culture, Art and National Heritage) Original artist: Unknown (Meuse School)
File:Destroyed_Warsaw,_capital_of_Poland,_January_1945.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/
Destroyed_Warsaw%2C_capital_of_Poland%2C_January_1945.jpg License: Public domain Contributors:
Wiesaw Gbocki; Karol Mrawski (1985) Kultura Walczca 1939-1945, Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Interpress, pp. p.64 ISBN 83-02-00773-0
Original artist: M. Swierczynski
File:German_Brennkommando-firing_Warsaw_1944.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/German_
Brennkommando-firing_Warsaw_1944.jpg License: Public domain Contributors:
Wilk.wpk.p.lodz.pl (Wayback Machine) Original artist: Unknown
File:Major_Sarnow_and_his_Sprengkommando_during_the_Warsaw_Uprising.jpg Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/
Public domain
wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Major_Sarnow_and_his_Sprengkommando_during_the_Warsaw_Uprising.jpg License:
Contributors: Edward Serwaski, Irena Trawiska (red.): Zbrodnia niemiecka w Warszawie 1944 r. Pozna: Wydawnictwo Instytutu
Zachodniego, 1946 Original artist: Alfred Mensebach
File:Preparation_for_Destruction_of_Royal_Castle_in_Warsaw.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/
a3/Preparation_for_Destruction_of_Royal_Castle_in_Warsaw.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Edward Serwaski, Irena Trawiska (red.): Zbrodnia niemiecka w Warszawie 1944 r. Pozna: Wydawnictwo Instytutu Zachodniego, 1946 Original artist: Alfred Mensebach
File:The_Saski_Palace_Warsaw,_destroyed_by_Germans_in_1944.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/
d/de/The_Saski_Palace_Warsaw%2C_destroyed_by_Germans_in_1944.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Stanisaw Jankowski,
Adolf Ciborowski Warszawa 1945 i dzi" Wydawnictwo Interpress, Warszawa, 1971, page 66 Original artist: Jan Buhak
File:Zamoyski_Library_in_Warsaw.JPG Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Zamoyski_Library_in_
Warsaw.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: Konrad Ajewski. O trzech Bibliotekach Ordynackich w Warszawie w 60. rocznic ich
zniszczenia (About three Estate Libraries in Warsaw on the 60th anniversary of their destruction) Original artist: Unknown

7.3

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