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On This Day: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Begins
April 19, 2009 06:30 AM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
On April 19, 1943, Jews living in the Warsaw ghetto launched a revolt against the German SS that would take weeks to suppress. It was the largest Jewish act of resistance during the Holocaust.
Jewish Insurgents Retaliate
On the morning of April 19, the German SS prepared to transport Jews from the ghetto in the Polish capital to the Treblinka concentration camp. They expected it would take three days.
When they entered the ghetto, however, they were ambushed by Jewish insurgents armed with Molotov cocktails and hand grenades. The Germans retreated from the city and called in experienced SS commander Jürgen Stroop to wage war.
Holed up in smoke-filled bunkers for most of the fighting, the Jews fought under the leadership of Mordechai Anielewicz and two resistance movements, the Jewish Combat Organization (ZOB) and the Jewish Military Union (ZZW).
It took nearly a month for the uprising to be fully suppressed. By the end, 13,000 Jews were killed, most of the survivors were on their way to death camps and Stroop had announced that “the Jewish quarter of Warsaw is no more.”
Despite the ultimate failure of the uprising, it is remembered in Poland as a success. “They lost the battle, but from history’s point of view, there never was a greater victory,” says Israeli President Shimon Peres, “a victory of men over human bestiality.”
When they entered the ghetto, however, they were ambushed by Jewish insurgents armed with Molotov cocktails and hand grenades. The Germans retreated from the city and called in experienced SS commander Jürgen Stroop to wage war.
Holed up in smoke-filled bunkers for most of the fighting, the Jews fought under the leadership of Mordechai Anielewicz and two resistance movements, the Jewish Combat Organization (ZOB) and the Jewish Military Union (ZZW).
It took nearly a month for the uprising to be fully suppressed. By the end, 13,000 Jews were killed, most of the survivors were on their way to death camps and Stroop had announced that “the Jewish quarter of Warsaw is no more.”
Despite the ultimate failure of the uprising, it is remembered in Poland as a success. “They lost the battle, but from history’s point of view, there never was a greater victory,” says Israeli President Shimon Peres, “a victory of men over human bestiality.”
Background: The Warsaw ghetto
The Warsaw ghetto was the largest of the Jewish ghettos established by the Nazis, housing an estimated 445,000 Jews when it was established in 1940. The ghetto covered a small portion of Warsaw—2.4% of the city’s area—but around a third of the city’s population had been forced into it. The Jewish residents suffered through overcrowding, meager food rations, disease and deportations to concentration camps.
Key Players: Mordechai Anielewicz and Marek Edelman
Mordechai Anielewicz was a member of the HaShomer HaZair, a Zionist youth movement, and entered the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942 hoping to establish a resistance. He joined the ZOB and quickly became its commander, establishing relations with the Polish government-in-exile and a Polish resistance movement. He was part of a small uprising on Jan. 18, 1943, that encouraged the Polish to aid the Jewish resistance. He led the April uprising, and was killed in battle on May 8, 1943, when the ZOB command center at 18 Mila Street was attacked with poison gas.
Marek Edelman was a founding member of the ZOB and one of the three subcommanders under Anielewicz. When 18 Mila Street was attacked, he was able to escape through a sewer and later joined the Polish resistance in Warsaw. Reflecting on the uprising, he says, “We knew perfectly well that there was no way we could win. It was a symbol of the fight for freedom. A symbol of standing up to Nazism, and of not giving in.”
Edelman published his accounts of the uprising for its 45th anniversary in a pamphlet called “The Ghetto Fights.”
Marek Edelman was a founding member of the ZOB and one of the three subcommanders under Anielewicz. When 18 Mila Street was attacked, he was able to escape through a sewer and later joined the Polish resistance in Warsaw. Reflecting on the uprising, he says, “We knew perfectly well that there was no way we could win. It was a symbol of the fight for freedom. A symbol of standing up to Nazism, and of not giving in.”
Edelman published his accounts of the uprising for its 45th anniversary in a pamphlet called “The Ghetto Fights.”
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