Obserwując płonące miasto. O ludności cywilnej i (nie)uczestniczeniu w powstaniu warszawskim w Notatkach z okresu Powstania Warszawskiego Zofii Charytańskiej

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to expose the civilian experience of the Warsaw Uprising, the event traditionally connected with the heroic military myth of the Polish nation. The main source is a non-published diary of Zofia Charytańska, ordinary citizen of Warsaw, who records the everyday life in the German- and later Russian-occupied city areas. Her diaries show the civilian perspective on the 1944 military operation, indicating at the same time the anxiety and guilt of an uninvolved observer. This individual experience is submerged in the broader historical and ideological context. It further extends the narrative about Praga, the city district east of the Vistula river, which did not participate in the Uprising and was “liberated” by the Soviet Army.