Heinrich Himmler's Visit To Warsaw

thousands of Jews, but he was arrested two years later and taken to Auschwitz. While he was

As ordered by Himmler, a huge show of force descended upon the Warsaw Ghetto. SS troops, German Police, and Lithuanian and

There were many different resistance efforts throughout the Holocaust. On 12 September 1942, the town was assaulted by about 150 partisan soldiers who killed thirty SS officers, soldiers, and police. They broke through the wall, evacuated the 30 Jews remaining and burned the ghetto to the ground before retreating into the surrounding woodland.

However, this would all change due to the brave individuals in one Ghetto. The Warsaw Ghetto was home to nearly 445,000 in 1941 and measured about 1.3 square miles (Meed). This Ghetto was by far one of the largest in population during the Holocaust. The Warsaw Ghetto was eventually going to be “liquidated” as nearly 1,000 Jews were loaded on trains to be liquidated each day (Goss). Throughout 1942 the Warsaw Ghetto was slowly “liquidated” and by the end of that year, it left 55,000 Jews in that camp nearly 80% of the Ghetto's original population (Goss). Many who were left in these Ghettos were without their family and all alone. Guilt spread and many felt responsible for not saving their loved ones. This guilt would turn into resistance and lead to the creation of groups such as ZOB, which translates to the Jewish Fighting Organization, and ZZW, which translates to the Jewish Military Union. These organizations gathered weapons to fight back against the Nazi regime. By 1943 Nazi officials ordered the transfer of 8,000 more residents of the Warsaw Ghetto. This would lead to the very first resistance in January of that year. When guards came to collect Jews, many openly attacked these guards and even hid so as not to be taken. By the end of four days, the guards left with only 5,000 Jews. This was seen as a success for those who lived there and spread the idea of resistance

Anti-semitism in Germany led by Adolf Hitler would back up a plan called the final solution, to exterminate all of the Jews in Europe. Out of the 100 million Jews aimed for extermination, 6 million of them were killed. On his path to German greatness, Jews became victim to inconceivable actions. First the Nuremberg Laws were passed which stripped Jews of their german citizenship, eliminating their opportunity to flee to other countries. After Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, Hitler forcefully deported Jewish people into fenced confinements called ghettos. More Jews died here than in any extermination camp due to the harsh conditions and labor. Most people living in ghettos had no access to running water or a sewage system and overcrowding

The Jews were able to keep up the resistance for about a month, but the fight was officially ended on May 16 with the destruction of Warsaw’s great synagogue (ushmm.org). About 7,000 Jews were killed during the uprising, and another 7,000 deported, but a few hundred German soldiers fell as well (history.com).

Heinrich Himmler was born on October 7, 1900, in Munich, Germany where he grew up to become the second most powerful man in the third Reich. His cause of fame was due to his control over the SS and Gestapo, as well as his jurisdiction concerning the holocaust. Himmler was given control of the SS, also known as the Nazi Party in 1929. Since he had authority, he began to expand his influence across Europe. In the late summer of 1941, Himmler got the approval to organize a mass murder among the Jewish people. With inspiration of exterminating the Jews, Himmler delivered a speech to SS officers in Poznan, October 4, 1943. This speech elaborated about his beliefs and order of conquered people. This speech motivated the Schutzstaffel to kill approximately eleven million people. (Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, Heinrich Himmler) Himmler announced his speech in German. Inconveniently, I can’t understand German, however, this article accurately translates Himmler’s speech from German to English. My source is are from original documents on the holocaust, found in Trial of War Criminals Before the Nurnberg Military Tribunals – Washington, U.S Govt. Print. Off., 1949-1953, Vol. XII, p.232, and Himmler, Reichsfuehrer SS-P. The purpose of this source was to manipulate people into thinking that Jews were an inferior race and a threat to German policies.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising occurred in Warsaw Ghetto as a response to the Nazi’s decision to deport approximately 300,000 Jewish residents to their deaths at Treblinka, a concentration camp nearby, which caused great unrest. By the 19th of April 1943, the uprising officially began as German police and troops entered the ghetto to deport the remainder of the Jewish population. The ghetto fighters, although poorly armed compared to the Germans, were able to fight the well-trained German troops and police for nearly a month before the uprising reached its end on May 16, 1943. Throughout the event, over 56,000 Jews were captured. Simon Rotem was one of the few Polish Jews who survived the uprising. Seventy years later, he recalled his experiences during the uprising and describes how the Jewish population made the honourable choice to resist the Nazis who were mass deporting Jews. His initial reaction upon seeing the mass of German forces enter the ghetto was rather bleak, stating that ‘what chance did we have with our miserable supply of firearms to hold of this show of German force with machine-guns, personnel

Furthermore, Hitler’s cruel ideals and treatment had motivated those who were not in support of him to help those in need, resulting in resistance and rebellions. Resistance organizations became more elaborate after the deportations of 1942, and ghettos became more volatile. From January 18th to the 22nd of 1943, the ghetto of Warsaw resisted in a German attempt to transfer those in the ghetto without proper papers. On April 19, 1943, to counter the resistance, the Germans had rounded up approximately two thousand Schutzstaffel, regular soldiers and armed police, only to face a much stronger resistance and retreat in defeat. Subsequently, however, the Germans slowly ended the resistance, and by May 16, the ghetto of Warsaw ceased to exist.

To show a German victory, Stroop, a Nazis officer ordered the destruction of the Great Synagogue on Tlomacki Street on May 16, 1943. The ghetto itself was destroyed. Stroop reported that he had captured 56,065 Jews and destroyed 631 bunkers. He told everyone that his men killed up to 7,000 Jews during the uprising. The German authorities deported approximately another 7,000 Warsaw Jews to the Treblinka killing center, where almost all were killed in the gas chambers upon

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising started July 22 with german soldiers killing or deporting 300,000 jews to concentration camps from the warsaw ghetto while many others were sent to killing centers and concentration camps. Some were given permission to stay in the ghetto and

These concentration camps in Poland included Auschwitz, Treblinka and other camps which people were sent to and tortured and killed. Schindler’s List tells the story of the Kraków ghetto, which consisted of approximately 20,000 Jews. During this time , in Poland, the Jews were forced to work in labor camps, and

The start of the Warsaw Ghetto started when 300,000 Jews were deported from Warsaw to Treblinka. The group was lead by a young man named Mordecai Anielewicz. His goal to have the Jews resist going on the railroad cars. In January 1943, fighters used the small amount of weapons they had to fight off German troops that were trying to deport them again. They were able to make them retreat and the resistance lasted for nearly a month but in May 16, 1943, the revolt was slowly stopped by the Germans. Nearly all members of the group were killed. Of the 56,000 that were captured, over 7,000 were shot and the rest were sent to

When one thinks of the most evil and powerful person through history, one often thinks of Adolf Hitler. However, most of the feats accomplished by Hitler would have been impossible without the help of his lesser known right-hand man, Heinrich Himmler. Deemed “the second most powerful man in Germany during World War II” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum), he helped Hitler carry out his brutal genocide of the Jewish religion. Heinrich Himmler played an extremely important role in the Holocaust.

Heinrich Himmler once said “Should we succeed in establishing this Nordic race and form this