Wladyslaw Ciechomski (1927-2021): Hero of the Polish Resistance - Part Two

Val as a young man

'One day on the way to work I came across a lot of German armed cars. When I came closer, I could see what was happening. Germans had surrounded the Jewish ghetto and were firing into the buildings and some flame throwing cars were inside setting fire to the buildings. Rage welled in me but none of us could do anything to such overpowering forces. The ghetto burned for some time. German patrols were constantly checking for survivors. If they found anybody inside the ghetto they would shoot them.'

Val's boss entrusted him with some money to deliver but on the way he lost the envelope containing it. He was fired and then began work at a toy factory. This was followed quickly by time spent working at a hotel, then a barber's shop. Eventually, he left Warsaw and took up work on a farm. The following spring he made his way back to Warsaw and met up with a friend. Together, they embarked on a botched smuggling operation across the border in Germany. Val was badly beaten by a group of Nazis and gave up on his smuggling ambitions. He began pulling a bottle cart instead. At a party, he became reacquainted with an old friend, Stasiek. Through him, he gained housing and a job making flying jackets. The summer of 1943 was a relatively happy time, spent with his friends and girlfriend having picnics in a nearby forest. And then, 'gradually I was introduced to the underground, without even knowing I was in it!'

The situation in Warsaw was grim.

'The Germans were hanging people in the streets from balconies and executing them in public places. Whenever an execution took place, the Germans would close the street and force people to watch. One afternoon, Germans stopped our work and took us outside to the back of the factory. We were kept there for an hour before German lorries arrived with soldiers. One lorry held half a dozen men with their hands tied behind their backs. They were marched and put against a wall. What was so amazing was that none of the men struggled or look to the left or the right. As they stood there the firing squad came over and waited for the command. The men against the wall stood as if in a trance. After a long pause the command came to aim. The victims did not show any signs of emotion. "Fire!" and six men crumpled to the ground. They were thrown in the lorry and we were told to go back to work.'

As part of the Underground, Val and his friend Roman decided to rob the German fur factory where they worked. It did not go very well.

'Shot rang out. Roman was injured in the elbow and I had been shot in the hand and groin. Roman was in pain but I did not notice my wounds till we had run quite a distance. When we stopped to rest, I noticed that my hip was wet. As I put my hand down to find out what it was, I came across a hole in my flesh. I bandaged my hand with a hankie and borrowed another for my hip. We did not waste any time but went straight for the station. This time luck was with us and there were no Germans around.'

Val recovered from his injuries and continued his work with the Underground. One day, his friend Roman was arrested and a few days later, Val was returning to his flat when he met a neighbour at the bottom of the stairs.

'She said, "by the way, two men are waiting upstairs to see you". Well, that was enough and I turned around and went straight to Janek. Roman must have talked. We cleared all the staff to a temporary hideout. I went back to my flat but a few days later I was on my way home when I noticed two men on the opposite side of the road. Instinct told me something was not right. I ran quickly so that they would not know which stairs I went to. My girlfriend was there, and I told her what happened. We thought and talked about it - how can I escape from this one! My girlfriend came up with a solution. She was taller and bigger than me and suggested that I dress up as a girl and walk out calmly. I rolled up my trousers and shirtsleeves, put on one of her dresses, combed my hair over my forehead, and tied a scarf under my chin. The shoes were a problem. I walked down the stairs ever so slowly, thinking "I must walk like a girl". I started to wiggle my hips from side to side. I walked into the street with all the confidence I could muster. The two men still stood just outside the entrance, and I walked slowly past, glancing from time to time out of the corner of my eye to see whether they were following me. I made it two hundred feet away before they realised their mistake. They moved to give chase, but they were no match for me. I was seventeen and in the peak of fitness, while they were mid-forties with pot bellies. I kicked the shoes off and cut across bombed buildings. I last saw them struggling over the rubble, practically on all fours.'

Val in his teenaged years

Accommodation became difficult to find after this.

'I had run out of safe places. We looked for bombed houses with good cellars but even those were hard to find. Then I was told that on the first of August I should to Old Town and there would be a place for me to stay. I was a little hesitant; it was too close to my auntie's house, so I left it until the last minute, which was four o'clock in the afternoon. Unfortunately, I was too late to reach my appointment and the Uprising had already started.'

Late for his appointment, Val joined another group of Resistance fighters and took up his position in the Uprising.

'A bombardment started, street by street. The Germans were quite methodical; they bombed a street at one end and continued on to the end of it. Then they would start on the next one and so on. So we knew where the next bombing would be. People moved out of the area and once the bombing was finished people would move back into the burned ruins and live the best they could in the cellars. One night I was on sentry duty. About two in the morning, I heard scrambling over bombed ruins and as I was alone, I ran to alert the guard. The whole place came to life and as we were waiting for the enemy to arrive who should appear but a young woman supporting an old man. Everybody went back to bed. In the morning I was asked to report to command. I didn't even know there was such a thing. I stood in front of a desk and the men behind it accused me of causing unnecessary panic. The sentence was to stand in the office for an hour without moving. I always thought this was much too harsh - I wasn't even a soldier!'

The bombardment continued day after day.

'In the second week some excitement came our way. Two tanks rolled up Marshalkowska and everybody grabbed their weapons to defend our position. The tanks came up very close and started sputtering all the buildings with machine-gun bullets. Some of us threw bottles filled with petrol; some were alight. The tanks opened fire with big guns, concentrating mainly on the windows. One of the tanks was on fire and started to withdraw. Only one tank remained shooting all the time. Next, two lorries rolled up with SS men. They jumped from the lorry and went into the wine shop opposite. As soon as the SS men were safe inside the lorries withdrew, followed by the tank. Now the SS men were trapped. Straight away parties went to the left and the right to encircle the SS men. A shoot out started, in which one of our boys was wounded. A nurse went out to help him, but they shot her too. The SS could not escape and finally only three of them survived. They were interrogated but what happened to them I did not see.'

The heavy bombardment continued.

'In rescuing people we came across a woman who had become trapped under rubble. After removing the rubble we tried to lift her onto a stretcher. As I grabbed her hands, her skin peeled off and stuck to my palms.'

Val was sent to defend the Post Office.

'As soon as I arrived, I boldly climbed onto the ruins to have a good look at the Germans. What I did not appreciate was that they were all concealed in nooks and crannies. As I came up to the top of the bombed Post Office there was already a dead boy there. I noticed a movement below and at once I threw a grenade. I quickly moved to another place, but I think my movement was observed. As soon as I moved a grenade came my way. I flattened myself into the rubble. Next came a sten gun shooting blind in my direction. Again, I moved my position, back towards the body of my fellow fighter. This was a big mistake. I was lucky, a bullet only wounded me, grazing my shoulder close to my neck.'

Val managed to escape and was sent to hospital for treatment. He soon returned to active duty but then came his worst day of the Uprising, one which he would recall with great emotion many times in his last years.

'Next to our quarters was a five-story building with deep cellars. In the cellars the resistance were manufacturing our primitive weapons. When I came from guard duties the building was flattened to the ground and the surrounding houses were on fire. Here was the perfect example that we had spies among us. This was a sad day for the company; by this time, half our men were dead.'

Soon, it would all be over.

'Official news came that we would be recognised as an army and have prisoner of war status. The day had come, after two months of struggle, to walk into German camps.'

Val's Resistance badge

You can read part three here.