by Adam Hanzelewicz

(ANSA) - WARSAW - On August 1, 1944, at 17, today named ''W'' after the first letter of the word 'wybuch' (outbreak), the Poles started to fight openly against the Nazis to re-conquer their capital city, Warsaw, starting the uprising which is considered as the most heroic and dramatic chapter recorded in modern history: the sacrifice of nearly 10,000 soldiers of the Armia Krajowa, out of the 50,000 deployed, and of about 200,000 civilians.

Moreover, a city razed to the ground (84%), which is now the symbol of the struggle against totalitarianism: on the one hand against Nazi totalitarianism, directly targeted by the uprising, on the other hand against communism, already active in the territories occupied and sovietised by Stalin's army, which was the political target of the 'Burza' (storm) operation.

In the end, it seems that none of these objectives has been achieved, but even though the decision to start the uprising remains the subject of debate and controversy among historians, there is a common sentiment among population that this burst in national pride and that martyrdom has nevertheless impacted indelibly on the minds of later generations, who have fought against the communist regime, thus making a decisive contribution to USSR's disintegration.

At least 3,400 veterans, from all over of the world, will invade Warsaw on the occasion of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the uprising: among many initiatives, there are exhibitions, concerts, commemorative masses. In Berlin, in the building which was the seat of the SS and Gestapo headquarters, Poland's president, Bronislaw Komorowski, and Germany's president, Joachim Gauck, inaugurated the exhibition entitled ''Warsaw Uprising 1944'', which displays the Polish capital from 1918 onwards, emphasizing in particular the 63 days of fighting, and ends with the rebirth and rebuilding of the city after the war. The event was organized by Berlin's Topography of Terror Foundation in collaboration with the Museum of the Warsaw Uprising, which during the last ten years, since it was founded, has welcomed over 4.6 million visitors.