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| Janusz Korczak´s Orphanage after WWII. Most probably, that was the view on January 17th, 1945, when Pan Misza visited the spot. The building of Janusz Korczak’s orphanage at Krochmalna 92 was actually one of the few structures in the area to survive the city's destruction, largely because it had been occupied by German institutions during the war. However, the attic and roof were destroyed by a bomb (during the 1939 siege). Janusz Korczak’s personal room, located in the attic and famous for its semi-circular window, was demolished. Immediately following the war, the ruins were occupied by "wild tenants"—at least five families who lived in the relatively well-preserved basements until they were evicted in 1948. |
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| On January 17, 1945, Polish soldiers entered the bridge from the Praga district using the remaining span. They then climbed down onto the ice, bypassed four broken spans, and used ladders to reach the final one on the left bank. This Russian newsreel from late January shows that the ladders were approximately 10 meters long. Returning residents climbed them after the troops. This was no joke – whoever fell from the ladder did not survive. |
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| On January 17, 1945, Lieutenant Michał Wasserman Wróblewski led his troops across the frozen Vistula River into Warsaw. In a photograph taken that same afternoon, he is visible (third from the right) alongside Marian Spychalski (second from the left). Spychalski later became the Minister of National Defense of Poland. There is another image of the two from a later occasion in 1966. Translation from Polish: Warsaw, January 17, 1945. The city president, Col. Marian Spychalski (second from the left), in Jerozolimskie Avenues The Warsaw bank [of the Vistula] was heavily mined, but we managed to get across. Just past the bridge, in Jerozolimskie Avenues, there stood a large black screen across the street to hinder observation from Praga [the right-bank district]. This screen was about 10 meters high. In Jerozolimskie Avenues, we met no one. It was only at the intersection with Marszałkowska [Street] that we noticed the general Rola-Zymirski, standing there in his entourage... |
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| Since 1944, my father was the commander of the reconnaissance battalion in the Polish Army tasked with selecting the route for the infantry attacks and also the artillery. The document in Polish and Russian says that he is allowed to stop and confiscate vehicles needed to perform his duties. The name and military grade were filled in by my father. |
Polish Army
1st Separate Battalion of Road Operations
of the 1st Polish Army.
Certificate.
To the bearer of this: Senior Lieutenant Vrublevsky Mikhail, Deputy Commander for Comm[unications], is granted the right To stop moving transport on the Military-Automobile road, To check documents, to prohibit further movement, to confiscate certificates from drivers for the right to drive a vehicle, to detain vehicles and persons who do not have the right of passage on the Military road or who violate the established order.
Chiefs of all Military and Civil Auto-columns are obliged to fulfill the demands of Vrublevsky Mikhail and if necessary, provide him with assistance and support to ensure the normal movement of transport on the road.
Granted the right of passage and transport of the persons following with him on all types of transport passing on the military road.
This certificate is valid until December 31, 1945.
Commander of the 1st Separate B.R.O. (Battalion of Road Operations)
/--/ Nikiforov /Captain/
Chief of Staff
/--/ Batalonov /Junior Lieutenant/
(Stamp: 1. Independent Polish Road Battalion Operations)
Senior Lieutenant Michal Wasserman Wróblewski (Pan Misza) - 3rd from the right after the "Warsaw Prag Operation" in September 1944. During this operation, Wawer and Czaplowizna, an area where Korczak's summer camp in Goclawek was liberated. During this operation on the eastern bank of the Vistula, Senior Lieutenant Michal Wasserman Wróblewski was wounded.
An incredible and priceless testimony
It is an incredible and priceless testimony. The story of my father, Michał Wasserman Wróblewski, the legendary "Pan Misza" (Mr. Misza) from Korczak’s Home (Dom Sierot), where he worked as an educator from September 1, 1931, to August 5, 1942, the day of the deportation of Korczak´s orphanage to the death camp Treblinka. On that day, Pan Misza and 4 former pupils worked outside the ghetto and survived the deportation. Pan Misza escaped later from the Warsaw Ghetto.
Since 1944, my father has been the commander of the reconnaissance battalion in the Polish Army, tasked with selecting the route for infantry attacks and artillery support.
My father described this very special "attack," or rather, the crossing of the Vistula River, as very strange. At night, as he approached the western, left bank of the Vistula in his Willys (the first), he suddenly saw the motionless, snow-covered figures of German soldiers. His driver, Franek, fired a salvo at them with his automatic rifle, but the figures remained motionless. The German sentries simply froze, standing at their posts.
On January 17th, 1945, the level of resistance German troops would offer was unknown. Now, we know the German withdrawal was rapid and almost total. However, for my father and his troop,s every pile of rubble was a potential machine-gun nest, and mines were found at numerous locations.
My father's group, several Willys cars, drove from the left riverbank at Powiśle onto the Poniatowski Bridge (viaduct). Thereafter, they continued West towards Aleje Jerozolimskie. At the intersection of Aleje Jerozolimskie and Nowy Świat, they encountered the first living Germans, who fired on the advancing Polish soldiers. Apparently, there were also German tanks there, which, however, quickly drove west without being involved in any shooting. My father and the reconnaissance soldiers were actually most afraid of the mines.
We have to remember that the Germans blew up the bridges in Warsaw already on September 13, 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising, so on January 17, 1945, there were no permanent bridges in Warsaw. Their steel structures lay in the riverbed.
It is, intertwining with such a critical moment as the crossing of the Vistula on January 17th, 1945. The crossing on the frozen river in the dark was truly cinematic. Since 1945, 80 years have passed (marking the anniversary in 2025), which only underscores the importance of these family accounts.
I actually asked my father about the route of that "strange" attack. I knew that all the Warsaw bridges, including the Poniatowski Bridge itself, were destroyed in 1944. However, the land-based viaduct, Poniatowski Bridge extension over the Powiśle district, remained passable.
My father mentioned that it was a severe frost that night. Although it was very cold during the night and thereafter, it was an incredibly sunny day with blue skies. The ground was frozen solid, and rivers (including the Vistula) were covered in thick ice, allowing Soviet tanks and infantry to move quickly during the offensive.
My father’s account of the "frozen statues" and some German resistance at the intersection of Al. Jerozolimskie and Nowy Świat align perfectly with official reports from that day. Historians confirm the German retreat was chaotic. Many soldiers in cover units (often older reservists) froze at their posts due to a lack of equipment and the suddenness of the offensive.
Translations and Retyping:
Wojsko Polskie
1-szy Samodzielny Baon
Eksploatacji Dróg
1-szej Armii
O.O.O.
Z a ś w i a d c z e n i e .
Z-ca D-cy. Okaziciel niniejszego por. Wróblewski Michał U poważnia się zatrzymywać przechodzący transport po wojskowo-samochodowej drodze, spraw dzać dokumenty, nie zezwalać na dalszą jazdę, odbierać u kierowców zaświadczenia na prawo pro wadzenia samochodów, zatrzymać samochody i osoby nie posiadające prawa przejazdu po wojskowej drodze, lub naruszające ustanowiony porządek. Dowódcy wszyst kich wojennych i cywilnych autokolumn obowiązani są wypełniać dane zarządzenie przez Wróblewskiego i przy sposobności okazywać mu pomoc.
Dla zabezpieczenia normalnego ruchu transportu po wojskowej drodze
Zezwolono na przejazd i przewóz jadących z nim osób na wszystkich rodzajach transportu prze jeżdżającego na wojskowej drodze.
Niniejsze zaświadczenie jest ważne po 31.XI 1945
D-ca l-szego S.B.E.D.
/-/ Nikiforow kpt.
Sztabu:
/-/ Barzdo por. Boruc
1. Batalion Drogowo-Eksploatacyjny
Samodz. Polski.
Войско Польское
1-й Отдельный Батальон
Эксплоатаци Дорог
1-й Армии Польской.
Удостоверение.
Предявителю сего: ст. лейт. Врублевского Михаила, зам комбата по ком. представлено право Останавливать движущий транспорт по Военно-Автомобильной дороге, Проверять документы, запрещать дальнейшее движение, отбирать у водителей удостоверения на право управления автомашиной, задерживать автомашины и лиц неимеющих право проезда по Военной дороге или нарушающих установленый порядок.
Начальники всех Военные и гражданские Авто-колоны обязаны выполнять требования Врублевского Михаила и при надобности оказывать ему помощь и содействие для обеспечения нормального движения транспорта по дороге.
Представляется право проезда и провоза следующих с ним лиц на всех видах транспорта проходящего по военной дороге.
Команд. 1-го Отд. Б. Э. Д.
/--/ Никифоров /капитан/
Начальник Штаба
/--/ Батальнов /подпоручик/
Действительно по 31.XII 1945 г.
(Stamp: 1. Самод. Польски Баталион Дорог Эксплоатац.)
COL. MICHAL WROBLEWSKI was an inmate in the Warsaw Ghetto and worked with Janusz Korczak in the same Orphanage. He was also active in the Ghetto Underground. He managed to escape the Ghetto and lived on Aryan papers. He volunteered for the Soviet Army near Kiev and was later transferred to the Polish Army, where he became a Colonel. He now resides in Sweden.
Since 1944, my father has been the commander of the reconnaissance battalion in the Polish Army, tasked with selecting the route for infantry attacks and artillery support.
My father described this very special "attack," or rather, the crossing of the Vistula River, as very strange. At night, as he approached the western, left bank of the Vistula in his Willys (the first), he suddenly saw the motionless, snow-covered figures of German soldiers. His driver, Franek, fired a salvo at them with his automatic rifle, but the figures remained motionless. The German sentries simply froze, standing at their posts.
On January 17th, 1945, the level of resistance German troops would offer was unknown. Now, we know the German withdrawal was rapid and almost total. However, for my father and his troop,s every pile of rubble was a potential machine-gun nest, and mines were found at numerous locations.
My father's group, several Willys cars, drove from the left riverbank at Powiśle onto the Poniatowski Bridge (viaduct). Thereafter, they continued West towards Aleje Jerozolimskie. At the intersection of Aleje Jerozolimskie and Nowy Świat, they encountered the first living Germans, who fired on the advancing Polish soldiers. Apparently, there were also German tanks there, which, however, quickly drove west without being involved in any shooting. My father and the reconnaissance soldiers were actually most afraid of the mines.
We have to remember that the Germans blew up the bridges in Warsaw already on September 13, 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising, so on January 17, 1945, there were no permanent bridges in Warsaw. Their steel structures lay in the riverbed.
It is, intertwining with such a critical moment as the crossing of the Vistula on January 17th, 1945. The crossing on the frozen river in the dark was truly cinematic. Since 1945, 80 years have passed (marking the anniversary in 2025), which only underscores the importance of these family accounts.
I actually asked my father about the route of that "strange" attack. I knew that all the Warsaw bridges, including the Poniatowski Bridge itself, were destroyed in 1944. However, the land-based viaduct, Poniatowski Bridge extension over the Powiśle district, remained passable.
My father mentioned that it was a severe frost that night. Although it was very cold during the night and thereafter, it was an incredibly sunny day with blue skies. The ground was frozen solid, and rivers (including the Vistula) were covered in thick ice, allowing Soviet tanks and infantry to move quickly during the offensive.
My father’s account of the "frozen statues" and some German resistance at the intersection of Al. Jerozolimskie and Nowy Świat align perfectly with official reports from that day. Historians confirm the German retreat was chaotic. Many soldiers in cover units (often older reservists) froze at their posts due to a lack of equipment and the suddenness of the offensive.
In the attack on left-bank Warsaw, through the Vistula River, on January 17, 1945, approximately 40 soldiers of the 1st Polish Army were killed. The relatively low casualties (considering the total scale of this operation that started from the South and the North on January 12th) resulted from the fact that the main German forces abandoned the city just before the assault to avoid encirclement. Most of the losses were incurred as a result of operations from the South and the North.
Companies from my father's reconnaissance unit drove into the different location i Warszawa and were supposed to meet again at noon at Saxon Gardens close to Niecała street. That was also a meeting point for the units that were attacking Warsaw from the South and the North. My father and his driver were slowly driving in the Warszawa downtown. Driving was difficult as there were ruins and debris on the streets, and passages were very narrow. When driving, the 4-wheel Willys was tilted most of the time as the wheels on one side did not have enough space to drive on the street and were partially driving on the debris. After the German tanks left the area it was total silence. My father's thoughts were concentrated on the orphanage Dom Sierot and Korczak.
Companies from my father's reconnaissance unit drove into the different location i Warszawa and were supposed to meet again at noon at Saxon Gardens close to Niecała street. That was also a meeting point for the units that were attacking Warsaw from the South and the North. My father and his driver were slowly driving in the Warszawa downtown. Driving was difficult as there were ruins and debris on the streets, and passages were very narrow. When driving, the 4-wheel Willys was tilted most of the time as the wheels on one side did not have enough space to drive on the street and were partially driving on the debris. After the German tanks left the area it was total silence. My father's thoughts were concentrated on the orphanage Dom Sierot and Korczak.
The rest of the story is in the book by Elisabeth Gifford, The Good Doctor of Warsaw. Although the book is presented as fiction, it is a true story.
'Do you think we have time to go back past Krochmalna? If you don't want to risk it....'
Franek nodded his assent, and the jeep started along what had once been Leszno Street, now a ghostly track through a desert.
Mounds of broken masonry blocked Krochmalna Street. Misha got out of the jeep, scrambling over rubble towards where he had once lived and worked as a teacher. By some miracle, several buildings in Krochmalna Street were still standing. And there it was. The children's home was still there. The dormitory windows had been blown out, the roof was gone, the front pitted with shrapnel, but it was still there. His heart contracted in the silence. No voices of children shouting and laughing as they played in the yard in front of the house.
There was the noise of someone following him over the rubble. Franek appeared beside him, looking up at the building's remains.
- 'I heard a rumour that Doctor Korczak and the children escaped. That they're alive in the East somewhere.'
- 'Yes,' said Misha. 'I heard that rumour.'
He looked up at the empty window frames. With a pain in his chest, he thought back to the last time he had seen the doctor and the children. He had been out of the ghetto all day as part of a work detail for the Germans, clearing broken glass in the Praga barracks, the bored guard holding his rifle loosely as he watched over them.
When he got back to the orphanage late that afternoon, the children were gone. Half-drunk cups of milk and bread lay cold on the tables, chairs pushed back and tipped over. Looters had already been through the building, splitting open pillows and spilling the contents of the children's keepsake cupboards across the small ballroom of the businessman's club that, for the past year and a half, had served as a crowded dormitory, schoolroom, and dining room for two hundred children.
************************
Translations and Retyping:
Wojsko Polskie
1-szy Samodzielny Baon
Eksploatacji Dróg
1-szej Armii
O.O.O.
Z a ś w i a d c z e n i e .
Z-ca D-cy. Okaziciel niniejszego por. Wróblewski Michał U poważnia się zatrzymywać przechodzący transport po wojskowo-samochodowej drodze, spraw dzać dokumenty, nie zezwalać na dalszą jazdę, odbierać u kierowców zaświadczenia na prawo pro wadzenia samochodów, zatrzymać samochody i osoby nie posiadające prawa przejazdu po wojskowej drodze, lub naruszające ustanowiony porządek. Dowódcy wszyst kich wojennych i cywilnych autokolumn obowiązani są wypełniać dane zarządzenie przez Wróblewskiego i przy sposobności okazywać mu pomoc.
Dla zabezpieczenia normalnego ruchu transportu po wojskowej drodze
Zezwolono na przejazd i przewóz jadących z nim osób na wszystkich rodzajach transportu prze jeżdżającego na wojskowej drodze.
Niniejsze zaświadczenie jest ważne po 31.XI 1945
D-ca l-szego S.B.E.D.
/-/ Nikiforow kpt.
Sztabu:
/-/ Barzdo por. Boruc
1. Batalion Drogowo-Eksploatacyjny
Samodz. Polski.
Войско Польское
1-й Отдельный Батальон
Эксплоатаци Дорог
1-й Армии Польской.
Удостоверение.
Предявителю сего: ст. лейт. Врублевского Михаила, зам комбата по ком. представлено право Останавливать движущий транспорт по Военно-Автомобильной дороге, Проверять документы, запрещать дальнейшее движение, отбирать у водителей удостоверения на право управления автомашиной, задерживать автомашины и лиц неимеющих право проезда по Военной дороге или нарушающих установленый порядок.
Начальники всех Военные и гражданские Авто-колоны обязаны выполнять требования Врублевского Михаила и при надобности оказывать ему помощь и содействие для обеспечения нормального движения транспорта по дороге.
Представляется право проезда и провоза следующих с ним лиц на всех видах транспорта проходящего по военной дороге.
Команд. 1-го Отд. Б. Э. Д.
/--/ Никифоров /капитан/
Начальник Штаба
/--/ Батальнов /подпоручик/
Действительно по 31.XII 1945 г.
(Stamp: 1. Самод. Польски Баталион Дорог Эксплоатац.)
COL. MICHAL WROBLEWSKI was an inmate in the Warsaw Ghetto and worked with Janusz Korczak in the same Orphanage. He was also active in the Ghetto Underground. He managed to escape the Ghetto and lived on Aryan papers. He volunteered for the Soviet Army near Kiev and was later transferred to the Polish Army, where he became a Colonel. He now resides in Sweden.
The liberation of Warsaw on January 17, 1945, was a rapid pincer movement executed during the broader Vistula–Oder Offensive. After months of stalemate following the failed 1944 Warsaw Uprising, Soviet and Polish forces bypassed and encircled the city from two primary directions: from the North, the Soviet 47th Army (General F.I. Perhorovich) crossed the Vistula and advanced towards Warsaw from the north to cut off German lines of retreat and at the same time, from the South/Southwest, the Soviet 61st Army (General P.A. Belov) and the 1st Polish Army (General Stanisław Popławski) struck from the Magnuszew bridgehead. They succeeded in encircling the city from the south and southwest, causing almost a total encirclement of the German army in the Warsaw area. The 2nd Guards Tank Army raced to seize Sochaczew (west of Warsaw), effectively blocking the German 9th Army's retreat routes toward Germany.
The 1st Polish Army, actually my father's reconnaissance companies, was the first to cross the Vistula River and enter the city on the morning (actually night) of January 17. They encountered very little organized resistance, as the German garrison had largely abandoned the city to avoid being trapped in the "cauldron" that was created by the northern and southern advances of the Soviet and Polish armies.
More than 40 thousands soldiers died during the two-week Vistula-Oder Offensive (43,476 killed or missing, and 150,715 were wounded and sick). Nowadays in Poland, propaganda has intensified regarding the January 17, 1945, liberation of Warsaw. In Poland, one only uses casualty counts for the January 17, 1945, entry into Warsaw from the West, soldiers passing the Vistula River on the ice.
So, instead of 43,000 killed or missing across the entire theater of operation in Poland, one mentions only 40 soldiers who died on January 17, 1945. The discrepancy of the casualty count is enormous, but this is how the propaganda works.
During the Vistula-Oder Offensive in January 1945, the Soviet Red Army advanced rapidly across Poland and reached the Oder River, bringing them to within approximately 60-70 kilometers (51 km from the Berlin suburbs) of Berlin. The Vistula-Oder Offensive covered a distance of around 480-500 kilometers (300-310 miles) in just over two weeks, shattering German defenses. The offensive was voluntarily halted by the Soviets around January 31, 1945, despite the German capital being relatively undefended at that specific moment. The final Battle of Berlin, the culminating offensive of World War II on the Eastern Front, began on April 16, 1945, by launching from the bridgeheads established along the Oder and Neisse Rivers.
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During the Vistula-Oder Offensive in January 1945, the Soviet Red Army advanced rapidly across Poland and reached the Oder River, bringing them to within approximately 60-70 kilometers (51 km from the Berlin suburbs) of Berlin. The Vistula-Oder Offensive covered a distance of around 480-500 kilometers (300-310 miles) in just over two weeks. |
On September 10th, the 1st Polish Infantry Division was assigned to the 76th and 175th Soviet Infantry Divisions and broke through the German defensive lines at Miedzylesie and pushed on to the edge of the road running from Czaplowizna-Wawer, now suburbs of Warsaw.
