Germans Massacre Poles, Demolish Warsaw

On November 20, 1943, general Tadeusz “Bór” Komorowski, commander of the Home Army, ordered Operation Tempest. This operation was planned as a series of local military uprisings against the Germans, preceding the liberation of Poland by the Red Army View This Term in the Glossary as it advanced west. The idea of an armed action came originally from the Polish government-in-exile in London, the internationally recognized government of Poland. It did not include cooperation with the Soviets due to broken diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union after the Katyn massacre of Polish military officers had been revealed. Komorowski’s plan went beyond the government’s instruction, however. He ordered full disclosure of the AK soldiers to the Red Army, which had entered the territory of Poland in January 1944, and a partnership in combat against the German enemy.