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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums75 years ago marked the beginning of the end: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (Yiddish: אױפֿשטאַנד אין װאַרשעװער געטאָ; Polish: powstanie w getcie warszawskim; German: Aufstand im Warschauer Ghetto) was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's final effort to transport the remaining Ghetto population to Treblinka. The uprising started on 19 April when the Ghetto refused to surrender to the police commander SS-Brigadeführer Jürgen Stroop, who then ordered the burning of the Ghetto, block by block, ending on 16 May. A total of 13,000 Jews died, about half of them burnt alive or suffocated. German casualties are not known, but were not more than 300. It was the largest single revolt by Jews during World War II.
On April 19, 1943, a brave group of Polish Jews began the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, their storied resistance against the Nazis. The ghetto fighters, although small in number and lacking in resources, dared to defy the odds. Though the uprising lasted only a month, today it is remembered as a legendary act of Jewish defiance during the Holocaust.
This anniversary is especially poignant for me as I sit in my office, just blocks away from what remains of the Warsaw Ghetto walls. I hear the bustling sounds of our capital city's first modern Jewish Community Center.
The smell of vegan matzo ball soup reaches my office from the ground floor, where a Jewish cooking workshop is in full swing. On another floor, a group of teenagers plans a scavenger hunt for our Sunday school children in a room housing our newly opened Hebrew library. And next to my desk, Jews of different backgrounds plan the future of Limmud, a Jewish educational and cultural conference, the biggest event for Poland's Jews, bringing together nearly 1,000 participants.
Contrary to popular opinion, Jewish life goes on here for the 10,000 to 20,000 Jews who call Poland home today.
True, conversations among us often turn to concern over the recent legislation in the Polish parliament about Holocaust history and its consequences. We also worry about the rise in anti-Semitic sentiment, outside misconceptions about our country and Jewish visitors canceling their trips.
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75 years after the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, Poland holds a day of commemoration, taking a moment of silence to remember those who fell in resistance to the Nazi regime, as well as the millions of others slain in the Holocaust.
People in Warsaw pinned paper daffodils to their clothes as the Polish capital held a day of commemorations Thursday on the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
People stopped in the street and officials stood at attention as sirens wailed and church bells tolled at noon in a sign of mourning for the Jews who died fighting, as well as the millions of other Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
The daffodils tradition comes from Marek Edelman, who was the last surviving commander of the uprising, and on every anniversary used to lay these spring flowers at the monument to the fighters. He died in 2009.
President Andrzej Duda was to speak during official commemorations at the Monument to the Warsaw Ghetto Heroes and pay homage to the hundreds of Jewish fighters who took up arms in the 1943 rebellion against the German forces that occupied Poland during World War II. The revolt ended in death for most of the fighters, yet left behind an enduring symbol of resistance.
At a ceremony at Warsaw's Town Hall, three Holocaust survivorsHelena Birenbaum, Krystyna Budnicka and Marian Turskiwere given honorary citizenship of the city.
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The uprising by Jewish people entrapped in the Warsaw Ghetto 75 years ago has been well documented in art and literature. Here, a look at how the event has served as fodder in films.
On April 19, 1943, 75 years ago, the inhabitants of the Jewish ghetto of Warsaw started an uprising against their tormentors. They refused to simply let themselves be sent to death.
Between July 1942 and that day, the Nazis had some 300,000 people deported from the Ghetto to concentration camps. The remaining Jews resisted. The Nazis stopped the rebellion by burning down every block of the Ghetto. By May 16, 1943, the Germans managed to crush the uprising; a total of 13,000 Jews died. It was the largest act of revolt by Jews during World War II.
The rebellion in film
"The Pianist," "Jacob the Liar," and "Run Boy Run" are among the best-known films about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Several film directors, most notably Roman Polanski, adapted the historical events into film.
The renowned French-Polish director personally survived another Jewish ghetto in Poland, in Krakow, and his mother was assassinated in Auschwitz. Polanski's film "The Pianist," a box office hit, received three Oscars.
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People in the Polish capital are holding a day of commemorations on the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
People stopped in the street and officials stood at attention as sirens wailed and church bells tolled at noon in a sign of mourning for the Jews who died fighting, as well as the millions of other Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
The daffodils tradition comes from Marek Edelman, the last surviving commander of the uprising, who on every anniversary used to lay the spring flowers at the monument to the fighters before his death in 2009.
President Andrzej Duda spoke during official commemorations at the Monument to the Warsaw Ghetto Heroes and pay homage to the hundreds of Jewish fighters who took up arms in the 1943 rebellion against the German forces that occupied Poland during the Second World War.
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During the Second World War, Jews forced to live in the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland had little choice: they could either fight their Nazi oppressors, or be transported to certain death at Treblinka extermination camp. Here, Alexandra Richie explores the events of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, a remarkable act of Jewish resistance that began 75 years ago today
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, one of the most significant and tragic events in the history of the Second World War. It was a demonstration of heroic resistance, when Jews decided to fight against their oppressors rather than be forced to die in a concentration camp. It has left a remarkable legacy, which reverberates to this day.
By the outbreak of the Second World War, Jews had been living in Poland for more than a thousand years. Around 10 per cent of the countrys pre-war population was Jewish, but in some cities the proportion was much higher. Only New York had a higher number of Jewish residents than Warsaw, which was home to around 375,000 Jews approximately 30 per cent of the citys population. They had created a rich and diverse culture something that the Germans were determined to destroy.
The Nazi persecution of the Jews in Poland began with the invasion of the country in 1939. Jews very quickly lost their rights; by October 1939 they were forced to register and have the word Jude stamped on their identity papers. They were soon forbidden from many ordinary activities, such as walking on the pavement, or going to schools, libraries or museums. Synagogues were blown up, or turned into prisons or factories, and many Jews were abused and humiliated on the streets.
April 19, 2018 at 12:53 pm
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wcmagumba
(2,886 posts)in our country would love the power to reenact such atrocities...imo...
Solly Mack
(90,770 posts)dugog55
(296 posts)A book by Leon Uris that was required reading when I was a Junior in High School (1971) titled "Mila 18" is about the Polish Ghetto and Pogroms. I have read it a half dozen times, well written and really brings to life what happened in that time period. It is a fictionalized, but accurate account of the atrocities by the Germans and the heroism of Jewish Freedom Fighters. I recommend checking it out at your local Library. Well worth the time.
dhill926
(16,343 posts)Behind the Aegis
(53,959 posts)Thanks.