Essay Jewish Resistance to the Nzi Holocaust

Some of the Jews were able to hide out in the ghettos. Others were able to escape from the concentration camps. In some cases organized resistance was formed in the ghettos amongst the Jews. For example, in the Polish capitol of Warsaw, individual Jews continued to hide themselves in the ghetto ruins for many months after they were forcefully told to leave by the Nazis. These resistance fighters often attacked German police officials on patrol. Approximately 20,000 Warsaw Jews continued to live in hiding in Warsaw long after the liquidation of the ghetto.

     Throughout history the Jewish people have been scapegoats; whenever something was not going right they were the ones to blame. From Biblical times through to the Shakespearean Era, all the way to the Middle East Crisis and the creation of Israel, the Jews have been persecuted and blamed for the problems of the world. The most horrifying account of Jewish persecution is the holocaust, which took place in Europe from 1933 to 1945 when Adolf Hitler tried to eliminate all the people that he thought were inferior to the Germans, namely the Jews, because he wanted a pure Aryan State.

They have hope that the Russians will come and free them so they could return to their old lives. Their hope gave them resilience because they just went through the worst possible things they could go through and it motivated them to survive. Thirdly, resilience is seen throughout the prisoners when they show that they still have the will to live. The novel, states, “We had transcended everything—death, fatigue, our natural needs. We were stronger than cold and hunger, stronger than the guns and the desire to die, doomed and rootless, nothing but numbers, we were the only men on earth” (Wiesel 87). The prisoners knew all the horrible things that have been done to them and the knew their resilience is a way to resist. The goal of the Holocaust was to get rid of all Jews and, by remaining alive, the Jews are resisting that goal and making the Nazis fail. The prisoners used their resilience to get through the starvation, cold, and them being overworked just to show that the Jews are strong and they will remain. To conclude, the prisoners used resilience to survive all the monstrosities done to them and used it as an act of

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

During the Holocaust, In what ways did the Jews resist against the Nazis?. World War II was a terrible time for the Jewish people. The Nazis packed thousands of Jews in really small ghettos together and gave them terrible conditions to live with. The Jews were then later sent to concentration camps which even had worse conditions than the ghettos. During the Holocaust, the Jewish people participated in both armed and unarmed resistance in order to earn their freedom and hope.

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

At first, the Nazis were only killing political opponents like Communists and/or Social Democrats, for which their harshest persecution was used. Many of the first prisoners sent to Dachau (The first official concentration camp opened near Munich in March of 1933) were communists. By July, the concentration camps run by the Germans held around 27,000 people in what they called “protective custody.” The Nazis had huge rallies and acts of symbolism such as burning of books by Jews. During the years of 1933 to 1939, the hundreds of thousands of Jews who were able to leave Germany got out quickly, but many were left behind, and they lived their lives in a constant state of uncertainty and fear. During the fall of 1939, Hitler started the so-called Euthanasia Program. The Euthanasia Program allowed Nazi officials to select around 70,000 German citizens institutionalized for mental illnesses or disabilities. These Germans were to be gassed to death. After prominent German

Throughout the Holocaust, Jews organized resistance movements in ghettos, concentration, and extermination camps. Although they had virtually no weapons and faced one of the largest arsenals in the world, the Jewish people fought for their honor and freedom. Without any hope victory and in the face of death, resistance fighters found the courage to take on evil in its purest form. Their efforts must not go in vein; to them we must accord our respect. This is a brief testimony of their fight against the Nazi regime.

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

My goal with my research is to look into the resistance of both the Jewish people and the others in European society who assisted in Jewish escapes. The perceived image of the Jews during the Holocaust is of “lambs to the slaughter.” The pictured painted of the rest of European society is one of either knowing accomplices or silent spectators. The Jewish people had many forms of resistance, some small and some large. While many of their neighbors were silent spectators, but many people were actively resisting the tyrannical Nazi government by assisting Jewish escapes. Each of these individuals risked their lives and the lives of their families and friends to aid these hunted individuals. They all deserve to have their stories heard and honored. In a time of complete chaos and destruction many people would not have the ability or fortitude to save the life of another person. The people that I will discuss in this paper were not only able to take that step, but put themselves and their families in real and eminent danger for the life, at times, of a complete stranger.

            The Judenrat began to have negative attitudes towards the resistance and escapes from the ghettos. The Judenrat feared that the Germans are going to blame the Judenrat for not keeping their section under control. As a consequence: “mass escape would make it impossible for the council to negotiate with the germans in order to revoke measures of persecution, or, at least, to save some inmates; Coucil members who were responsible to the germans for the inmates’ behavior be the first to pay with their lives if a revolt took place. The inmates knew about these dangers as well.” (Trunk 462). Both the Jews and councils knew that having a mass escape would eventually cost their lives or be executed, but they lack food and water in order to have a successful, as evidence: “Of an estimated 300 inmates who escaped from Treblinka that day, about 100 survived the massive SS manhunt.” (www.ushmm.org). The quote is from the revolt of a death camp in Treblinka, where a mass escape take place and only a third of the escaped prisoners have successfully escaped.

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

Thomas Blatts’ book, Ashes of Sobibor, paints a different picture about Jews in the Holocaust. There are many instances in the book and in the east, that showed Jews resisted. Instances such as ghetto uprisings, extermination camp uprisings, and Jewish partisans like the Bielski brothers. Overall the holocaust wasn’t only passive Jewish people going off to die.

During the time in the concentration camp, the prisoners had several thoughts about resistance but never went through. They didn’t fight back because they had hope that they were going to be saved, they were too weak and scared. At first, when they were sent to the concentration camps they didn’t want to rebel. The Jews had faith that they would be saved before they had to resort to violence. But for years, help didn’t come. As a result, they became too weak to fight back. They weren’t fed enough food therefore, they were starving and had no energy. They would easily be defeated by the Nazis soldiers. Lastly, they were scared and had no will to fight. Most Jews were raised very religious and didn’t like the idea of violence. Consequently, most

The white rose society were some of the first ones to start this revolt against hitler. Alexander Schmorell and Hans Scholl , both of whom were studying medicine, were the first LMU students to consider mounting an active campaign of resistance against the Nazi regime. Within two weeks, between the 27 June and 12 July 1942, they wrote, printed and distributed the first four “White Rose” protest