ACTION ON GRZYBOWSKA STREET
TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1944
Commander of a Polish unit fighting.
At five o'clock this morning, the Germans threw in everything they had. Wave after wave of
Junkersand Stuka dive bombers flew over, and Tiger and Panther tanks moved towards us along
the surrounding streets. The din of bombs and shrapnel, the roar of engines, the thunder of tons
of metal crashing down, all mingled with the rumble of falling walls and roofs, the rattle of machine
guns and the shriek of bullets overhead, like a storm gone mad. Begrimed runners hurried along in
the shelter of walls with messages from officers on the barricades. They all told what they had seen.
On one street, tanks smashed through one of our barricades. Then, Captain Proboszcz appeared
as though he'd risen out of the ground; he hurled a grenade at a tank, wrenched open the
lid and shot the German driver at point-blank range from his revolver. Then, he grabbed the
German's gun and hurried on....The tanks on Rynkowa and Ciepla streets were moving along
behind a crowd of civilians, who were being driven ahead to provide cover for the Germans. I gave
the order to fire. Some of the civilians were hit and were left lying on the pavement...Then, Major
Zagonczyk asked for me: I know you are in trouble; I'll do what I can to help with ammunition. But
you have got to hold your street. You have got to! Can you do it? I replied, We will hold out, Sir!
I started along the street.; The smoke had died down a little. To my left was a deserted barricade;
immediately below the corner block of apartments, the shell of a tank half-buried in a trench was
smoldering The firing had died down.I crossed the street and cautiously went up the barricade. I
looked over the top and saw a powerful Tiger tank snarling halfway down Ciepla Street. But I could
hardly believe my eyes: It was retreating. Another tank stood near Krochmalna Street motionless.
Its tracks had been ripped off.; And near the barracks I saw a third tank dead with its cover open....
From across the battlefield two men appeared, clumsily scrambling past the smoldering tank. I hardly
recognizedTadeusz and Puchacz, for they looked as if they'd dug themselves out of a heap of
cement. Somehow they'd survived, hidden by the heavy balustrade of a balcony on the first floor
immediately above the barricade.; They'd let the tank come up to the barricade so they could not
miss; for, although they were half-buried in rubble, their arms were free...I reported back to Major
Zagonczyk by telephone: We have held our street. The Germans are retreating. We ought to send
patrols out after them and try to man the barricades again.; We ought to bring the wounded and bury
the dead. But there are only six of us left. We have not a single bullet or grenade...