Mały Powstaniec

By 1944, Poland had been occupied by Nazi Germany for almost five years. Tensions rose in the capital with the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943. The brutal end of the Jewish ghetto and the destruction of the district did not bring lasting peace, as the Warsaw Uprising began in 1944. Without the help of the nearby Soviet Red Army, German forces managed to overthrow the rebels when the order came: "Warsaw must be leveled to the ground to serve as a formidable example to the rest of Europe." By 1944, the city’s children were no strangers to the atrocities of war. The Polish Resistance had been forced to launch the uprising much earlier than planned and without the help of the Allied forces. The Polish underground scouts, known during the war as the Grey Scouts, played an integral role in the resistance, mostly carrying messages to the troops, but sometimes wearing stolen German helmets and weapons and fighting on the front.

By the end of the 63-day battle, the Polish Resistance had managed to kill 8,000 Nazi soldiers and wound about the same number. But by the time the Nazis had destroyed the city, the Resistance’s death toll had risen to 16,000 and civilian casualties, including Jews hidden by the Polish people, reached 200,000. Hitler and Himmler destroyed almost 90% of the buildings in the area. Jerry Jarnuszkiewicz created the Little Rebellion in 1946, just two years after the massacre, but the memorial was not built until 1983. The memorial was unveiled by Gray Ranks cardiologist Professor Jerzy Świderski on the first of October.

The statue of a young boy wearing a large helmet and holding a German submachine gun is said to be modelled on the 13-year-old child soldier Antek, who was killed on 8 August 1944. Behind the statue is a plaque inscribed with the words of a popular song: "Warszawskie dzieci, pójdziemy w bój/za każdy kamień twój, stolico damy krew." (Children of Warsaw, we’re going to battle / for every stone of yours we give our blood).

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/maly-powstaniec-little-insurrectionist

Photo: Kalinka261015