Storming the PAST Building

The PAST building was one of the most important buildings in Warsaw for the German Nazi occupiers.

The telephone exchange housed inside the building was a communications nerve centre for the Nazi war effort on the Eastern Front, which by late 1944 was moving ever closer to Poland’s capital.

The storming of the PAST was one of the most spectacular events during the 63 days of the Warsaw Uprising: almost 40 Germans were killed, while 120 were taken prisoner. On the Polish side, only around a dozen or so combatants died.

Among the seized loot was a large ammunitions stash, which provided a strong morale booster following the successful siege. The strategic building and its surroundings remained in Polish hands until the end of the Uprising.