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| 62nd anniversary of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
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Upon the outbreak of the Second World War Warsaw became one of the first targets of German bombings. On 16 September 1939, after heavy bombing by Luftwaffe, German soldiers began the siege of the city. Despite the heroic struggle under the command of president Stefan Starzyński and of general Julian Rommel, on 27 September Warsaw was forced to surrender.
The Germans entered the city on October 1st. The occupation began. The food was rationed. To amuse themselves SS officers were shooting at pedestrians. All Jews were forced to wear a white armband with a blue Star of David (1 December 1939).
The Nazis started to establish the Warsaw Ghetto with the area of 403 hectares, enclosed by a wall and barbed wire. On 15 November 1940 360,000 of Jews - that is almost 30% of the population of the city - were moved into it.. The number soon grew to 500,000. 100,000 died of starvation and disease. All Jews from around Warsaw were transported to the Ghetto. The Ghetto inhabitants were divided into crews of forced labour. Despite terrible conditions the Ghetto inhabitants lived their everyday lives. Pupils attended schools and even secret political organizations were functioning. Between July and August of 1942 mass deportations started. Almost 310,000 Jews from the Ghetto were crammed in cattle trucks and transported to death camps, mainly to Treblinka.
Two armed organizations operated in the Ghetto: Jewish Military Union (ŻZW) (created in December of 1939) and Jewish Fighters Organization (ŻOB) (created in October 1942). Both trained volunteers to fight, eliminated the traitors and German agents, prepared weapons, primitive grenades and explosives. Warsaw inhabitants and Polish resistance movement assisted both the civilians and the military organizations. The weapons were supplied to the Ghetto among others by Home Army (AK), People’s Guard (GL), and National Security Corps (KB). A key role in the organization of assistance was played by Konrad Żegota Committee of Aid to Jewish People (created on 27 April 1942) and later transformed into the Council for Aid to the Jews 'Żegota' (4 December 1943). The council operated in close cooperation with Government Representation in Poland. It was hiding Jews and providing them with opportunities to survive outside the Ghetto, prepared escapes, arranged Aryan documents, transmitted information on extermination of Jews to Polish Government in London and to governments of western states. The Żegota Council had branches in Cracow and Lvov. Thanks to its efforts about 40 thousand Jews were saved.
In July of 1942 the Germans started the transportation of Ghetto population to death camps. Till the end of September of 1942 they deported more than 300 thousand people. At the beginning of 1943 only about 60-70 thousand people were left to work in German establishments.
In March 1943 Himmler send the SS gruppenfuhrer Jürgen Stroop with orders to decimate the rest of the Jewish population. On 19 April 1943 the increase of mass executions confirmed the intentions of the Nazis. The uprising in the Ghetto began.
The insurgents were led by the ŻOB Commander Mordechaj Anielewicz, the German troops – by SS general Jürgen Strop. Not able to defeat the Ghetto in one strike, the Germans resorted to systematic burning, tearing down and blowing up houses and bunkers. This way they subdued the successive points of resistance. To achieve it they used artillery, air force, and sappers.
8 May 1943 saw the death of Anielewicz and the members of the ŻOB general staff. The scuffles of small groups of Jews hidden in the ruins lasted till the end of June. The fighting Jews were supported from the outside by armed groups of Polish resistance. Thanks to their help some of ŻOB leaders and insurgents were saved. About 7 thousand Jews were killed in the fighting. Over 55 thousand were transported by Germans to the death camp in Treblinka. After the fall of the uprising the Nazis razed the Ghetto to the ground.
When the Germans left Warsaw in January 1945 there were only 20 Jews left in the city.
2005-04-19, Dariusz Nowak-Nova
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