In the Summer of 1944, starting on August 1st in Warsaw, Poland, there was an event known as the Warsaw Uprising. This event was led by a Polish underground resistance. This goal of the uprising was to drive the Germans out, while at the same time being backed by the Soviets and Stalin as reinforcements. Stalin and the Soviets ignored pleas for help and the goals of the resistance were not fully accomplished. Winston Churchill did his best to produce over 200 low level supply drops that were performed by various armies under British High Command. This was known as the Warsaw Airlift. There is a museum in Warsaw dedicated to this month uprising where many, many lives were lost.
In Old Warsaw you can actually see this statue that is dedicated to some of the younger soldiers who fought in this resistance. The statue itself is said to be dedicated in honor of a young 13 year old boy who was killed on August 8 of 1944 during the early fighting of the resistance. As you might be able to see in this picture the helmet is somewhat oversize and the young man has a submachine gun. Both items are said to be stylized after the German equipment which resistance fighters captured and used against the occupying forces.
There is not a definitive number of how many children were involved in the Warsaw Uprising, but they did sacrifice their young lives. Nonetheless, they still played a huge role in a piece of WWII history.
The Warsaw Uprising is a very interesting part of Poland's history. I would highly recommend doing some research, as I should do myself. I went on a tour once in Warsaw and learned a little bit, and the statue above always fascinated me as well.
On the back of the statue is a plaque with the following inscription translated from Polish -("Varsovian children, we'll head into battle - for every stone of yours, we shall give our blood").
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