Central Warsaw at 5 pm on 1 August, 2014. Varsovians observe 70 seconds silence in tribute to the 1944 Warsaw Rising. Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymanski
In central Warsaw, traffic came to a complete standstill as people paid their respects.
As has been traditional since the fall of communism in 1989, sirens whined in cities and towns across Poland.
About 200,000 Poles – mostly civilians - died in the 63-day insurgency, as poorly equipped guerilla soldiers struggled to wrest the capital back from the Nazi occupiers.
The day's official commemorations culminated in Warsaw's Powazki Military Cemetery, where President Bronislaw Komorowski, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Mayor of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz joined hundreds of veterans at the 5 pm tribute, marking the hour that fighting began 70 years ago.
Following custom, wreaths were laid by the three dignitaries at the Gloria Victis Monument (Glory to the Vanquished), which commemorates those who fell in the rising.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of opposition party Law and Justice also attended the ceremony.
President Bronislaw Komorowski lays a wreath at the Gloria Victis Monument at Warsaw's Powazki Cemetery, Friday 1 August. Photo: PAP/Rafal Guz
Less whistles than usual
In spite of appeals by veterans for calm, once again this year some members of the public expressed their disapproval for the president, the prime minister and the mayor of Warsaw by whistling, both when the authorities arrived at and left the monument.
“Thieves,” shouted some spectators.
However, the whistlers stopped when other attendees turned and called on them to keep quiet. (nh)
Onlookers during the ceremony at the Powazki Military Cemetery in Warsaw. Photo: PAP/Tomasz Gzell
Follow these links for more of our 70th anniversary coverage:
Interview with Alexandra Richie, author of a new book on the rising
Children of the Rising
Eyewitness accounts of the outbreak of the insurgency
Survey 2014: Poles say rising was 'necessary'
10,000 attend premiere of Warsaw 44 movie
US Senate honours insurgents