Warsaw Ghetto Research Paper

Is it possible that a group of people could fight tanks and mounted machine guns with only a few pistols and rifles? Well that is what happened in the Uprising of Warsaw Ghetto in April, 1943 when a group of Jewish fighters fought the Nazi power. The Jews were equipped with only pistols and a few rifles. They dug tunnels and bunkers to hide and store stuff. Although the Germans defeated the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto uprising, they did not stand a chance until the Jews ran out of men and supplies. “In July 22, 1942, the Nazis began sending more than 5,000 Jews per day to the death camp at Treblinka. Between July and September 1942, the Nazis shipped about 265,000 Jews from Warsaw to Treblinka.” ("United States Holocaust Memorial Museum“) The Jewish started digging tunnels to hide themselves and store food. Bunkers were built under buildings to plan attacks and hide civilians. These bunkers were dug in a defensive pattern. The headquarters bunker was built in the mists of a maze of roof top attacking sites. The Jewish fighters planned to attack the Germans from the rooftops. Over the months, Jews made homemade bombs and collected pistols and rifles. A Jewish fighting group called the Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa, or ZOB, was formed. The group was mostly made up of young survivors.
On April 19, 1943 Heinrich Himmler decided to clear out the ghetto in honor of Hitler's birthday.
He sent 2,000 troops with tanks and mounted machine guns to the overrun ghetto. Heinrich expected the Jews to run out of supplies and surrender. The Jews marched through the streets, protesting and running every German out of the ghetto (American Journal of Sociology). As they marched, chaos began and the start of an uprising. The Jewish fighters held their ground on the rooftops and defending against the Nazis. All civilians were to hide in the main bunkers so they would not get killed (American Journal of
Sociology). As the days went by, the Jews kept the Germans at bay from the rooftops (Travin, H. 46-51). Slowly, Jewish fighters took casualties and started to lose ground. Weeks later, Heinrich was tired of waiting and pushed the Jews back. His troops were ordered to kill every Jew and infiltrate their main bunker (National Archives/United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). A month after Heinrich arrived at Warsaw ghetto, he had finally took the Jewish main headquarters bunker. The civilians surrendered and the Germans succeeded. Some of the remaining Jewish fighters took their lives so they wouldn’t be captured alive (Archives/United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Stand up to evil, no matter how great of loss it is to you. During the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Jewish fighters held of Nazis including tanks and mounted machine guns with only pistols, rifles, and homemade bombs. The Germans wiped out Warsaw Ghetto of all its Jewish residents and won the uprising. Overall, even if they lost, the Jews defended the Warsaw ghetto against the Germans for over a month, making it a symbol of Jewish resistance against the Nazis.