"We wanted to be free and we owe this freedom to nobody."

Yesterday we visited the Warsaw Uprising Museum and got a glimpse into some of the devastating yet prideful, all-too-recent history of the Polish people. The Warsaw Uprising was a 63-day period in 1944 when the Polish underground resistance rose against the occupation of Nazi Germany in Poland in an effort to free their country from the oppression of the Third Reich. After the uprising, the German army literally walked through Warsaw destroying the city building by building. In the end, 85% of Warsaw was left in shambles, giving it the name "City of Ruins." The devastation to the city was a combination of damage from the Warsaw Uprising itself, the German's desolation following the Warsaw Uprising, and from the previous Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The interactive exhibitions take you through the days of the uprising from start to finish and allow you to get a glimpse of what life was like for the Polish people during the uprising. From pressing your ear against the wall of a building to hear the shouts and explosions outside, to walking through the sewers to avoid the patrolling German soldiers, to pulling the trigger of a gun that a member of the Polish resistance shot, the museum allows you to see, hear, and feel the Warsaw Uprising. The following images are some photos I took at the museum.