The Home Army’s ‘Krybar’ Combat Group
The Home Army’s ‘Krybar’ Combat Group
Human memory is not always reliable. That is how Tadeusz Manteuffel, an eminent historian at the University of Warsaw, opened his memoirs of the Second World War, written fifteen years after it ended. Time, he added, can distort our view of the past regardless of our intentions – and it’s hard to disagree. Today, 81 years after the Warsaw Uprising, as we walk among modern buildings or stroll along fashionable boulevards, it’s easy to forget that they stand on ground where, not so long ago, there were underground resistance bases, insurgent positions, and the graves of the fallen.
Yet our generation still has the privilege of learning about the events of August 1944 directly from those who lived through them. It is their memories and experiences that let us piece together a picture of those days, and the accounts of the Uprising’s 63 days – from insurgents and civilians, men and women, children and adults alike – are at once harrowing and heartening.
2024 marked the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising: a fitting moment to reflect on how we remember these events and the people who lived them, and to consider how that memory will endure once no participants remain to tell their own stories.
The University of Warsaw community remains committed to preserving the memory of the Uprising. Many of its students and staff served as soldiers in underground units, and the campus itself was the site of significant fighting.
The dedication, courage and heroism of the insurgents who fought for the University have long been recognized by its authorities and community: every year on 1 August, anniversary ceremonies are held at the plaque commemorating the fallen soldiers of ‘Krybar’, attended by members of the Krybar Combat Group of the World Association of Home Army Soldiers. In 2022, a mural dedicated to the group was unveiled at the campus entrance on Oboźna Street.
The University of Warsaw Museum is also involved in efforts to preserve the memory of the Uprising and to bring the community of insurgents and their families together with successive generations of students. Through exhibitions and publications, it seeks to express gratitude to the heroes of 1944 who fought for the capital.
At 4.35am on 1 September 1939, the most difficult period in our nation’s history began: German forces crossed the Polish border, launching a full-scale war. Their plan was a swift blitzkrieg intended to subdue the country within a week, with operations targeting not only the army and military installations but civilians too. Polish forces held out against the invasion for five weeks. On 17 September, the Red Army crossed Poland’s eastern border, and under the terms of the Ribbentrop–Molotov Pact of 23 August and the German–Soviet Treaty on Borders and Friendship of 28 September, Polish territory was divided between the two invaders.
In the first days of September, university staff tried to maintain normal operations: the outgoing rector, Professor Włodzimierz Antoniewicz, formally handed over to his newly elected successor, Professor Jerzy Modrakowski. Plans to begin the academic year were quickly abandoned, however, as the front drew closer and many staff left the city. As casualties mounted daily, the university’s lecture halls were converted into makeshift hospital wards, staffed largely by Faculty of Medicine professors and students. After the capital’s surrender, the buildings on Krakowskie Przedmieście were occupied for the next five years by a battalion of the Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police).
Powiśle was an area of strategic importance: it held the city’s critical infrastructure, including the Poniatowski, Kierbedź and cross-city bridges linking the eastern and western parts of the capital, as well as the Warsaw Power Station, which operated throughout the war. When the WSOP unit ‘Cubryna’ captured the power station in the Uprising’s early days, it prevented the Germans from shutting it down and kept the city’s electricity running. And because the University of Warsaw sits on the escarpment above, controlling its campus meant controlling not only this infrastructure but the streets below as well.
By the summer of 1944 the atmosphere was notably tense. Hitler’s defeats on the Eastern Front were impossible to hide, and the remnants of shattered German units could be seen retreating west through the capital’s streets. By the end of July, German civil institutions and some police units had begun evacuating Warsaw, and the behaviour of the occupying troops changed visibly. In the run-up to August, the garrison at the University was reinforced with around 200 regular soldiers, and the campus itself was fortified: a bunker was added at the Main Gate, armouries were set up inside historic buildings, and double barbed-wire entanglements and firing trenches were dug along the slope. Yet despite these preparations, the occupiers’ continued defeats spread panic among German soldiers and officials – and raised Polish hopes that Warsaw’s liberation might come easily.
The Warsaw Uprising – seen as a chance to liberate the capital – began on 1 August 1944 at 5pm. Because the order setting the precise date and time was issued only the night before, many unit commanders were caught off guard, leaving too little time to gather weapons or notify soldiers scattered across the city. As a result, not every insurgent reached their unit before ‘W’ Hour. The 3rd ‘Lewar’ Company of Krybar’s 8th Group was hit particularly hard: only a handful of its soldiers reported for duty on 1 August, and that day’s planned attack on the Police Headquarters on Krakowskie Przedmieście, along with a feint attack on the University, had to be called off.
Powiśle was the operational area of the Home Army’s ‘Krybar’ Combat Group, commanded by Captain Cyprian Odorkiewicz. It brought together all of the district’s insurgent units: the 3rd Group ‘Konrad’ (three companies), the 8th Group ‘Bicz’ (four companies), the WSOP unit ‘Cubryna’, and the Scout Field Post (the ‘Powiśle’ Unit). The group took its name from Odorkiewicz’s own codename, ‘Krybar’, which he formed from the first syllables of his daughters’ names, Krystyna and Barbara. Nearly 2,000 insurgents fought in its ranks over the course of the Uprising.
The insurgents held high hopes of capturing the University of Warsaw. Their first attempt on the buildings along Krakowskie Przedmieście came on 1 August, just before ‘W’ Hour: Krybar’s units attacked from Oboźna and Gęsta Streets, exploiting the element of surprise, but lacked the weapons to break through the heavily fortified German positions, and the assault failed with significant casualties. Further attempts on 23 August and 2 September – this time backed by the improvised armoured vehicles ‘Kubuś’ and ‘Szary Wilk’ – were likewise unsuccessful.
The Uprising’s outbreak raised hopes that five years of occupation were finally ending, and its early days were marked by widespread optimism. Civilians did what they could to support the fighters – spontaneously erecting barricades to block enemy movement, organizing canteens, and providing first aid – and joyfully raised white-and-red flags over the city. As the fighting dragged on, though, a positive outcome grew less likely: the brutal suppression of district after district eroded residents’ morale, and support for the insurgents began to wane.
One event that significantly shaped the fighting in Powiśle was the capture of the Municipal Power Station by the ‘Cubryna’ Public Utilities Group (codename N-9215) of the Military Uprising Protection Service (WSOP). Made up mainly of power station workers with little weaponry or combat experience, the unit recaptured this strategic facility from the Germans as early as the Uprising’s second day.
For five weeks, Cubryna’s soldiers withstood enemy fire while repairing the damage it caused, keeping the city supplied with power so that communications, hospitals, workshops and printing presses could keep running. The power station’s crew also helped build the armoured vehicle ‘Kubuś’.
Throughout the Uprising, the risk of losing one’s home, health or life was constant, and civilians and soldiers alike worked tirelessly to help one another. Radio stations broadcast upbeat patriotic songs, and insurgent newspapers circulated – among them Barykada Powiśla (Powiśle Barricade), founded on the initiative of Cyprian ‘Krybar’ Odorkiewicz, which carried news of the situation in the capital and on fronts elsewhere in Europe alongside satirical pieces. Artists, too, found ways to contribute: composing poems and patriotic songs, and organizing concerts, cultural events and shows for children, including the travelling puppet theatre ‘Kukiełki pod Barykadą’ (‘Puppets at the Barricade’). It gave its first performance on 16 August at 38 Tamka Street, in front of Krybar’s headquarters – the site where the monument ‘To the Insurgents of Powiśle’ now stands – offering people a brief escape from the bombing and daily hardship.
On 2 September, insurgents fighting in the Old Town – which could no longer be held – evacuated through the sewers to Śródmieście; more than 4,000 soldiers and civilians made the crossing, including fighters from Powiśle. On 5 September at 3pm, Captain ‘Cubryna’ ordered an immediate withdrawal from around the Power Station, and the University’s continuing defence of the area between Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie, Solec, the Old Town and the river embankment now served only to cover a strategic withdrawal to other parts of the city. By the next day, Powiśle had fallen.
Following the surrender, most of Krybar’s insurgents were sent to the German prisoner-of-war camp Stalag XI-B at Fallingbostel, south of Hamburg. After several weeks they were dispersed to other camps, including those at Dorsten and Oberlangen, where they remained until liberated by Allied forces in April 1945. Those who chose not to return to Poland went on to join units commanded by General Władysław Anders or General Stanisław Maczek.
Because German troops occupied the campus throughout the Uprising, much of it was spared the wholesale destruction seen elsewhere in the city – although the Kazimierzowski Palace, the Former Seminary and Former School Superintendent buildings, and St Roch’s Hospital were among the worst affected, having been burned down, and other buildings suffered damage to varying degrees. The occupying forces also looted research equipment and furnishings. Even so, despite fighting on the university grounds that continued until September 1944, the campus was already being prepared to welcome students again by the spring of 1945, as the university community cleared and repaired the buildings ahead of the new academic year. Plans were already underway at the time to build new teaching facilities in Powiśle, below the Kazimierzowski Palace – a vision later realized in the university’s new library and modern campus buildings.
The insurgents who fought for Powiśle have kept close ties ever since. Many belong to the Krybar Combat Group, part of the World Association of Home Army Soldiers, which runs numerous initiatives to keep the memory of those events alive. The University of Warsaw, too, continues to honour their actions: every year on 1 August, successive generations of students and staff gather at the Main Gate to meet with Krybar veterans and thank them for their sacrifice.
The University of Warsaw Museum publications made available here offer a valuable record of what became of Krybar’s soldiers and of the Association’s ongoing work, and stand as testament to the University’s broader contribution to preserving the memory of the Warsaw Uprising.
The University and the Krybar Combat Group Association began working together on 1 August 1994, the Uprising’s 50th anniversary, marked by the unveiling of a commemorative plaque, a ceremonial academic session, and the publication of Grupa Bojowa Krybar w walce o Powiśle i Uniwersytet Warszawski (The ‘Krybar’ Combat Group in the Battle for Powiśle and the University of Warsaw). In 2005, the Association received a banner funded by the University.
The 70th anniversary, in 2014, brought further commemorations: university medals were presented to Krybar veterans, a book was published, and a film was screened.
The Krybar Combat Group has also become patron of Primary School No. 41 with Integrated Classes, at 8 Drewniana Street, which bears the name of the Home Army soldiers of the ‘Krybar’ Combat Group and is well known for its commitment to keeping the insurgents’legacy alive. As the school itself puts it, in a passage quoted on page 45 of Powstańcza tożsamość Powiśla (The Insurgent Identity of Powiśle): ‘We are the only school of its kind, or one of the very few in Poland, where the Patrons studied, fought in its defence, and, after more than a decade, returned to it as role models.’
The University of Warsaw presents a banner to the ‘Krybar’ Combat Group; Chancellor Jerzy Pieszczyński made the presentation on the University’s behalf.
As the insurgents themselves pass away, their place is increasingly taken by descendants – the second, third and even fourth generations. The publications below are intended above all for them.
Publications
Watch the film
Publications
View the publications
Publications
View the exhibition
Publications
Watch the lecture
Publications
Listen to the anthem
Hymn „Hasło Powiśla”, powstał i był śpiewany podczas Powstania Warszawskiego przez żołnierzy Grupy Bojowej „Krybar”. Autorem muzyki i słów był Aleksander Dulin ps. „Mewa”, żołnierz Armii Krajowej w randze kapitana. W czasie Powstania Warszawskiego wchodził on w skład 2. Kompanii III Zgrupowania „Konrad” Grupy „Krybar”, która działała na Powiślu i m.in. walczyła o Uniwersytet Warszawski. Na ul. Dobrej został ciężko ranny.
Aleksander Dulin w okresie międzywojennym był kapelmistrzem Orkiestry Marynarki Wojennej. Współpracował z Feliksem Nowowiejskim, Ludomirem Różyckim i Kazimierzem Wiłkomirskim. Po wojnie prowadził działalność artystyczną i pedagogiczną. W uznaniu jego zasług jedna z ulic Gdyni została nazwana jego imieniem.
Wykonanie: Chór Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego pod dyrekcją Iriny Bogdanovich
