Province of Poland & history admin | 01 Aug 2009
Church of Holy Cross - tragic witness of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944
Ruined towers of Holy Cross church
65 years ago, at 5 p.m. on August 1, 1944 the Uprising broke out in Warsaw, capital of Poland. It was the biggest military operation against Nazi aggressors during WWII undertaken and lead by underground army. For 63 long days people of Warsaw struggled for freedom and liberation of their country. Struggled to protect human dignity and desperately attempted to let world know about their fate.
Since the beginning of fights Vincentian church of Holy Cross in Warsaw was in the heart of attacks, bombardments, street fights. For weeks a temple built in the center of the town was a frontline post, barricade, field hospital. Since the very beginning it was the witness of the triumph and the defeat and wreck , armless soldier of the uprising, a victim of military actions, sharing the destiny of the city where it has been present for centuries.
ruins of the church and rectory
First painful hit occurred on fifth day of fights. Nazis set fire in nearby Theological Convict managed by Vincentians. Flames reach part of the church. Rev. Jozef Rzychon CM dies in fire. Two weeks later, Polish fighters take over the church as strategic point. From here they have continued attacks on Police headquarters. In the lower church a temporary hospital is helping fighters. Nazi troops respond with massive artillery attack which destroys the church and puts into ruins the Vincentian house and rectory. Shells initiate fire on both church towers, the roof, the Most Holy Sacrament Altar, Altar of St. Roch and chapel Our Lady. what bombs and gun shells do not destroy, flames do.
main entrance to the church after the statue was blown away
On September 4 and 5 Nazi troops forces Poles to retreat. Germans take posession of the ruins of the church. To prevent the territory from uprisers’ return, Germans introduce two remote controlled small Goliath tanks filled with explosives. When tanks are inside they are blown up. The blow destroys completely the church, the walls, roof, ceiling of the lower church, main altar, remains of st Roch’s altar and sculptured wooden altar of St. Vincent. Explosion causes the big statue of Christ bearing the Cross falls down on the street, but remains undestroyed. On September 8, in bombardments and attacks brother Wladyslaw Uruski died.
The uprising ends on October 2. During the battle 200 thousands of almost one million Warsaw inhabitants were massacred, killed and died of wounds and illnesses. No help came from Soviet forces on other bank of the Vistula River. An underground army of 45 thousands of children, teenagers and adults, soldiers, civilians and scouts fought against over 150 thousands Wehrmacht troops and tanks. German troops received that one order - to kill enemy, exterminate civilian inhabitants, destroy the city. Heinrich Himmler wanted Warsaw to be perished, people extincted, all buildings and infrastructure destroyed. Warsaw had to die. Those who survived were taken out of the city and relocated to POW camps, concentration camps. Germans started to exterminate it.
Christ with the Cross statue falling on the street
On October 22, Germans loot the ruins of the Hoy Cross church. First, they get the statue of Christ with Cross with intention to transport it to Germany and melt down for armory industry needs. In January 1945, few days before liberation Nazis blow up one of the church towers where the bells were placed. Some of them were destroyed in explosion. Others were taken away.
Warsaw is liberated on January 17, 1945. On the same day Vincentians return to Holy Cross parish and to what was previously Holy Cross church. First Holy Mass is said on January 18 by Fr. Antoni Czapla CM. Priests are living in the house at 8 Seweryna Street. A temporary rectory is organized there, too.
Life starts to return to Warsaw, and to the Holy Cross church as well. Statue of Christ with the Cross and statue of Nicolaus Copernicus are found by accident on the roadside near the Southern town of Nysa. German abandoned them running away. Both are transported back to Warsaw. People decorated them with flowers on their route. After quick restoration, on July 19, 1945, in the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul Christ carrying the Cross statue returns to its former place - over the entrance to lower church. Since then the Christ from the church of Holy Cross has returned take care and reign of the city. State official, including then President of Poland, Boleslaw Bierut, attended the ceremony of benediction of the statue. The church’ rebuild and restoration lasted until mid 1950s. Main altar hasn’t been finished yet.
The history and fate of Holy Cross church in Warsaw, the oldest and longest remaining under Congregation of the Mission jurisdiction in the world, reflects the role of the Congregation in the life and history of the country, for good and for worse. Vincentians were present and vigilant wherever they were needed. When the city of Warsaw was dying, its symbol - church of Holy Cross was dying too, but when the city started to pick up from the fall, the church was there and was already serving those in need.
