| The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising |
In a secret meeting in November 1939, four Jewish officers from the Polish Army met in the home of Captain Henry Iwanski, to discuss and plan the formation of a Jewish fighting group, which was to become part of the Polish Underground. By December of that same year, the ZZW ( Zydowski Zwlazek Wojskowy) became battle ready. The inital 39 members each took an oath of allegiance and each was handed a gun. By 1940, information was being reported to General Sikorski of all developments concerning this new branch of the Underground. In the following two years ZZW cells were forming throughout Poland, the strongest positions held in Lwow, Lublin, and Stanislawow. The German plan for the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto was carried out from July 22 to September 21, 1942 in which over 350,000 Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto were sent to the death camps at Treblinka and Majdanek. On July 22, 1942, the Nazis orderd Czerniakow, the leader of the Judenrat to assemble 5,000 Jews per day for "deportation". The following day, Czerniakow committed suicide, rather than send his fellow Jews to death. When the Ghetto was reduced to only 35,000 people, the "Party", that is the Zionist members of the Socialist left-wing party, decided to establish their own underground organization. The ZZW had already been active for more than two years and its rank and file increased to over 320 armed soldiers. They met regularly with the Captain of the Polish Home Army, and received weapons, and instruction on how to use them. Contact was also maintained by Henry Iwanski, Officer of the Security Corps of the Polish Home Army, who warned the leader of the ZZW, David Apfelbaum, that the Germans were soon to begin action against the Ghetto. In the company of Iwanski, Apfelbaum reported the situation to the leaders of the Judenrat but they adamantly rejected the suggestions for military action. As a result, the ZZW refrained from taking military action in order to avoid blame for causing a massacre. On January 19, 1943, after a short interval, the Nazis resumed deportations and entered the Ghetto. They were surprised when the Jews fought back. The ZZW, numbering 500 fighters, were armed with weapons supplied to them by the Safety Corpus of the Polish Home Army. In the period from June 1942 to the start of the Uprising in April 1943, the Safety Corpus sent 3 heavy machine guns, 15 automatic guns, 750 grenades, 7 rifles, and 100 handguns,(with an additional 4 machine guns, one light machine gun, 11 automatic guns, 50 handguns, and 300 grenades at the start of the Uprising.) The ZZW also received weapons from other Polish Underground groups. Despite their small numbers and limited weaponry, the Jewish resistance was a power to contend with...the Germans had to retreat. The Germans resumed their attack in April 1943, the first night of Passover. General Stroop sent over 2,000 SS and German troops into the Warsaw Ghetto backed by Panzer units and police regiments, to put down the resistance and resume deportations of the Jews. Jewish guerillas were greatly outnumbered - they consisted of only 500 fighters from the ZOB, and an estimated 250 from other resistance groups. While the Germans were well armed with machine guns, and light artillery, the Jewish fighters were found to have only 7 Polish rifles, 1 Russian rifle, 1 German rifle, 59 pistols,several hundred homemade grenades, several hundred incendiary explosives, and ammunition. Despite German military superiority, it took them 11 days of battle with the Jews, before they put on an end to the Ghetto. The Jewish fighters fought bravely, attacking the advancing Germans with continuous rounds of explosive bombs, but they were overpowered German flamethrowers. In his report, Stroop described the battle: " Over and over again new battle groups consisting of 20 to 30 or more Jewish fellows, 18 to 25 years of age, accompanied by a corresponding number of women kindled new resistance. These battle groups were under orders to put up armed resistance to the last and if necessary to escape arrest by committing suicide....During this armed resistance the women belonging to the battle groups were equipped the same as the men....Not infrequently, these women fired pistols with both hands, or hand grenades (Polish "pineapple" hand grenades), concealed in their bloomers up to the last moment to use against the men of the Waffen, SS, Police, or Wermacht....The resistance put up by the Jews and the bandits could be broken only by relentlessly using all our force and energy day and night...." After two days of brutal fighting, when Stroop could not defeat the Jews he ordered that the entire Ghetto be systematically burned to the ground. Jews tried to escape the burning buildings by jumping from its upper stories, throwing mattresses first to try to cushion their fall. Many were injured, their legs broken, but they tried to drag themselves to safety to underground bunkers, or into the sewer networks. On May 8, the Germans gas-bombed the bunker at 18 Mila Street. Trapped inside was the leader of the ZOB, Mordechai Anielewicz, and other Jewish fighters. One of the insurgents suggested that they blow up the bunker rather than die of asphixiation. They chose suicide. Anielewicz received the highest military honors, the Virtuti Militari, awarded posthumously. He spearheaded the first uprising in January during which he prevented thousands of Jews from being deported. When the battle was over 6,000 Jews were killed, 56,065 were captured - 14,000 of whom were sent immediately to the death camps. The Ghetto was razed to the ground. The ZOB (Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa), the Jewish Fighting Organization, had the greatest financial support receiving funds from Arebeter Ringa, a workers organization based in New York, and Dubinski, the Chief of the American Trade Union, among other source. The Zionists, however, had virtually no financial aid, as they were abandoned by their own patriots who fled to Palestine. Money was very hard to come by so that other means had to be taken out of desperation. Jews robbed the Judenrat cash reserves in the hundreds of thousands of zlotys, and even resorted to kidnapping. They kidnapped the son of Mark Lichtenbaum, the leader of the Judenrat, when he refused to give money. He finally did give in. The Zionists terrorized rich Jews, and when one Jewish policeman refused to give money he was shot. After this brutal demonstration, there were no more difficulties obtaining monetary funds. Despite the financial resources of the ZOB, they did not have a single machine gun. In January 1943, they had only 2 guns and one grenade and in April 70 guns. None of the men even knew how to use one. During the Uprising, their numbers were estimated to be around 500 but data report only 200 to 300 men. Conversely, the ZZW numbered upwards of 1,500 fighters, according to several reports by officers in the Polish Home Army. The reason for its immense growth was its liberal recruitment policy which did not demand any party allegiance, but accepted all men irregardless of poliltical ideology. |