Warsaw Uprising Monument

The Warsaw Uprising began on August 1st, 1944 and lasted about 63 days.  Basically the Polish decided to die honorably rather than wait to simply be exterminated.  That was the most humbling realization for me, that they were not fighting to win, but simply to die with pride.  Even in the darkest moments, the human torch can burn so brightly.
It was a futile cause, but they gave Hitler a helluva time.  The Polish were expecting the Russians, who were parked just across the Vistula river to help out, but help never came.  Hitler was so enraged by this uprising he gave the order to wipe Warsaw off of the map.  Off of all maps.  And that is exactly what the Nazi forces did.  They simply blasted apart every single building in Warsaw, demolished it, turned it back to stone.  The demolition is on scale with the Sack of Carthage from 149-146 B.C. and the Siege of Jerusalem in 1099.
The scale on which the resilient Polish have rebuilt their city is second to none.

http://youtu.be/zqt8f7Q8tzM

http://youtu.be/eHrbQZyHGyg