Fighting Back
Fighting Back
The Holocaust was one of the most horrendous and atrocious event in history. Millions of Jews were killed without even a second thought. The Nazis tried to suppress, demoralize, and dehumanize the Jews in every way possible. First, the Jews were forced into overcrowded ghettos, then to concentration camps where they were killed systematically or worked to their deaths. As the news of Jews being sent to death camps became known, the Jews began to rise up against the Nazis. They refused to let an invading army destroy their homes, friends, and family. The strength of the resistance against the Nazis was especially seen in the Warsaw Uprising. The horrors of what the Jews faced within the two year confinement inside Warsaw were unimaginable. People died on the streets every day from starvation or were shot by the Nazis like animals. Piles of dead bodies became a common sight on the streets of Warsaw. Their combined struggles and hardships became a catalyst for resistance. They began to work together, organize, and fight back for the freedom and dignity which they took for granted. In response to the guilt from not stopping the first wave of liquidation in Warsaw, the ZOB was created. The Jews of the ZOB would not only stand up and fight, but resist and demoralize the Nazis. When the Nazis had reduced the population of 300,000 Warsaw ghetto inhabitants to 60,000, the Jews realized that they had to stand up. Rather than to submit to the Nazis, Modecai Anielweicz organized the Jewish Fighting Organization, known as the ZOB (Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa in Polish) (USHMM). Modecai organized the ZOB into over twenty two fighting units with ten to twelve people in each. These units were spread throughout the ghetto: in German workshops, market districts, and central areas (Rappaport). Each group was supplied with weapons such as Molotov cocktails, grenades, pistols, knives, and explosives. Many of these weapons were smuggled in by
The Holocaust was one of the most horrendous and atrocious event in history. Millions of Jews were killed without even a second thought. The Nazis tried to suppress, demoralize, and dehumanize the Jews in every way possible. First, the Jews were forced into overcrowded ghettos, then to concentration camps where they were killed systematically or worked to their deaths. As the news of Jews being sent to death camps became known, the Jews began to rise up against the Nazis. They refused to let an invading army destroy their homes, friends, and family. The strength of the resistance against the Nazis was especially seen in the Warsaw Uprising. The horrors of what the Jews faced within the two year confinement inside Warsaw were unimaginable. People died on the streets every day from starvation or were shot by the Nazis like animals. Piles of dead bodies became a common sight on the streets of Warsaw. Their combined struggles and hardships became a catalyst for resistance. They began to work together, organize, and fight back for the freedom and dignity which they took for granted. In response to the guilt from not stopping the first wave of liquidation in Warsaw, the ZOB was created. The Jews of the ZOB would not only stand up and fight, but resist and demoralize the Nazis. When the Nazis had reduced the population of 300,000 Warsaw ghetto inhabitants to 60,000, the Jews realized that they had to stand up. Rather than to submit to the Nazis, Modecai Anielweicz organized the Jewish Fighting Organization, known as the ZOB (Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa in Polish) (USHMM). Modecai organized the ZOB into over twenty two fighting units with ten to twelve people in each. These units were spread throughout the ghetto: in German workshops, market districts, and central areas (Rappaport). Each group was supplied with weapons such as Molotov cocktails, grenades, pistols, knives, and explosives. Many of these weapons were smuggled in by