The video was recorded by the Pilecki Institute as part of the “Witnesses to the Age” project.
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Our today’s interviewee:
Wiktor Walasiak (born 1929), a Warsaw Uprising insurgent, aliases “Lopek”, “Generał”, who fought in the Żoliborz district. As a young, petite boy (aged 15), he was assigned the role a liaison operating in the sewers. Aside from technical difficulties (slippery goo on the ground and tight spaced), walking the sewers was fairly safe at first, but when the Germans realized that the Poles used them for communication, they started throwing grenades in. The Poles had to be very careful and jump under manholes right after the explosion, while the German soldier was grabbing another grenade. The men in the sewers could also get injured by their own colleagues. Wiktor Walasiak once dropped his flashlight while signaling to the Polish guards that he’s approaching and couldn’t send a countersignal. When the guards were preparing to shoot, he started running towards them and then shouting, which was forbidden, as the Germans were above the ground, but he managed to save his life. One of the hardest passages through the sewers for him took place at the end of the uprising, when he was sent along with a colleague with a report from “Żywiciel” (Lieutenant Mieczysław Niedzielski) to “Monter” (General Antoni Chruściel). The last section of their route led through a 80-centimeter-high sewer filled with water. The journey from the Żoliborz to Mokotów district took them almost 10 hours. Then they had to go back…
Copyright by Instytut Solidarności i Męstwa im. Witolda Pileckiego.
21 мар 2023
