Product Details

• Actors: Great Battles of War
• Format: Black & White, Color, NTSC
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Best Film And Video
• VHS Release Date: March 20, 1992
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: 6302361095
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #76,395 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to the Warsaw Uprising of WW2, September 6, 2004

By	Dave (Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I've always been interested in Poland's role in WW2 because after all, that's where the war began. Few countries suffered as much as Poland did, but the brave Poles never gave up hope. This documentary starts out with a brief summary of life in Warsaw before & after the German Army invaded in September, 1939. Next it describes life in Warsaw during the occupation, & then the beginning of the Uprising of Poland's "Home Army", which at that time outnumbered the German garrison of 13,000 in Warsaw. However, out of more than 30,000 men & women, less than 3,000 were properly armed. Many only had pistols or antique hunting rifles, & a lot were armed with knives or swords! This alone is a clear sign of the Poles' incredible courage. In the first day of fighting, over 2,000 Poles were lost & just 500 Germans were killed. When Hitler heard of the Uprising he ordered Himmler (head of the SS) to wipe Warsaw of the face of the earth. Thousands of heavily-armed German reinforcements were rushed into Warsaw until the Home Army was outnumbered more than three to one. German tanks & Stukas (divebombers) leveled entire blocks of the city at a time, but the brave Poles refused to surrender. The end finally came after more than two months of bloody fighting during which both sides took few prisoners. This documentary has several interviews with actual participants of the Uprising & is filled with actual footage of the Uprising, most of which was shot by members of the Home Army. It also has music of Chopin which is perfect for the documentary. Although the British narrator sounds like an emotionless robot, this is compelling from beginning to end. I believe this was made during the late 70's or early 80's but it's still very good & informative. I highly recommend this to all WW2 buffs.