Melis AlemdarTowards the end of World War II, Polish resistance fighters tried to expel the Nazis from Warsaw, launching an uprising against the German army as the Soviet forces approached.
The Russians had recommended that the Warsaw Home Army rebel against the Germans, yet when they did, the Nazis sent reinforcements and overpowered the Polish resistance. The Soviet army did not intervene, nor did it allow Allied forces to help. By the time the Soviets entered the city, the devastation was complete.
The Warsaw Uprising took place between August 1944 and October 1944 at the cost the lives of between 150,000 to 180,000 Polish citizens. The city had been totalled before the uprising, with Germans razing everything in sight. Warsaw became the capital of Poland in February 1945, and rebuilding efforts got underway soon after.
