FALL OF WARSAW

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25660, 7 October 1944, Page 7

FALL OF WARSAW

GENERAL BOR CARTURED

NO NEW APPOINTMENT (Rec. 7 p.m.) RUGBY, Oct. 5. . General Komorowski (Bor),* com-mander-in-chief of the Polish 'Home Army, has been taken prisoner by the Germans, states a communique issued by Polish headquarters in London. The communique adds: “Soldiers of the Polish Home Army who were forced .to lay down their arms in Warsaw will be treated in accordance with the rules of the Geneva Convention. The Polish President says General Komorowski has fulfilled to the very end his soldierly duty in most difficult conditions with superhuman moral strength. I thank him in the name of the republic. I have a firm belief that the day is not far distant when he will regain his 1 liberty and take, his place at your head at the post entrusted to him.” ■, ’ • ■'

/ The statement is understood to mean that no new appointment to the post of commander-in-chief will be .made, and the President, with the advice of Cabinet and the chief of. the Polish staff, will carry out the duties of com-mander-in-chief. Berlin radio stated that' General Bor and also his whole staff and several Polish generals were taken prisoner after the capitulation of Warsaw. The German-controlled. Scandinavian Telegram Bureau states that over 50,000 people were killed in the battle of Warsaw, their bodies lying in the ruins of the city, which is so badly damaged that hardly a building can be occupied. The remainder of the inhabitants. totalling about 250,000. are being evacuated because food is no longer obtainable. The Soviet newspaper Izvestia, commenting on the capitulation of Warsaw, says: “M. Raczkiewicz and his" reactionary clique, who are shedding crocodile tears, are responsible for this tragedy. Warsaw has lost many of her sons and daughters. Such is the only result of the criminal adventure launched by a clique of Sosnkowskis, Bore, and'others of the same kidney.” In a statement in the House of Commons on the fall of Warsaw, Mr Churchill paid a tribute to the heroic stand of the Polish Home Army and civilian population of Warsaw. “The fall of Warsaw at a time when the Allied armies are everywhere victori- ; ous and when the final defeat of Germany is in sight must come as a very bitter blow to all Poles,” he said..- “At such a moment I wish to express our respect for all those Poles who fell and suffered at Warsaw, and our sympathy with the Polish nation in this very grievous loss. Our confidence that the days of their tribulation arerapidly drawing to an end is unshaken. 1 When the final Allied victory is achieved the epic of Warsaw will not be forgotten. It will remain a deathless memory for Poland , and for the friends of freedom all over the world.”