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Warsaw


Baska

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The Warsaw Uprising :

was a struggle by the Polish resistance organization,

the Home Army (Armia Krajowa), to liberate Warsaw from Nazi German occupation during World War II, before the arrival of the Soviet Army. The Uprising began on 1 August 1944, as part of a nationwide rebellion, Operation Tempest. The rebellion was intended to last for only a few days until the communists reached the city. The Soviet advance stopped short, however, while Polish resistance against the German forces continued for 63 days until the Polish surrendered.

The Uprising began as the Soviet Army approached Warsaw. The main Polish objectives were to drive the German occupiers from the city and help with the larger fight against Germany and the Axis powers. Secondary political objectives were to liberate Warsaw before the arrival of the Soviet Army, to underscore Polish sovereignty and to undo the division of Central Europe into spheres of influence by the Allied powers.

The insurgents aimed to reinstate Polish authorities before the Soviet Polish Committee of National Liberation could assume control.

Initially, the Poles seized substantial areas of the city, but the Soviets did not advance beyond the city's borders until mid-September. Inside the city, bitter fighting between the Germans and Poles continued. By 16 September, Soviet forces had reached a point a few hundred meters from the Polish positions, across the Vistula River, but they made no further headway during the Uprising, leading to allegations that the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin had wanted the insurrection to fail so that the Soviet occupation of Poland would be uncontested.

Although the exact number of casualties remains unknown, it is estimated that about 16,000 members of the Polish resistance were killed and about 6,000 badly wounded. In addition, between 150,000 and 200,000 civilians died, mostly from mass murders conducted by troops fighting on the German side. German casualties totaled over 2,000 soldiers killed, 7,000 missing, and 9,000 wounded. During the urban combat approximately 25% of Warsaw's buildings were destroyed. Following the surrender of Polish forces, German troops systematically leveled 35% of the city block by block. Together with earlier damage suffered in the invasion of Poland (1939) and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943), over 85% of the city was destroyed by January 1945, when the Soviets entered the city.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMbjZJiK39I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxb5H77wYt0

 

By January 1945 85% of the buildings were destroyed: 25% as a result of the Uprising, 35% as a result of systematic German actions after the uprising, and the rest as a result of the earlier Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and the September 1939 campaign.[5] Material losses are estimated at 10,455 buildings, 923 historical buildings (94%), 25 churches, 14 libraries including the National Library, 81 primary schools, 64 high schools, University of Warsaw and Warsaw University of Technology, and most of the historical monuments.[5] Almost a million inhabitants lost all of their possessions.[5] The exact amount of losses of private and public property as well as pieces of art, monuments of science and culture is unknown but considered enormous. Studies done in the late 1940s estimated total damage at about $30 billion US dollars.[139] In 2004, President of Warsaw Lech Kaczyński, later President of Poland, established a historical commission to estimate material losses that were inflicted upon the city by German authorities. The commission estimated the losses as at least US$31.5 billion at 2004 values.[140] Those estimates were later raised to US$45 billion 2004 US dollars and in 2005, to $54.6 billion

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yes yes yes, we were there a few years ago. ^^ hee hee and the weAsel was there too 1 time. but hmmm its a ugly huge city for me. i like towns like wroclav or krakow. awesome cities :)

 

They r "huge " as well .... and u said that cuz U didnt saw the whole warsaw "the nice part"...

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