When the Warsaw Uprising broke out, Wanda Traczyk was only seventeen years old. But she had no doubts that she wanted to participate - and with a gun in hand! How did she convince her commanders to include her in the ranks of the combatants, and how did she handle killing people?
[As told by Wanda Traczyk-Stawska, pseudonym "Pączek":]
The fact that I picked up a gun and had the strength and courage to shoot people was greatly influenced by the things I saw during the hard four years of the occupation. It was decided when I witnessed the execution at Puławska Street. From that moment on, my only dream was to learn to shoot and fight the invaders (…).
At that time, I was already in the underground, I belonged to the Gray Ranks and took part in action "N". Together with Tadeusz Zürn pseud. "Karolek", we delivered conditional death sentences from the "Zośka" battalion. First of all, for blackmailers, but also for Volksdeutsche and uniformed people who abused Poles in an exceptional way, spent them for money and simply deserved the death penalty. Of course, there was a stipulation that the sentence might not have been carried out if they had ceased their activities.
"I will not pass sentences anymore"
After this monstrous shooting, which I witnessed, I told Tadzio that I would not distribute the sentences anymore, because I wanted to be in the firing squad and carry out these sentences myself. He only replied that I was stupid. He promised to teach me how to shoot, as long as I continued studying and that I didn't drop kits. And so it happened! He, as a student of the last year of cadet school, taught me how to shoot and throw grenades, and I continued my education (...).
I remember the first day of August 1944 perfectly well! After all, it was the most beautiful day of my life. We all wanted to defeat the Germans so much and throw them out of Warsaw, we counted so much that we would finally be free, that the emotions that accompanied us were incredibly strong. We did not want to die, but we also did not want to live without human dignity and freedom .
Wanda remembers the first day of the Uprising as the most beautiful day in her life. The photo shows the collection of insurgents in Wola during the "W" hour.
The truth about the Uprising is that, to a large extent, the decision to launch it was made from below. We did not leave the barracks, we were the army that was leaving their apartments. I am deeply convinced that without the consent of the civilian population the Uprising would not have broken out (…).
In the first hours, nothing happened at my meeting point, in the editorial office! I thought that I would jump out of the window, that's how it carried me! After all, I made an appointment with my father, brother and little sisters that I would be back home in three days to help them further! And instead of fighting, I wait, do nothing and still hear the command to make coffee.
I could do many things, but I never brewed coffee. Life simply did not give me such an opportunity, I was twelve when the war broke out, and during the occupation the house was so poor that we could not afford coffee. I felt extremely humiliated that I couldn't do something. So I stood idly and looked out the window at the boys who were running to attack the Main Post Office.
My beloved commander "Hubert" sensed that something was wrong, that I was close to crying. So he sent me to the street with an appeal to the civilian population. I was supposed to run through the liberated parts of the city and hand out leaflets with information about the outbreak of the Uprising! And it was then that I experienced the most beautiful moments in my life (...).
"I had my record with Germany"
Shortly after my return, my commander "Hubert" sent me to Dąbrowski Square with a report. The Guard Division of the Military Publishing House was stationed there and Antoni Chruściel pseud. "Fitter". When I was there, it turned out that they needed a connector. I volunteered, I assured them that I would definitely prove myself, because I knew the area very well, but made one condition:they must admit me to their unit as a liaison-shooter (…).
The article is an excerpt from Magda Łucyan's book “Powstańcy. The last witnesses of fighting Warsaw ”(Znak Horyzont 2019).
Why was I shooting? I dreamed about it for a long time and I knew that I could do it. I knew I could replace a boyfriend. I imagined how their mothers would suffer when something happened to someone ... I had no mother and was ready to die. But most importantly, I had my scores with the Germans. However, I perfectly remember the moment when I saw people in them for the first time . I was then at the corner of Nowy Świat and Chmielna Streets.
They attacked us from Foksal Street. It was only after the fall of Powiśle. We were ordered to leave our post only on a stretcher ... The building was defended by the remnants of my squad. We also cooperated with the guys from the Old Town. We had very good weapons - including lightning and heavy machine guns, which were supposed to prevent the Germans from changing their positions.
My position, from which together with Tadeusz Bojski pseud. We were supposed to shoot "Czesiek", it was in the window. The Germans were in the building on the other side of Nowy Świat, but unfortunately they were one floor above, which made our task very difficult. They saw everything that happens in our room. They set up a mirror in the window so they didn't even have to lean out. "Czesiek" got hit, and it was terrible, because the bullet rubbed the artery .
There was such a bang and noise that in the first seconds I had no idea what was going on, I didn't know he was hurt. I couldn't look at him because I had to shoot all the time. I finally turned and saw that "Czesiek" was lying in the middle of the room, blood gushing like a fountain, at least a meter away, and the Germans were still shooting at him. I rushed to help, and he, despite his condition, showed me with his hand that I should graze and crawl, because I will get it too! Sam was injured and he was thinking about me! This is what the brotherhood in arms is…
Wanda fought in Śródmieście. The photo shows the insurgents getting ready to attack.
I crawled over to him, but unfortunately I no longer had any dressings. So I grabbed a rag for cleaning the "pips" (ammunition), wrapped a piece of debris in it and tried to compress the wound with it. Of course it was useless, the blood was pouring through my fingers. I called the nurses and dragged "Cześka" to the wall so that he would not get a second time. He survived!
After this action, our positions had to be taken over by others, and the commander put me at the balcony, where the heavy machine gun was standing. I was given binoculars and as one with good eyesight, I was to alert if the Germans changed position. We were supposed to block the Germans running from Ordynacka Street into Warecka Street. Maybe I managed to shout twice:"Now, shoot!" Before the grenade exploded, hitting our doorframe. Bogus, standing by the window, covered his eyes with sand, and a fragment wounded my eyebrow.
We were ordered to go downstairs and treat ourselves, because the nurses were taking care of those seriously injured. I was shocked, I didn't know what was going on, even the fact that I was hurt. Nothing hurt! I acted automatically, I took Boguś who could not see anything, and as we did not have a drop of water, I offered to spit in his eyes to clean them. And I was spitting, and he suddenly screams that I am spitting maliciously all over his face! So I said that I don't spit but I splash blood because I'm hurt .
Immediately he saw his eyes open, he jumped out of the gate to the window next to him, where there used to be a wine shop - it was impossible to get a drop of water. He grabbed a random bottle and started watering me. It blocked my nose, but I had to breathe somehow, taking a breath, and at the same time I was drinking wine for the first time in my life ... and the last one, because from then on I hate its taste and smell.
"I saw the effects of my grenades ..."
As soon as Boguś bandaged me, I was immediately ordered to stand back in the window and continue fighting. I was supposed to throw grenades at Chmielna Street, where the Germans were running. It looked like the enemies were attacking in waves, but to prevent us from hitting them, they were running right next to the wall. The only chance to stop them was to throw grenades, then the guys from all the windows tried to delete them.
Wanda with Peemek, a monkey mascot, which she received from her colleagues at the end of the Warsaw Uprising.
At one point, the Germans raised a flag with the sign of the Red Cross, hoping for a temporary ceasefire. They wanted to collect their wounded and killed ... Everything went silent, and I saw the effects of the grenades I was throwing. Blood, torn bodies, screams, groans and crying. The sight was so shocking that for the first time I thought it was human too, and that war is the most disgusting thing humanity can do . I broke. I cried, but had to keep on throwing. I knew that if we stopped defending ourselves, they would fall in and murder us all without scruples. But from then on, although I was shooting all the way, I didn't like doing it.
[How did I feel when I shot a human for the first time?] The joy he got! I could see he was hit, he was falling over, but he was far enough away that I couldn't see his eyes and his suffering. Anyway, I never shot completely alone, I was always in a group, so it was not known whose bullet struck. Nevertheless, we all felt satisfied, because at that moment he was an enemy, not a man… But when you see his eyes and his suffering, it is unbearable. It's hard to shoot between those eyes (…).
Since then, I have been aware of the disgustingness of war. I was much worse at shooting someone, but I continued shooting because I knew that the Germans were cruel enough to torture us, rape us and murder everyone in the end . However, that event changed my view of the world and my further life. It is so deeply remembered that it is of great importance to this day.
Source:
The above text was originally published as part of the book by Magda Łucyan Powstańcy. The last witnesses of fighting Warsaw , Published by the Znak Horyzont publishing house.
The title, lead, illustrations with captions, boldface text, explanations in square brackets and subheadings come from the editors. The text has undergone some basic editing to introduce more frequent breakdown of paragraphs. For the sake of integrity of the text, the footnotes in the book version have been removed.
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