POEMS ABOUT THE WARSAW UPRISING
POEMS ABOUT THE WARSAW UPRISING
Photo credit: kconnors from morguefile.com
1. MY SON
My son,
You are gone!
You left without good-bye.
I couldn’t look in Your eyes,
as I learned from the courier,
that I won’t see You again.
A single card with a message
I put in my pocket. I had my duty
towards others, but the beauty
of your sacrifice
filled me with pride,
Your loss – with sorrow.
The Uprising demanded blood.
These days died many of my sons,
but only for You my soul’s hurt with thorns.
This poem is about General Tadeusz Pełczyński, the chief of staff of Polish Country’s Army headquarter, one of commanders, that made the decision about starting the Warsaw Uprising against Nazi in 1944. While he was talking to soldiers during the briefing in HQ, he received a message, that his son Krzysztof had fallen in Mokotów district, as one of first victims of the Uprising. After reading the message, the General put it into his pocket and continued the meeting for several hours…
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2. RED-COLD
Help close at hand, but it is not coming.
Just on the opposite (river) bank, but engines not roaring.
Cross the river, tanks! We’re dying!
Let’s beat the enemy together. Is it not worth trying?
You’re standing and watching? Why? We are brothers.
You’ve come to release the land of our fathers.
No? I see. It’s political matter.
We’re back to fight, it would be better,
if we rely on ourselves.
Another poem about the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. The title says about COLD attitude of the RED Army towards Polish freedom fighters. The Warsaw Uprising was organized by the Country’s Army (pol. AK – Armia Krajowa), subject to the Polish Emigratory Government in London, not to Moscow. Thus the Red Army was ordered not to help the AK. Soviet troops took over Praga, the eastern district of Warsaw, and stopped at Wisła (Vistula) river, waiting for the Uprising to die. Only after the defeat, they attacked Germans.
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