Named after the Polish navy’s celebrated destroyer, the station’s name Radiostacja Błyskawica was chosen to reflect the country’s indefatigable fighting spirit and its undying strength.
NAC
Regarded as the best-known and most important of all the insurgent radio stations, today marks the 79th anniversary of the first broadcast made by Radiostacja Błyskawica.
Crackling into life at 9.45, the opening words were spoken by Zbigniew Świętochowski.
“Hello, this is Blyskawica,” he announced. “The Home Army broadcasting station in Warsaw is on 32.8 and 52.1 m.”
After introducing the station’s frequency, Świętochowski continued with a general rallying call to Poles around the world. “The spirit of Warsaw is wonderful. The women of Warsaw are also wonderful – they are everywhere; on the frontlines with the soldiers or as nurses.
Crackling into life at 9.45, the opening words were spoken by Zbigniew Świętochowski. “Hello, this is Blyskawica,” he announced. “The Home Army broadcasting station in Warsaw is on 32.8 and 52.1 m.”NAC
“Even children are animated by this wonderful spirit of bravery. We salute all freedom-loving people of the world! [This includes] Polish soldiers fighting in Italy and France, and Polish pilots and sailors.”
Over the course of the 63-day Warsaw Uprising, other radio stations operated, but none would attain the fame or widespread reach of Błyskawica.
Named after the Polish navy’s celebrated destroyer, the title was chosen to reflect the country’s indefatigable fighting spirit and its undying strength.
Fundamentally, the station’s purpose was straight-forward: to raise morale, deliver frontline developments to both citizens and insurgents, and, possibly most saliently of all, to raise awareness of the Uprising abroad.
Over the course of the 63-day Warsaw Uprising, other radio stations operated, but none would attain the fame or widespread reach of Błyskawica. Pictured: Soldiers of the Kampinos Group listen to Błyskawica’s broadcast.Public domain
To meet this end, of the daily broadcasts, two were delivered in English-language at 10.15 a.m. and 10.30 p.m. Read by John Ward, a Birmingham-born RAF airman who had escaped German captivity to join up with the Home Army, his words were heard as far afield as London and, even, the west coast of America.
It was thanks to these English broadcasts that a sceptical Whitehall began to understand the credibility and scale of the Warsaw Uprising.
Polish programmes, of course, made up the bulk of the schedule and were aired four times daily. Specifically designed to undermine morale, there was even a newscast delivered once-a-day in German.
Alongside situation reports, the station’s menu was surprisingly diverse under the circumstances – poems were read and music was played. In particular, patriotic songs and inspiring compositions by Chopin were a specialty with the musical programme overseen by the popular conductor Olgierd Straszyński.
The station’s purpose was to raise morale, deliver frontline developments to both citizens and insurgents, and, possibly most saliently of all, to raise awareness of the Uprising abroad.Public domain
The professionalism of Błyskawica could not be faulted. Established in the months leading up to the Uprising by the Home Army’s propaganda division, its components were built in 1943 in Częstochowa by a pair of amateur radio enthusiasts: Antoni Zębik and Bolesław Drożdż.
Thereafter, the different parts were smuggled into Warsaw and stored in different areas, among them a car workshop on Huculska street and an apartment on Mazowiecka 10.
When the insurgency broke out, instructions arrived to assemble all the necessary parts, however, one horse-drawn carriage failed to make its destination.
Although accounts differ as to why, most historical sources agree that for some reason or other part of the radio station had been rendered unusable after being damaged by rainwater.
Of the daily broadcasts, two were delivered in English-language at 10.15 a.m. and 10.30 p.m. Read by John Ward, a Birmingham-born RAF airman who had escaped German captivity to join up with the Home Army, his words were heard as far afield as London and, even, the west coast of America.ARC
It took a week to find replacements, with some of these reportedly coming from seized German equipment. Finally, having erected an antenna the day before, the station made its debut on August 8th.
Initially broadcasting from the PKO building on Jasna 9, on August 25th the station moved to the home of the Adria restaurant on nearby Moniuszki 10.
Re-adapted as a canteen for Polish fighters during the Uprising, Błyskawica began broadcasting from the upper floors.
This, though, was in the eye of the storm and a 2-ton shell fired from a Karl Great mortar crashed through the ceiling right the way through the building – failing to detonate, it was only discovered decades later buried in the basement during routine renovation work.
Established in the months leading up to the Uprising by the Home Army’s propaganda division, its components were built in 1943 in Częstochowa by a pair of amateur radio enthusiasts: Antoni Zębik and Bolesław Drożdż.Przemek Wierzchowski/PAP
This close scrape was enough to see the radio station migrate again, this time the seat of the former embassy of the USSR on Poznańska 15.
Now functioning as the H15 boutique hotel, it’s almost impossible to imagine how this enclave of luxury once played such an integral role in Warsaw’s war.
But this was not the final move. With the insurgency flailing, Błyskawica moved once more, this time to the public library on Koszykowa 26. It would be here that its final solemn broadcast would be made.
Delivered on October 4th and 7.15 p.m., two days after the capitulation had been signed, the broadcast finished with stirring words from the station’s head, Jan Georgicy.
The station’s final solemn broadcast was delivered on October 4th, two days after the capitulation had been signed, The broadcast finished with stirring words from the station’s head, Jan Georgicy. He said: “We did not spare our blood, but the lack of aid made this fight completely hopeless.”Tomasz Gzell/PAP
“We did not spare our blood, but the lack of aid made this fight completely hopeless,” he told listeners. “So something is happening for which responsibility falls on those factors that prevented help. This capitulation will undoubtedly become a searing reproach for the world.”
The station’s anthem, Warszawianka 1831, was then played before Georgicy personally destroyed the apparatus, burying many parts in a barricade close by.
Błyskawica was never forgotten. Providing hope and comfort during the darkest of times, it was remembered with fondness by all that lived through the time. When, in 2004, the Rising Museum opened, an identical replica was built incorporating the station’s original crystal.
Taking six-months to build, those involved in its reconstruction included Antoni Zębik – then in his 90s – one of the original engineers that had made it all happen in the first place.