POLAND. Warsaw. Poland suffered greatly during the Second World War. It was the first country to be invaded by Germany and, from the east, from the Soviet Union. In 1944 Warsaw tried to rise against the invaders, after which Hitler ordered the destruction of the city. The suburbs were emptied of their remaining population; and the buildings were systematically reduced to rubble by fire and dynamite. The city had to be completely rebuilt after the war. 1948.