This category is comprised of a rich collection of images of Warsaw from the first years after the war, showing the city being raised from the ruins and everyday life gradually returning to its streets. Ryszard Witkowski portrayed his friends, as well as the ruins and propaganda posters, which stood out against the rubble and heralded the new era. The series of photographs by Karol Pęcherski was ordered by the Capital Reconstruction Bureau to document the clean-up operations, preservation of the buildings that had survived, and reconstruction of those that had not. They show lively and colourful scenes, like the loading of railway wagons with the rubble to be taken away. Images that show reconstruction of Warsaw's monuments, including Sigismund's Column, one of the capital best recognised symbols, can be regarded as symbolic for the period.
