"Historic Sites are Repaired" a Warsaw Travel Page by BruceDunning

There are a number of interesting sites to see, but most are concentrated in the old town area by the royal castle.

Nazi takeover in 1939 destroyed a lot of the city. Due to an uprising by Poles in 1943, a good deal of the rest was town, and more so in old town area was blown up to ground level. Poles lost 50,000 guerrilla fighters and 250,000 citizen people in 63 days. They fought coming out of the sewers to confront the Germans.
Rebuilding in 1945 started, but then a hurricane stopped the progress and set them back. Then Communists did nothing. After they left, Poles from around the world donated money and time to rebuild.
By the end of the war nearly 2/3 of the city population were dead. That includes what was 350,000 Jews at the beginning, that increased to 1 million during the war. At the end were only 60,000 remaining.

There are a lot of hidden gems in the square and surrounding areas, some even beyond Barbarican walls. It was the second line of defense for the city.

The tour of the castle was fabulous. The especially good thing is that you can take pictures, with no limits. This is a totally rebuilt castle, taken back to its original condition. It is 700 feet long and a beautiful reddish color on the outside.