 The Warsaw Uprising , which began on August 1 , 1944 , was an attempt by the Polish Home Army ( Armia Krajowa , AK ) to liberate the capital of Poland from Nazi occupation in advance of approaching Soviet forces . The insurrectionists hoped for Soviet and Allied support , but in early August Joseph Stalin halted the Red Army on the right bank of the Vistula and denied British and American planes , which carried aid to the uprising , landing rights in Soviet controlled territory . Despite the fact that in September the Soviets captured the Praga suburb and allowed a few limited landings by Allied planes , the insurrection became more and more isolated and pushed into an ever shrinking area within the city . By early September , without Soviet aid , the uprising was doomed . While capitulation talks were already in progress , the Germans took the suburb of Żoliborz on September 30 . The final surrender agreement was concluded on October 2 , by the commander of the Home Army in Warsaw , Tadeusz Bór @-@ Komorowski , and the German general in charge of suppressing the uprising , Erich von dem Bach . 
