Flags of Defiance ETO (id:#57621)

Dagger (Rout Report # 4.3 ID: Z 9)   [next]   [previous]

Muranowka Square, Warsaw, Poland 1943-04-20 (5 others)

Overview:

Himmler had decided to completely destroy the Warsaw Ghetto. With their ultimate fate already decided, and no outside help forthcoming, the poorly-armed defenders of the Ghetto had no hope of victory. But their determination to die fighting meant that resistance would be fierce. SS troops attacked the Ghetto on April 19 with two battalions of infantry and supporting armor. One of the objectives was to clear resistance through to the northern wall of the Ghetto, but a heavy machine gun on the roof of Muranowska 7, the ZZW (Jewish Military Union) headquarters, had forced the surprised SS back with heavy losses. To add insult to injury, the ZZW defenders raised both the Polish and Zionist flags atop the building. Their headquarters was vitally important to both sides-to the Jews because a tunnel beneath it led outside the Ghetto wall, and to the Germans because the flags could clearly be seen outside the Ghetto. This could lead to support from, or even an uprising by the Poles on the Aryan side of the Ghetto wall. Today the SS would attack again, this time with a tank and a flamethrower for support.

Defender: Partisan (ZZW Command)  

Errata (source)