I want to take a moment to share with you all a passion of mine; the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. I'm so intrigued by the topic that it became the focus of my Master's thesis. Understandably, this became a focus of my collection (among others). The first set is to Major Max R eck. He was one of the main third-tier leaders in the suppression of the uprising.

Soldbuch photo of the Major. He had one interesting career. He first enlisted in the Heer in 1929. He rose through the ranks to Oberfeldwebel and transitioned to Leutnant just before stepping off to invade Belgium and then Norway with the 236 IR in May 1940. It was in this series of operations he earned the EK2, IAB/S, and BWB. After a brief stay in Norway, he transferred to the 58 IR as a Hauptmann just in time to take part in Kursk. While here, he was earned the EK1, Ehrenblattspange, and SWB. In Kursk, he lost one of his close friends and Adjutant to a shot in the head (I have his complete document group as well). He was severely wounded as well and send back to recover. After his release from the hospital, he was sent to teach at the Infantry Officer School in Posen, Poland. While at this school, he was promoted to Major, despite his issues with adjusting to garrison life and its impacts on his students (disparaging words about the curriculum in front of the students and etc).

 

He was at the school when the 1944 uprising started. He was ordered to take his cadets and transit to Warsaw to assist in suppressing the uprising, picking up random units and military personnel on the way. He formed Kampfgruppe R eck, who reported directly to SS General Reinefarth. After 61 days of battle, he finished the battle, witnessing the surrender of the Home Army. So still was the Polish resistance, many Heer formations rendered honors to the surrendering troops. He finished the battle with the German Cross in Gold, CCiS, and GWB.

 

After recovering from his wounds, he was sent to the west to take part in the defensive battles against the British and Canadians in Northern Germany. He carried the fight until he and his few remaining men surrendered on the 18 Apr 1945. I'm still looking for more information on his transition to a British POW and the events leading up to his 1962 testimony in the warcrimes trials for Reinefarth and von dem Bach. I have about 2.5K pages of German, American, and Polish archives on him and his battles. I want to get more from the British archives, but they've been the most difficult to get results from.

A WW1 veteran and medic that served a vast majority of the war in Warsaw. He was present for both uprisings in Warsaw. The only award I can see in his docs was the HK w/Swords. Due to his long service and senior NCO rank, he was not incompetent, but his lack of awards indicate that he was either not favored at all by his command or maybe even a conscientious objector. Especially when his WW1 specialty was infantry based. All theory for interesting conversation.

 

His soldbuch photo. He spent almost the entire war in Warsaw, shifting to Berlin after the fall of Warsaw.

Super rare original German photo of Nebeltruppen under R eck.

Member of the Landesshutzen 997. This unit was subordinated under von dem Bach-Zewaski.

Next up is a souvenier item that was available to Germans during the occupation of Warsaw.

I have more items to post in the near future. German death notices and some super rare Polish Home Army items.

Very nice and focused groups Paul. Here is a little something from some friends of mine, I thought you might appreciate it. Scott

 

And here being performed live to over 500,000 screaming Poles! Scott

 

I'll check them out. Thank you Scott.

Medal to a female liaison officer with the Home Army, present in Warsaw during the 1944 uprising.

An original Home Army armband. Not directly attributable to the uprising, but still a super rare and original Home Army armband. This very exact type was used during the battle.

Great pieces. I can only imagine how many hours of research must have gone into this.

PaulR Thank You for posting such a fantastic piece of History.That uprising just showed the World that your enemy might beat you but he can not Conquer you.Great Post

Great topic and once again a great presentation!

Thank you for posting these.

Mike

Great pieces. I can only imagine how many hours of research must have gone into this.

 

The event was my Master's thesis (Allied betrayal of the Home Army during the 44 Uprising). So, tons. LOL. I have about 2k pages of archival documents on the Major and the uprising. I have a separate page on this forum on another battle he played a big role in- Kursk.

 

PaulR Thank You for posting such a fantastic piece of History.That uprising just showed the World that your enemy might beat you but he can not Conquer you.Great Post

 

Thank you Scott. Sadly, this event showed the world that if a smaller ally did not have as much to contribute to the war, it was OK to allow hang it out to dry, not only to the Germans but also the longtime enemy- the Soviet Union.

 

Great topic and once again a great presentation!

Thank you for posting these.

Mike

 

Thank you Sir. I hope to keep adding to these threads.

My Home Army artifacts arrived on Friday. There will be more to follow soon. The award document is to Maria "Magdalena" served in 100th Staff Company (under Lt. Jan "Bohun" Martinkin) of the Commander of Downtown District of the Uprising Military Protection Service (WSOP)

 

 

Original armband with helmet.

Here are but a few of the 22k German KIAs.

A few more.

I want to share some updates. This man was an officer candidate where Major Reck was teaching at the time of the uprising. He was deployed to participate in the fighting. He was presented with the EK2 and Wound Badge in Silver for his contribution.

Pertinant images of the soldbuch demonstrating Warsaw Uprising related entries.

A really interesting and focused collection. Thanks for sharing your research. I find these individual stories fascinating.

Very impressive Paul!!! That grouping is incredible!