The Battle for Warsaw

Starring:Battle for Warsaw
Studio: SHANACHIE
Product Type: DVD

Description

Using newly found archival footage and remarkable eyewitness accounts from survivors, Battle For Warsaw tells the tragic story of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising in which nearly a quarter of a million poles lost their lives. Outnumbered by more than 3 to 1 and fighting with only homemade or captured weapons, the citizens of Warsaw held out against the German panzer divisions for over 2 months, hoping to liberate their capitol for themselves before the nearby Russian troops arrived. Stalin chose to ignore the pleas for help from the beseiged Poles, holding his troops back and allowing the Germans to wipe out the non-Communist Poles before he unleashed his own troops on them.

Customer Reviews:

An outstanding summary of the Warsaw Uprising!.......2005-03-30

I've always been interested in Poland's role in WW2 because after all, that's where the war began. Few countries suffered as much as Poland did, but the brave Poles never gave up hope. This documentary starts out with a brief summary of life in Warsaw before & after the German Army invaded in September, 1939. Next it describes life in Warsaw during the occupation, and then the beginning of the Uprising of Poland's "Home Army", which at that time outnumbered the German garrison of 13,000 in Warsaw. However, out of more than 30,000 men & women, less than 3,000 were properly armed. Many only had pistols or antique hunting rifles, and a lot were armed with knives or swords! This alone is a clear sign of the Poles' incredible courage.

In the first day of fighting, over 2,000 Poles were lost while only 500 Germans were killed. When Hitler heard of the Uprising he ordered Himmler (head of the SS) to wipe Warsaw of the face of the earth. Thousands of heavily-armed German reinforcements were rushed into Warsaw until the Home Army was outnumbered more than three to one. German tanks & Stukas (divebombers) leveled entire blocks of the city at a time, but the brave Poles refused to surrender. The end finally came after more than two months of bloody fighting during which both sides took few prisoners. The brave Poles could've held out much longer had Stalin only allowed the Allies to help from the very beginning. Because of his betrayal of Poland, the Uprising was really doomed from the start.

This documentary has several interviews with actual participants of the Uprising and is filled with actual footage of the Uprising, most of which was shot by members of the Home Army who risked (and gave) their lives to record the amazing event so that it would forever be remembered by future generations. It also has classical music of Chopin which is simply perfect for the documentary. Although the British narrator sounds like an emotionless robot at times, this is truly compelling from beginning to end. I believe this was made during the late 70's or early 80's but it's still very good and informative. I'm so glad that this documentary was released on dvd because my vhs copy was nearly worn out! I highly recommend this to all history buffs.

A WONDERFUL DOCUMENTARY.......2004-10-28

This DVD is a must see for anyone interested in WWII history. There are not enough documentary's on Poland's WWII experience and thus this DVD is a welcome addition. The documentary is narrated by a Briton and seems to be historically accurate.One thing of note is that it was produced while Poland was still behind the Iron Curtain therefore it is not a new post Cold War production.

I would certainly encourage high schools and colleges to show this version of The Battle For Warsaw in their history curriculums.

DVD:

DVD

Futurama, Vol. 3 [4 Discs] [1999] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Fat Albert

Various Artists - Transambient 2