RESISTANCE AND SURVIVAL

Abstract

THE Uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto in April 1943, against the full might of the well-armed German Army represents a glorious chapter in the history of Jewish resistance during the last war. The more this darkest chapter of European history is being studied, the more puzzling becomes the question; Could the Jews in the ghettoes and camps have resisted extermination on a larger scale, and if so, why did they not do so? The fact is—and it is one of the greatest significance—that there was resistance of one kind or another; only it was confined to individual groups Their warnings and appeals to their fellow Jews were, at first, not heeded and when, finally, they were, it was already too late to change the course of events. Exhausted physically, deprived of genuine leadership (the leaders were the first at whom the Grmans were aiming) and misled by false hopes and the treacherous activities of many among the German-appointed “Judenraete,” the mass of the people went to their deaths without active resistance.

While the heroism of the Warsaw Ghetto Fighters remains unparalleled, that of the Jewish Partisans, who found their way into the woods, forming themselves into special fighting units or joining up with other units which operated behind the enemy lines, is another glorious chapter in recent Jewish history, which should be better known than is chapter in recent Jewish history, which should be better known than is the case; unfortunately, very little of it appeared in print in English. We are privileged to present a few extracts from a large volume, “SEFER HA-PARTIZANIM” (“The Book of the Partisans”) published by Sifriat Poalim, Tel Aviv, under the joint editorship of Abba Kovner, the well-known Hebrew poet, and Shalom Cholawski, who were themselves members of Partisan Units in Vilna and Minsk, respectively, and are now leading figures in the Kibbutz movement. They both appeared as witnesses at the Eichmann Trial.