It is the largest burial site of victims of the Warsaw Uprising, which broke out on 1 August 1944 and lasted until 2 October 1944.

Approximately 104,000 people (mainly persons unknown) are buried in the cemetery, mostly in collective graves.

Its centrepiece is the monument to The Fallen Unconquerable (Polish: Polegli - Niepokonani), created by Professor Kazimierz Zemła, under which the ashes of 50,000 victims of the uprising are buried.

Approximately 10,000 Polish resistance fighters and 200,000 civilians were killed during the 63 days of the Warsaw Uprising.

Other victims of World War II are also buried within the cemetery, including defenders of Warsaw during its siege by the Germans in September 1939 and Warsaw inhabitants murdered during the German occupation.