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Prisoners of Gęsiówka and the Szare Szeregi fighters after the liberation of the camp in August 1944

Gęsiówka (Polish informal name for the prison on Gęsia Street), was a Nazi concentration camp in Warsaw, Poland.

History of Gęsiówka

Before the war, Gęsiówka was a military prison of the Polish Army on Gęsia Street (now Anielewicza Street). Since 1939, after the German occupation of Poland, it became a re-education camp of the German security police (Arbeitserziehungslager der Sicherheitspolizei Warschau). In 1943 it was turned into a concentration camp for inmates from beyond Warsaw and Poland, equipped with a gas chambers and crematoriums. The camp was joined with a nearby Pawiak prison and formed the backbone of the Warsaw concentration camp complex. Inmates (mostly Jews) included prisoners from Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Hungary, Belgium and Germany.

Attack on Gęsiówka

Soldiers of tank platoon "Wacek" of "Zośka" Battalion on a Panther tank on the corner of Okopowa and Żytnia Street. August 2, 1944

Liberated Jewish women posing with Zośka fighters

On August 5, 1944, during the early phase of Warsaw Uprising, Armia Krajowa's Battalion "Zośka" (Radosław Group of Szare Szeregi) led by Ryszard Białous and Eugeniusz Stasiecki attacked the Gęsiówka camp which was being liquidated at the time. The Panther tank "Magda", one of two captured by the insurgents on August 2, was instrumental in the attack, supporting the assault with fire of its main gun. In the ensuing one-and-half-hour battle most of the SD guards were killed or captured, although some of the Germans managed to flee in direction of Pawiak. Only two Polish fighters were killed in the attack and 348 able-bodied Jewish prisoners, who were left in Gęsiówka to assist with the destruction of the evidence of mass murder, were rescued from certain death. Most of these survivors joined the Zośka unit and fought in the uprising. Later in the uprising, most of them were killed, together with those who had freed them.^[1]

Bunkers of Warsaw Ghetto at Muranowska Street (1944)	Bunkers of Warsaw Ghetto at Muranowska Street (1944)	Gęsiówka bunker destroyed by soldiers of "Zośka" Battalion (August 1944)	Destroyed bunker where the deputy camp commander was captured
Gęsiówka after takeover by Polish fighters. In the picture a soldier and two of 348 Jews liberated from the Gęsiówka (August 5, 1944)	Soldiers from "Giewont" company of "Zośka" Battalion secure Gęsiówka after takeover (August 5, 1944)	Soldiers from "Giewont" company secure Gęsiowka after takeover. In the back crematorium building at Gęsia 26 (August 5, 1944)	Soldiers from "Zośka" Battalion in watchtower after takeover of Gęsiówka (August 5, 1944)

References

See also

• Camps in Poland during World War II
• Polish resistance movement in World War II