Treblinka Uprising

The words inscribed above the Auschwitz concentration camp read; "Arbeit Macht Frei,” meaning, “work brings freedom.” These deceiving words gave unsuspecting prisoners hope that they could get out of the most destructive concentration camp during the entire Holocaust. This concentration camp would kill over one million people. Auschwitz will be fully analyzed, starting with the early stages of Auschwitz, then the Jews and the horrors of Auschwitz, and finally the final days of Auschwitz. The events that took place at Auschwitz concentration camp were horrifying and led to the death of millions.

However, thousands still died every day at Treblinka, a concentration camp in Poland. “At the peak of operations, 15,000 men, women and children died there each day. Death on that scale took enormous labor, and towards the end, when the SS began to fear discovery, the mass graves were opened and the rotting bodies burned.” The Sonderkommando, a group of prisoners, were responsible of disposing bodies of other prisoners. The purpose of surviving till the end was to tell

The lack of resistance and ignorance of the ordinary German population cost many million Jewish lives. The Nazi party’s desire for popularity and support meant that if there was a protest, actions would be taken to keep the public happy, or quiet, with minimal loss of reputation and status. In other words, it meant that the people could win. One successful attempt of protest proved that this theory would have worked. The Rosenstrasse Protest that occurred on the 27th of February 1943 led to the release of several hundred Jewish men from a Gestapo headquarters. This symbolic protest highlighted the fact that if the public were to protest, the execution of Jews could have been slowed or even halted. Despite this, the Rosenstrasse Protest remained the only large protest against the Holocaust throughout its entire duration. This means that the German population continued to ignore and become passive bystanders of the genocide happening around

February 14, 1940, leaders of the Nazis called for reopening the killing center at Chelmno. The SS and police previously attending in the operation were assembled. The Germans then constructed two reception barracks and two open air ovens. On June 23, 1944, the killing process is resumed with the deportations of Jews from the Lodz ghetto. Innocent people were killed either by shooting or asphyxiation. On July 14, 1944, transportations of Jews to Chelmno are halted and changed to Auschwitz camp instead. In less than a month from June to July 1944, the SS and police killed more than 7,000 Jews at Chelmno. (1941 - 1945 Timeline)

With essentially nothing to live for and no reason to go on, many of the prisoners gave up

In addition to the living conditions in the ghettos and camps, many differences in opinion led to hesitance to engage in resistance, particularly armed resistance. There was a great deal of collective responsibility involved with resistance- some believed that to act out was to endanger everyone in the group. Unfortunately, these worries were often founded in truth. In one instance, when a man protested the death of his brother by calling the SS member a murder, he was removed to prison, where he passed away; all of the other members of his group, who had witnessed the incident, were killed as well. By punishing the entire group for the rebellion of one, the SS helped to ensure that others would know the cost of resistance, and therefore be less inclined to resist themselves. Another instance of the idea of collective responsibility was seen in the Vilna ghetto- when fugitives escaped the ghetto, their families, as well all of the Jewish

Although being a bystander is not always the case for some individuals. Resistance from evil has been in the hearts of many and action has taken place from those with a certain will to help the world on numerous occasions. Such occasions occured in the Germany Holocaust when “Jews in the Warsaw ghetto rose in armed revolt after rumors that the Germans would deport the remaining ghetto inhabitants to the Treblinka killing center” (“Jewish Resistance”). There was also times when Jewish prisoners fought out against the guards to help their people. Another form of resistance was hiding or escaping from the Nazi’s. “In order to save lives, families hid from their persecutors and sometimes escapes occurred. Some sacrificed their own lives for other individuals, whilst others chose to kill themselves, realising that they would inevitably be killed by the Nazis,” (“Background: Resistance”).

There were the Sonderkommando at Auschwitz, male laborers who disposed of the dead bodies in the crematories. Subject to instant execution if caught, Estusia, Anna, and a small number of other women played key roles in smuggling gunpowder for explosives from the Union Munitions factory to the men of the Sonderkommando. The Sonderkommando made 'grenades' out of shoe polish cans that they filled with gunpowder that the women smuggled out of the plant. The Sonderkommando Uprising occurred on October 7, 1944 and was immediately terminated by the SS but not after the bombs had done severe damage to Crematorium IV. Crematorium IV was never able to be used again, saving many lives and slowing the Nazi kill rate in the camp. Estusia and three other young women were betrayed and the SS tortured them for more names until the four girls were hung on January 5, 1945, just two weeks before the advancing Soviet Red Army reached Auschwitz. The whole camp was forced to watch the four girls suffer as an example. After the was Anna set out to tell her story and settled in Boston with her husband Joshua

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.

leaders, stated that one thousand prisoners must be killed a day in order to make more room for the incoming prisoners.While escorting the prisoners to the gas chambers a huge riot broke out in the crowd of the

However, thousands still died every day at Treblinka, a concentration camp in Poland. “At the peak of operations, 15,000 men, women and children died there each day. Death on that scale took enormous labor, and towards the end, when the SS began to fear discovery, the mass graves were opened and the rotting bodies burned.” The Sonderkommando, a group of prisoners, were responsible of disposing bodies of other prisoners. The purpose of surviving till the end was to tell the horrific stories of the Warsaw Ghetto. Such as the filthy living conditions. “In Nazi camps especially,

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

It was how fast the Nazis raided homes of people, tapped telephones, planted informants in cafes, shut down all presses that disagreed with Nazi ideology, forbid citizens from sharing information with foreigners, and kill all those who spoke against them, that made it impossible for Jews to have any chance of surviving the Nazi onslaught, even if they were armed. Jews had no idea what was waiting for them when the Nazis were transporting them to concentration camps. Even if Jews, communities and other opponents were able to form a coalition, it would have been unlikely to disrupt Hitler's plans. The Warsaw uprising is an example of what happened to those armed brave enough to fight:15,200 rebels killed and missing, 5,000 wounded, 15,000 sent to POW camps. Among civilians: 200,000 were dead, about 700,000 expelled from the city,and about 55,000 civilians were sent to concentration camps, including 13,000 to

“We had no dreams of liberation; we hoped merely to destroy the camp and to die from bullets rather than from gas. We would not make it easy for the Germans” (Thomas Toivi Blatt). Escaping was on the mind of many captured Jews when they were transported to the death camp, Sobibór. Their vision came to life when they followed through with an escape on October 14, 1943. This revolt can be analyzed by contemplating the causes and effects, the escape itself, and the aftermath of those who revolted against the Germans.

From 1941 to 1943, Jews created underground resistance movements in about 100 ghettos throughout Nazi occupied territory. Despite the terrible conditions, lack of resources, lack of support in, as well as outside, the ghetto, and fear of individual and collective punishment, spiritual and armed resistance occurred.