Jewish Resistance During The Holocaust

Spiritual resistance when referring to the Holocaust is extremely important to Judaism. “Spiritual resistance refers to attempts by individuals to maintain their humanity, personal integrity, dignity, and sense of civilization in the face of Nazi attempts to dehumanize and degrade them,”("Spiritual Resistance in the Ghettos"). Even though the Jewish people went through these dehumanizing and EGREGIOUS experiences, they continued religious and cultural practices.“Such religious, cultural, and

The author Elie Wiesel said, “There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win”. People often wonder how there was barely any resistance to the Nazis without realizing that the resistance was hidden just under the Germans nose’s. One such resistance group was called the Jewish Fighting Organization. The group was otherwise known as the ZOB. The Jewish Fighting Organization aimed to gain control of the Warsaw Ghetto because they could no longer stand by and watch their family and friends be deported to concentration camps.

The Holocaust started in the 1933, when the Nazis and Adolf Hitler took power in Germany. The Holocaust from the Greek words “holos” (whole) and “kaustos” (burned) cause chaos and tragedy for Jewish people. At this time Germany was a nation with a Jewish population of 566,000 people. Nazis thought that they were the most inferior race and no other race was better than the Aryan race. This cause a lot of discrimination and hate against other people based on their beliefs and looks. The Nazis provoked the outbreak of World War II, when they invaded Poland. The Holocaust lasted 12 years and it end it on May of 1945.

Even though Jews were losing their liberty they still endured it as best they could. However Kristallnacht convinced them once and for all that they were in serious trouble. Kristallnacht was organized

Although the Jews tried to resist, many factors were against them, such as lack of weapons and resources, trickery, fear, and the crushing power of the Germans. Many people refused to participate in these uprisings, but for those who chose to rebel, they served as an example for all of camp residents. In Night this happened also when the three inhabitants were hung and shown to the entire camp. Those who conformed to justice paid the ultimate price, but with that other learned what not to do. They sacrificed themselves unknowingly for their

While the White Rose, Le Chambon and Zegota groups were all resisters, their goals were different and their reasons for resisting were very different. The main goal of the White Rose group was to crate a public uprising against the German government, to take a stand against the crimes they have been committing, and to show the world that the German people do not support the acts they have done. The Zegota groups’ purpose was to directly help those affected by the Nazi reign, by using moral obligation and political finances to help house and assist hiding Jews. The Le Chambon resistance incorporated a morally charged village who’s own persecution lead them to protecting the refugee Jews and citizens. While each group had different methods, and reasons for resisting, each of these groups fought against a government that they knew was wrong and took a stand against

Have you ever been in a room so crowded you thought you might implode? Or been so sick you questioned if you were still alive? How about so hungry you felt as though you would shrivel up and simply cease to exist? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you may almost be able to imagine what life was like in the Jewish ghettos. There were ghettos before the Holocaust, the first being in Venice in the 16th century, there are ghettos today, and there will be ghettos in the future, but the Jewish ghettos of the Holocaust are by far the most prominent.

The Jews used many types of ways to resist against the Nazis. One of the any ways the Jewish people resisted against the Nazis was by spiritual. “The Germans forbade religious services in most ghetto, so many Jews prayed and held ceremonies in secret - cellars, attics and back rooms - as other stood guard”

Non-violent resistance began to evolve as the Jews were transported to the concentration camps. Upon their initial arrival in the concentration camps, inmates attempted to aid each other in various ways, such as by giving those that were extremely malnourished extra food or attempting to lessen the workload on those that were weaker by taking their place; these acts, although not aimed directly against the SS, were simply keeping one another alive. These acts can be considered under Bauer’s definition of resistance in that the groups’ motives in sustaining themselves as a whole was in direct opposition to the central idea of the SS to break down and destroy the Jewish population. These acts also helped lead to the later active, armed resistance in that they helped to keep inmates alive and maintain their strength, as well as providing them with a will to resist.

Examining any issue pertaining to the Holocaust is accompanied with complexity and the possibility of controversy. This is especially true in dealing with the topic of Jewish resistance to the Holocaust. Historians are often divided on this complex issue, debating issues such as how “resistance” is defined and, in accordance with that definition, how much resistance occurred. According to Michael Marrus, “the very term Jewish resistance suggests a point of view.” Many factors, both internal such as differences in opinion on when or what resistance was appropriate, as well as external, such as the lack of arms with which to revolt, contributed to making resistance, particularly armed resistance, extremely difficult. When considering acts

Jews resisted in more ways through unarmed resistance than armed resistance, spiritual resistance was another form of nonviolent

Preparing for the resistance brought up both feelings of terror, and excitement over the fact that the Nazis would not be able to get away with at least one of their plans so easily. Zivia Lubetkin, who was a resistance fighter in the ghetto, describes the feeling of the resistance organization on the 18th of April after getting the news of the final roundup that was to take place the next day. She says “[e]ven though we were prepared, and had even prayed for this hour, we turned pale. A tremor of joy mixed with a shudder of fear passed through all of us. But we suppressed our emotions and reached for our guns” (Gilbert 557). Resistance was a new idea to the Jews. Since the Nazis had taken over, the Jews had found themselves in a rather helpless situation. There was almost no way to escape the ghettos, and those who did manage to make it out knew they were costing the Jews they had left behind. This was the first real attempt at an actual organized armed resistance. Lubetkin tells how the Germans were determined, especially after being forced to retreat in January, but so were the Jews. Determination was certainly something

Within the Ghetto, there existed several armament and military enterprises, or factories. These factories used slave labor to produce various items for the German war industry, according to Stroop, “the Jews controlled everything”. He claims that the Jews were able to produce various weapons, predominately hand grenades and Molotov cocktails. His assertions are more than likely exaggerated; it is more likely that the fighters either used the Polish underground to smuggle in munitions or snuck explosives and chemicals out of the factories. Regardless of how the fighters gained explosives, they were effective in their repulsion of initial German penetration. Partially through surprise and through the implementation of Molotov cocktails, “the

In non-violent terms, those of the Jewish faith who sought some form of shelter of any kind, looked towards the self-help groups within the ghettos. In these groups they were provided with food, shelter, child care services, and employment. As for those in the concentration camps, they would attempt to alter the Nazi’s plans to either work at slower rates, set fires, and cause other forms of chaos within the camps, (“Resisters”). By doing this, efforts made by these groups could hopefully promote more resistance to the Nazis and gradually provide a foundation to their downfall. Although, more violent approaches to resistance did occur to try and prevent any more acts of genocide.

Their main goals were to organize uprisings, break out of the ghettos, and join partisan units in the fight against the Germans.The Jews knew that uprisings would not stop the Germans and that only a handful of fighters would succeed in escaping to join the partisans. Still, some Jews made the decision to resist. Weapons were smuggled into ghettos. Inhabitants in the ghettos of Vilna, Mir, Lachva , Kremenets, Częstochowa, Nesvizh, Sosnowiec, and Tarnow, among others, resisted with force when the Germans began to deport ghetto populations. In Bialystok, the underground staged an uprising just before the final destruction of the ghetto in September 1943. Most of the ghetto fighters, primarily young men and women, died during the fighting.The Warsaw ghetto uprising in the spring of 1943 was the largest single revolt by Jews. Hundreds of Jews fought the Germans and their auxiliaries in the streets of the ghetto. Thousands of Jews refused to obey German orders to report to an assembly point for deportation. In the end the Nazis burned the ghetto to the ground to force the Jews out. Although they knew defeat was certain, Jews in the ghetto fought desperately and