Destruction of Warsaw

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After the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, Nazi Germany razed Warsaw as punishment. The destruction had long been planned as part of the Nazi effort to Germanize Central Europe, though by 1944 the war was already lost and the destruction served no military purpose. It was carried out mainly as revenge.

By January 1945, about 85–90% of the city’s buildings were destroyed. The Germans burned, blew up, or demolished most of Warsaw’s homes, shops, and landmarks, including many museums, theaters, churches, parks and historic buildings.

Many cultural treasures were lost. Large parts of libraries and archives were burned. The Załuski Library, Warsaw’s oldest public library, was destroyed in 1944, and the private Krasiński, Przeździecki and Zamoyski libraries were ruined as the uprising ended. The Central Military Library and vast private collections were also destroyed.

During the uprising and the German crackdown, hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave. About 550,000 residents of Warsaw and around 100,000 from the outskirts were deported to Dulag transit camps near Pruszków. Roughly 650,000 people passed through those camps; about 55,000 were sent to concentration camps, including 13,000 to Auschwitz.

After the war, Warsaw was rebuilt mainly between the 1950s and 1970s. The Old Town was rebuilt to look like it did before, while the New Town was only partly restored.