| Nazi soldaten shelter behind a Panzerkampfwagen II of 35.Panzer-Regiment at the intersection of Grójecka and Siewierska Streets during fighting in the Ochota District of Warsaw. Tenements behind the Panzer are at Grójecka 70A-B; distant right are on Częstochowska Street 7 and 9. The Nazi Germans also set up artillery. The rupture between the Polish Army Lodz and Army Prusy enabled the lead elements of the German 10th Army, the 1st and 4th Panzer Divisions, to race to the outskirts of Warsaw on the afternoon of September 7, 1939. Polish plans for Warsaw were in flux at the time. The city was gripped in panic on the evening of September 6 when it was announced that the High Command was being transferred to Brześć and that men in selected age groups were to leave the city and form up in the area east of the capital. This last order was countermanded by the Warsaw Defense Command of General Walerian Czuma (December 24, 1890 – April 7, 1962) and the city’s feisty mayor, Stefan Starzynski (August 19, 1893 – circa December 21-23, 1939). The mayor urged Warsaw residents to remain calm and to help erect defenses on the outskirts of the city. Warsaw was acting as a magnet for retreating and partially mobilized Polish units, and Polish commanders in the city decided on a prolonged defense, regardless of the plans of the High Command. German tanks from the 4th Panzer Division 1st began to probe into the Ochota suburbs in the early evening of September 8, but were greeted by point-blank artillery fire. The German tanks were not adequately supported by infantry and took moderate losses from camouflaged Bofors 37 millimeter (1.45 inch) wz.36 anti-tank guns and 75 millimeter (3 inch) armata wz.1897 field guns that had been positioned at key street intersections. The fighting petered out later on September 9 when the 4th Panzer Division was recalled westward to help thwart the Bzura River counter-offensive. With the fighting on the Bzura largely over by September 21, the Wehrmacht gradually encircled the city with 13 divisions, about a 3rd of their forces in Poland. Generaloberst Gerd von Rundstedt (December 12, 1875 – February 24, 1953), Kommandant der Heeresgruppe Süd, again closed off the southern and western edges of the city. 1,000 artillery pieces were brought up for the final assault. The 1st major attempt took place on September 23, but it made few gains as the Poles were well prepared. The next attack, on September 25, was preceded by an enormous artillery and air bombardment, which went down in city legend as “Black Monday.” Some 1,200 aircraft participated, even including Junkers Ju-52 tri-motor transports. These aircraft had been used as bombers during the Spanish Civil War, and were again pressed into service in this role, dropping some 13 percent of the incendiary bombs that day. The attack led to intense clouds of smoke and dust, so bombing accuracy was poor. Indeed, so many bombs fell on German infantry in the northwestern suburbs that there was a major row between the Heer (“Nazi German Army”) and the Luftwaffe (“Nazi German Air Force”) commanders. The arguments were so bitter that Hitler had to personally intervene. The expenditure of munitions surprised the Germans; the Luftwaffe used up half its supply of bombs during the Polish campaign. Though the air attacks on September 25 were not immediately decisive, the following day German infantry finally overwhelmed the 3 old Tsarist forts (Forts Mokotow, Dobrowski and Czerniakow) south of the city. Hitler gave instructions to his commanders to forbid civilians to leave the city, presuming that the need for food and water would eventually force capitulation. On the evening of September 26, the commander of Army Warsaw, General Juliusz Rommel (June 3, 1881 – September 8, 1967), sent envoys to the German 8th Army to discuss terms for surrender. Hostilities formally ended on September 27, and 140,000 Polish troops surrendered. The siege had been enormously costly with over 40,000 civilians killed, 10 percent of the buildings destroyed, and about 40 percent damaged. The nearby Modlin garrison held out until September 29, when General Wiktor Thommee (December 30, 1881 – September 12, 1962) surrendered his force of 24,000 troops. A Propaganda-Kompanie photographer, Bildberichter Otto Lanzinger (???? – 1940), accompanied 1 of the attacking columns into the city and his pictures have become classic images of the 1939 fighting for Warsaw. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0767.jpg |
| Image Size | 536.93 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2048 x 1368 |
| Photographer | Otto Lanzinger |
| Photographer Title | Kriegsberichter |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | September 9, 1939 |
| Location | |
| City | Warsaw |
| State or Province | Warsaw |
| Country | Poland |
| Archive | Bundesarchiv |
| Record Number | 101I-012-0022-25 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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