Jewish Resistance During WWII and the Holocaust

Although the jews were in tough circumstances, they had many opportunities to fight back my is question is why didn’t they? Contrary to my belief there was some resistance among the jews although it was minimal. The jews fought back by avoiding capture by nazies. Some fought back in the ghettos or camps bust most submitted to the cruelty and suffering of the nazis.

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

Resistance in the mist of WWII and the Holocaust occurred all across Europe and the occupied territories of Nazi Germany. The three groups I’m going to discuss are Zegota, White Rose, and Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. Each one of these came from three very different areas, but they each resisted Nazi ideology. Each group has their own reason for why they decided to take a stand, whether morally, politically, or religious reasons and while there are differences between the groups many of them have overlapping reasons for their desire to resist.

The Jews uprised in ghettos and camps with guns and explosives that were stolen or smuggled to them. “Jews seized what weapons the could find - picks, axes, and some firearms stolen from the camp armory - set fire to the camp. About 200 managed to escape. (Jewish Uprising). This shows armed resistance because the Jews revolted against the Germans with weapons they smuggled or stolen from the armory. The Jews were so desperate for freedom and hope that they risked their own lives to steal and smuggle weapons and revolt against the Nazis with open fire. They still had many more ways that they resisted against the Germans.

Spiritual resistance is defined as “attempts by individuals to maintain their humanity, personal integrity, and sense of civilization in the face of Nazi attempts to dehumanize and degrade them” by the United States Holocaust Museum (Spiritual). Spiritual resistance was highly regarded by many Jews, and most actually considered it to be the purest form of resistance because it was non-violent, and kept their spirits from being broken, even while facing horrible degradation. Examples of spiritual resistance include conducting religious services while in ghettos or concentration camps, keeping covert libraries of Jewish works, and establishing secret archives to report about daily life in the ghettos.

Firstly, the Jews in Europe organized a Jewish military league to resist the Nazi brutality. In Vilna, the first organized Jewish armed resistance arose from the youth movements. After the invasion of the Soviet Union is 1941, two-thirds of the Jewish population of Vilna were deported by the Nazis (“Jewish Combat Organization.”). Those who survived warned the other Jews of the ordeal awaiting them, which paved the way for the “First Manifesto”. This document called out for Jewish resistance and was written by Abba Kovner, a future leader of the ghetto fighters in Vilna. The manifesto was directed at the Jews of Vilna and the youth movements, and explained the fate of the ghetto deportees (that they were all killed), Hitler’s plot to “destroy all the Jews of Europe”, and called for Jewish resistance. This manifesto was significant, as it was the first call for the Jews to arm themselves and resist the Nazis. Not soon after,

As I mentioned at the beginning, Jewish partisans are placed into two categories: Eastern and Western. There was no major resistance in Germany, due to the fact that everything was highly scrutinized by Hitler’s

For the 12 years the Nazi ruled Germany and they condemned the Jews to death and there was no escape. At every stage of the war, the Germans used their military superiority to crush and terrorize the Jews.

During the Holocaust their were many groups of resistance, but one in particular was the underground who used resistance to fight the Germans. This group faced many challenges but still fought hard to protect their culture. The underground used armed resistance to receive supplies, resists the Germans that try to kill them, and to get the community not to be passive while facing obstacles like making kids and women smuggle supplies, risk families lives, and trying to meet in private to plan.

Armed resistance took place in a variety of ghettos, but the most immense revolt was the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. For example, “….Jewish groups attacked German tanks with Molotov cocktails, hand grenades, and a handful of small arms” (“Jewish”). This fits in with armed resistance because they used an assortment of vicious weapons against the Germans. This attempt assisted the Jews because it showed the Jews were not afraid to fight back and it too gave them hope. Another armed resistance that took place was resistance in the concentration

Normally, people in the Jewish resistance would stand for themselves and their families. If those who were non Jewish got caught by the Nazis they would then get the same treatment as the Jews. There were many acts of resistance for the Jews, such as Warsaw ghetto, and various spiritual resistances. The Warsaw Ghetto inspired

The Judenrat led the resistance by assisting the rebels to escape from the ghettos. As a result to these resistances Nazi officers would just send attack dogs or perform search parties and eventually led to death.

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

Two very important items that showed what the resistance was the book The Cost of Courage and the film Army of Shadows. These two were very respectable pieces that allowed insight on what happened. I highly recommend watching and reading to inform yourself of this topic.

Resistance is always possible no matter the consequences. It is moral, and necessary even when the odds of success are slim and failure’s consequences may lead to death or great suffering. All resistance is moral and imperative when the resistors are trying to save their own ideas, beliefs and others while going against the wrongful established order. Without it the consequences of no resistance are far greater. Those who put their lives on the line to help and save other people are heroes. This was evident during World War II when individuals, such as normal citizens like the Ten Boom’s, individuals with great influence like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Andre Trocmé, and even by those who were being persecuted against, chose to do what was