This Stuff Makes Me Cry

I'm doing research on the Warsaw ghetto uprising of 1942-43. For those who don't know, Jews in World War II were forced to live in ghettos in major cities for several years before they were deported to concentration camps (hopefully you know at least that much). The Jews in the Warsaw ghetto fought back with active, armed resistance. It blows my mind because the fighters had no hope, none whatsoever, of survival.

"The fighters knew what they were doing when they attacked the German tanks; this was not a battle in defense of their families and homes because there was no hope of defeating the mighty enemy. It was not a battle for lives of those nearest and dearest, because they had already been slaughtered. Nor was this a battle to save their own lives, for their own lives were already unbearable. The revolt was conceived on a moral plane; a battle for the honor of their people, for the future of their people. It was an act that grew out of the great yearning for dignity." --Isaac Kowalski

One little anecdote that makes me want to cry. There was an orphanage in the ghetto, run by a man named Janusz Korczak. He took in 192 orphans and ran this orphanage like its own little republic. They had their own newspapers, a governmental council. He wanted to teach the children justice, despite what life in the ghetto had taught them.

In the summer of 1942, the Germans launched the single largest deportation of the Jews in the ghetto. Over 350,000 Jews were deported over (I think) seven weeks. 193 of those were Korczak and his children.

"Korczak lined up his children in rows of four. The orphans were clutching flasks of water and their favorite books and toys. They were in their best clothes. Korczak stood at the head of his 192 children, holding a child with each hand. One child carried the flag of King Matt with a Star of David set against the white field on the other side. They marched through the ghetto to the Umschlagplatz where they joined thousands of people waiting without shade, water, or shelter in the hot August sun. The children did not cry out. They walked quietly in forty-eight rows of four. One eyewitness recalled, 'This was no march to the train cars but rather a mute protest against the murderous regime...a process the like of which no human eye has witnessed.'" --Israel Gutman, Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

What makes me so sad is the dignity of it. These kids had no idea where they were going. Their parents, and probably their siblings, had already been killed. And they were marching to their deaths, but they went with dignity. And they showed a lot more courage than a lot of adults would have shown in that situation. God help me, if I'm ever in a fight for my life, that I can show the same courage as those Jewish children did.

I highly recommend reading more about the Warsaw ghetto uprising. It's probably one of the greatest stories of human dignity and courage ever told. A handful of less than 1,000 Jewish citizens held off the most powerful army in the world for longer than either the entire countries of France and Poland. And almost all they had was Molotov cocktails and pistols. It blows my mind.

For more information on the Warsaw ghetto uprising, read Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by Israel Gutman, or visit The Holocaust History Project

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