THE HISTORY OF WARSAW
When World War II broke out in 1939 the capital heroically defended itself until the 27th of September, 1939. During the five years of German occupation that followed the city's population lived in terror. In the course of the September Campaign, Warsaw was severely bombed, and in the course of the Siege of Warsaw approximately 10 to 15% of its buildings were destroyed. All higher education institutions were immediately closed and Warsaw's entire Jewish population - several hundred thousand, some 30% of the city - herded into the Warsaw Ghetto. When the order came to liquidate the Ghetto as part of Hitler's "final solution", Jewish fighters launched the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Despite being heavily outgunned and outnumbered, the Ghetto held out for almost a month. When the fighting ended, the survivors were massacred. In Autumn 1942 Germans built the Warsaw Concentration Camp, where until August 1944 probably 200,000 Poles were killed in the gas chambers. On the 1st of August, 1944 the Warsaw Uprising broke out. From the beginning the fighters of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) were doomed, because of lack of help from the outside. After 63 days of heroic resistance the Warsaw uprising was brutally suppressed. This was the largest act of rebellion in Nazi occupied Europe and contributed to a quicker end of the war. However the human costs were incredible. Over 200,000 Poles, soldiers and civilians alike perished. After the suppression of the uprising all inhabitants were expelled from the city and the Nazis systematically burned and blew up the remaining buildings of the capital. In August, 1944 Warsaw was no more. The Aftermath of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. The Old Town lays in ruins. The statue of King Zygmunt after the column with his statue was blown up following the Warsaw Uprising. When on 17 January 1945 the Soviets crossed Vistula and entered the left-bank Warsaw, 85% of the city had been destroyed, including the historic Old Town and the Royal Castle. The surviving Home Army fighters were rounded up by the NKVD (People's Commisariat for Internal Affairs) and either murdered or deported to Siberia. The city was once considered a shining metropolis, but due to total destruction, it has lost its baroque tinge. Although many of the destroyed significant historical buildings were restored, little remains of the resplendence of Warsaw baroque. Warsaw was finally liberated on the 17th of January, 1945, altogether 800,000 of its inhabitants had perished during the war. The survivors came back to their city almost immediately and started to rebuild it. Warsaw again became the capital of Poland. But once more its fate was really determined by Moscow, a fact symbolized by the Palace of Culture (originally named in honor of Joseph Stalin) towering over the city center since 1955. In 1981 the communist rulers had to rely on the army to defend their power against the Solidarity movement of Lech Walesa, announcing martial law on 13th of December. With the crumbling economy and the transformations going on in the Soviet Union, the communists finally had to allow free elections in 1989. These ended in a complete defeat for the Communist Party. The new government right away began extensive democratic and economic reforms, and for Warsaw a great economic boom began. Today, with 1.6 million inhabitants, Warsaw is trying to catch up with the western capitals. Despite many problems, the city is growing. The city has also opened up to tourists whom it hopes to attract in large numbers. In 1995 the Warsaw Metro finally opened, and with the entry of Poland into the European Union in 2004, Warsaw is currently experiencing the biggest economic boom of its history.

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