The Warsaw Uprising is a pivotal yet lesser-known event in World War II history. Why do you think it’s important to bring more attention to it now?
Wanda: 2024 marks the 80th anniversary. Earlier this year, D-Day was commemorated respectfully and gratefully. The Warsaw Rising deserves no less, though the outcome was so tragically different. It did not lead to freedom for the Poles as the Allied landings did for the French. It is a blunt illustration of a brutal geopolitical reality. It should be remembered.
Understanding, respecting and supporting people prepared to die for their just cause and their freedom remains relevant. Watching the unfolding horror in Mariupol with Polish friends, we said to each other: just like Warsaw. Déjà vu. Tragically the ongoing relentless Russian invasion of Ukraine and the plight of civilians trapped in Gaza is all too familiar.
Are there any visuals or stories featured in the ‘Warsaw Calling’ exhibition that you find especially moving or significant?
Wanda: For me, it is all moving and significant. The photographs tell the story, the emotional journey of the population and the progressive destruction of the city. We found only two photographs in Polish archives showing massacres and chose not to include them.
In the exhibition, we also focus on the communication between Warsaw and London, both by the military (the documents which our archive holds) and the broadcasts of Radio Blyskawica. The reports of John Ward, an escaped British prisoner of war in hiding in Warsaw, tell the story very graphically, as do the selected dispatches. I think those elements could be particularly interesting to people from King’s.
What do you hope visitors take away from this exhibition?
Wanda: I hope that we manage to reach a wider public of people who knew nothing or very little about the Warsaw Uprising. I hope people will want to learn more, to research the history, not least at the Polish Underground Movement Study Trust Archive (PUMST) Archive in Ealing. There are also many memoirs, stunning poetry and amazing prose, a lot of it published in translation. The stories of the photographers deserve to be retold and known. I hope our visitors will be inspired to learn more.
Could you share the story behind your documentary ‘Battle for Warsaw, 1944,’ which will be screened at the exhibition launch on 20 July?
Wanda: The documentary film “Battle for Warsaw, 1944” was made to coincide with the 60th anniversary, initially for Discovery Europe and then re-versioned for the BBC History strand, ‘Timewatch’. Twenty years ago, we were still able to interview participants, firsthand witnesses and survivors. It is good to have this on the record. People can also listen to participants and witnesses in Julia Rooke’s radio podcast made in 2004 which will be available throughout the exhibition.
Your family had a significant role in the history you're presenting. Can you tell us more about this?
Wanda: Both my parents took part in the Rising as teenagers. My father, aged 17, fought in the Old Town. He lost his older brother and around 80% of his Battalion perished. My mother at 16 was a stretcher bearer and courier based at the Institute for Deaf, Mute and Blind in Three Crosses Square.
During the war, my grandmother, Halina Czarnocka, was secretary to the Chief-of-Staff of the Polish underground Home Army. Amongst other things, she ran an underground network of couriers in Warsaw. However, she did not take part in the Rising as she had been arrested in April 1943, and sent to Auschwitz and then Belsen. After the War she was unable to return to Poland, so she came to London where she was a a founder member of PMUST from its inception in 1947 and subsequent Director. The crowning glory of the work of PUMST was the publication of five volumes of documents tracking correspondence between military command between Warsaw and London throughout 1939-1945.
The Warsaw Uprising was a constant presence in our house. I grew up hearing stories about it, of people who took part in it and lost their lives in it. Many Poles believe the Uprising was a tragic mistake, a miscalculation by the leadership of the Underground Army. Objectively, they are probably right. It may seem likely that many lives would have been spared, and Warsaw wouldn’t have been 80% destroyed if the population hadn’t risen against the German occupier. But equally, both the population and city could have been saved had the Red Army, so close to Warsaw at the time, moved in to help. Then again, why would anyone have believed the Soviets would help the Poles?
How does your film contribute to the narrative and understanding of the Warsaw uprising?
Wanda: As in most cases of making documentaries for a wider audience, our basic goal was to introduce the story to people who know nothing-to-little about the topic. Our aim was simply to say that this event took place, and this is what happened to the people who took part in it. Both in the film and in the exhibition, we try to focus on people’s personal, human experiences while providing as many facts as are needed to allow the viewer to understand the events and context. It is a complex story with many strands and as many ways of telling it as there were participants.
I know from personal experience that painful and complex historical events like the Warsaw Uprising can elicit emotional responses. It’s inevitable that people who have personal connections or a deep knowledge of stories like these, feel strongly about how they should be told. But it is impossible to say everything in a single film or single exhibition. It was a complex and multifaceted event. We aimed to engage the audience, present the dramatic arc, show the experience, and emotional truth and hopefully elicit empathy and an interest to learn more.
More information about the exhibition at: www.warsaw1944.uk
From 20 July to 8 August, you can visit the 'Warsaw Calling' exhibition at The Arcade, Bush House: www.tickettailor.com/events/schoolofsecuritystudies/1310835