The exhibition "Foreigners in the Warsaw Uprising" tells the fate of brave citizens of other countries who volunteered to support Poles in the fight for freedom. Wartime fate threw the British, Greeks, Georgians, Dutch, French, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians and Italians, and others, into Warsaw. Among them were deserters from the Wehrmacht and troops collaborating with the Germans, escapees from POW and labor camps, as well as prisoners freed by the insurgents. In addition, the help of airmen from Britain, Australia, the United States and South Africa, among others, played a tremendous role. The Hungarians – Hitler's allies – also sympathized with the insurgents.
- Poles were not alone here in Warsaw during the Warsaw Uprising. This exhibition recalls 1,835 Allied airmen who dropped more than 150 tons of ammunition, medicine and food for the fighting capital during the Warsaw Uprising, Allied pilots from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, said the IPN President at the opening of the exhibition.
- The 535th platoon of Slovaks fought here. It defended the Polish Belvedere. It fought in the Czerniaków district during the Warsaw Uprising. The unit included not only Slovaks, but also Georgians, Poles and Armenians. The Poles were not alone during the Warsaw Uprising, as the Hungarians also listened to the words of Miklós Horthy, who said that although the Hungarians had been Germany’s allies during the Second War, it had only been a temporary alliance of arms, and the Poles were still their friends, added the IPN President.
The exhibition will be on display until the end of September 2024. It was prepared by the IPN National Education Office.
Venue: Grand Courtyard of the Royal Castle in Warsaw
Author: Marta Snarska, Ph.D.
Consultation: Paweł Rokicki, Ph.D.
Academic review: Paweł Kosiński, Ph.D.
Concept and graphic design: the IPN National Education Office
The exhibition uses illustrations mainly from the following sources:
Archives of the Institute of National Remembrance
The Warsaw Uprising Museum
FORUM Polish Photo Agency
National Digital Archives
Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Australia
and photographs from the public domain