Self-Defense and Struggle

Revolt in the Warsaw Ghetto

by Shachar Leven

Today, 60 years after its occurrence, the Warsaw ghetto uprising has become deeply ingrained in public consciousness as one of the ultimate symbols of Jewish resistance in the Holocaust. Following the German occupation of Warsaw in September 1939, the city’s 375,000 Jews were subjected to forced labor, brutal attacks, strict anti-Jewish legislation, and the confiscation of their property. In October 1940, a ghetto was planned in the Jewish quarter in northern Warsaw, and on 16 November it was sealed off. Along with Warsaw’s Jews, Jews from smaller outlying communities were moved to the ghetto, which swelled to 445,000 residents. Conditions within were dire, and malnutrition, overcrowding, and disease were rampant; one out of five inhabitants perished within the ghetto walls. Nonetheless, residents participated in educational and cultural activities.

Following months of night raids and random killings in early 1942, the first wave of deportations began in July 1942. By 12 September, about 300,000 Jews had been deported from the ghetto—some 254,000 to the Treblinka extermination camp.

Initial attempts to create a comprehensive Jewish underground in the ghetto had faltered. However, after the end of the mass deportation, the Jewish Fighting Organization (ZOB) was formed: a conglomerate of all the political youth organizations in the ghetto, with the exception of the Revisionists (Beitar movement), who created their own fighting organization called the Jewish Military Union (ZZW).

Deportations from the Warsaw ghetto recommenced on 18 January 1943. Under the leadership of Mordecai Anielewicz, the ZOB launched its first display of hand-to-hand armed combat against the Germans in the ghetto streets. After four days the deportations stopped, which the Jews construed as a sign of German weakness inflicted by use of armed force.

Following the German “retreat,” the ZOB began to prepare for the final, full-scale uprising against the Germans. Twenty-two units were formed, each one representing a different youth movement. The ZOB comprised 500 fighters, while the ZZW had 200-250 fighters.

On 19 April 1943, the final liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto began. As the general population hid in underground bunkers, the fighters attacked, launching the Warsaw ghetto uprising—the first large-scale uprising of an urban population in occupied Europe. Days of guerilla-type warfare ensued, catching the Germans off guard and ill-prepared. After three days, the Germans changed tactics, torching the ghetto, building by building. They forced the fighters out of hiding by hurling grenades into the bunkers or pumping in tear gas. Several of those who emerged from their hideouts were murdered on the spot.

By 8 May, most of the ZOB fighters had retreated to their headquarters at 18 Mila Street. That same day, the headquarters fell to the Germans and many of the fighters perished. On 16 May, SS and police leader Juergen Stroop reported that the fighting had ended. However, even after that date, hundreds of Jews managed to remain hidden in the ghetto’s underground bunkers or cross over to the Aryan side of the city.

Contents

Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust:
Sixty Years Since the Warsaw Ghetto
Uprising

Self-Defense and Struggle:
Revolt in the Warsaw Ghetto

Abducted from the Hands of the Aggressor:

The Rescue of Jewish Children in Belgium

Education
The Changing Face of Jewish Resistance:
An Adaptive Educational Approach

At the Threshold of a New Era:
Yad Vashem Marks 50 Years

Evolving with the Times:

Jewish Resistance in Historical Writing

Art Focus
The Pen and the Sword:
Jewish Artist and Partisan,
Alexander Bogen

Torchlighters 2003

News

Friends Worldwide

Holocaust Remembrance Day 2003
at Yad Vashem