Mordechai Anielewicz

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Mordechai Anielewicz

Mordechai Anielewicz (1919 – May 8, 1943) was the commander of the ŻOB or the Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (English: Jewish Fighting Organization). As leader, Anielewicz helped to organize and lead the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The uprising is the most famous example of Jewish resistance during World War II. At just age 23, Mordechai Anielewicz armed the Jews and called them to action, called them to resist getting into the railroad cars that would take them to the concentration camps. Instead, he encouraged them to die fighting.

In January l943, the German troops tried to enter the ghetto to round up another group of people for deportation. During this time the Warsaw ghetto fighters fired upon German troops and after a few days, the troops retreated. This small victory, the only one of its kind, encouraged the resistance members to continue fighting until the end.

Early Life

Mordecai Anielewicz was born into a Jewish working-class family in a poor neighborhood of Wyszkow (near Warsaw, Poland. He grew up extremely poor. Even at a young age, Anielewicz was filled with spunk and a deep sense of justice. He oftern stood up to bullying Poles and fought them off feircely for his age. As he grew, he channeled that engergy, and became a leader, an organizer, and a fighter.

Anielewicz spent a short time as a member of the Betar, is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923. After graduating from high school, he joined and became a leader in the Zionist-socialist youth movement "Hashomer Hatzair".

Anielewicz's country of Poland was invaded by Nazi troops

On September 7, 1939, a week after the German invasion of Poland, Anielewicz escaped with his members of the group from Warsaw to the eastern regions in the hopes that the Polish would slow down the German advance. When the Red Army finally occupied Eastern Poland, Anielewicz attempted to cross the Romanian border in order to open a route for young Jews to get to Mandatory Palestine; however, he was caught and thrown into a Soviet jail. He was released a short time later, and returned to the Warsaw Ghetto.

When he heard that Jewish refugees, other youth movement members and political groups flocked to Vilna, Lithuania, which was then under Soviet control, he went there too and convinced his colleagues to send people back to Poland to continue the fight against the Germans. He returned to Warsaw in January, 1940 with his girlfriend, Mira Fuchrer, where he organized cells and youngsters groups, instructed, participated in underground publications, organized meetings and seminars and visited other groups in different cities.

World War II

Commander of the Warsaw ghetto uprising was born in a poor family in a poor neighborhood. After he completed his high school studies, he joined the "Hashomer Hatzair" youth movement. As a youngsters guide he excelled as a leader and organizer.

In September 7, 1939, a week after the war broke out, Anielewicz escaped with his youth movement friends from Warsaw to the east regions, assuming that the Polish army would restrain the German advance. In September 17, the Soviet army occupied the eastern regions of Poland. Anielewicz tried to pass the border to Romania to open a route for youngsters to Israel. Anielewicz was caught and put in a Soviet jail. After he was released he returned to Warsaw Ghetto passing through a lot of communities on his way.

Anielewicz stayed in Warsaw a short time and left for Vilna, Lithuania, where a lot of refugees, youth movement's members and political groups came from the west. The city was annexed to the USSR a short time before.

Anielewicz demanded from his colleagues to send back a group of members to the occupied territories in Poland to continue the educational and political activities underground. He and his girlfriend, Mira Fukrer, were among the first volunteers that went back to Warsaw.

From January 1940, Anielewicz became a professional underground activist. As a leader of his youth movement, he organized cells and youngsters groups, instructed, participated in underground publications, organized meetings and seminars and visited other groups in different cities.

Anielewicz dedicated part of his time learning Hebrew, reading and studying History, sociology and economics. At the same time his point of view was formatted and expressed in publications and lectures.

His activities changed when the news about the mass killings of Jews in Eastern Europe were known. Immediately Anielewicz start organizing self-defense groups inside the Warsaw Ghetto. His first attempts to connect with Polish forces outside the Ghetto, acting under orders of the Polish government in London, failed. In March - April 1942, Anielewicz was one of the founders of the "Anti-fascist group". The "group" did not fulfill the expectations of Zionist groups, and, after a wave of arrests of communist members the organization, was dismantled.


In the summer of 1942, Anielewicz was visiting the southwest region of Poland – annexed to Germany – attempting to organize armed resistance. Upon his return to Warsaw, he found that a major deportation to the Treblinka extermination camp had been carried out and only 60,000 of the ghetto's 350,000 Jews remained. He joined the ŻOB, and in November he was appointed as chief commander. In early 1943, a connection with the Polish government in exile in London was made and the group received weapons from the Polish underground on the "Aryan" side of the city. Many Jews in ghettos across Eastern Europe tried to organize resistance against the Germans and to arm themselves with smuggled and home-made weapons. Between l941 and l943, underground resistance movements formed in about 100 Jewish groups. The most famous attempt by Jews to resist the Germans in armed fighting occurred in the Warsaw ghetto.

In the summer of l942, about 300,000 Jews were deported from Warsaw to Treblinka. When reports of mass murder in the annihilation centers leaked back to the Warsaw ghetto, a surviving group of mostly young people formed an organization called the Z.O.B. (for the Polish name: Zydowska organizacja Bojowa - meaning, Jewish Fighting Organization). The ZOB, led by 23 year old Mordecai Anielewicz called for the Jewish people to resist going to the railroad cars.

Reports of massacres of Jews by mobile killing units and in extermination camps had already filtered into the ghetto. However the ZOB was not yet ready to stage a revolt. After deportations ended in September 1942, the ZOB expanded to incorporate members of underground political organizations and established contact with the Polish resistance forces who provided training, armaments and explosives. Mordecai Anielewicz was appointed commander.

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Mordechai Anielewicz and his girlfriend Mira Fuchrer in the ruined Warsaw ghetto. Painted by Shimon Garmize. Above the mural is the first line of the Partisan's Song "Zog Nit Keinmol" in Yiddish.

The GHETTO was an urban section serving as compulsory residential quarter for Jews, generally surrounded by a wall shutting it off from the rest of the city. Except for one or more gates, the ghetto remained bolted at night. The origin of this term has been the subject of much speculation. It was probably first used to describe a quarter of Venice situated near a foundry (getto or ghetto) which in l516 was enclosed by walls and gates and declared to be the only part of the city to be open to Jewish settlement.

Subsequently, the term was extended to all Jewish quarters of the same type. Other theories are that the word derives from the Hebrew get, indicating divorce or separation; from the Greek neighbor; from the German geheckter or fenced place; or from the Italian borghetto (a small section of the town). In any case, the institution antedates the word. The term has come to indicate not only the legally established, coercive ghetto, but also the voluntary gathering of Jews in a secluded quarter, a process known in the Diaspora before compulsion was exercised. By analogy, the word is currently used to describe similar homogeneous quarters of non-Jewish groups, such as immigrant quarters in American cities.

Jewish reaction to establishment of ghettos: The Jews, who were unaware of the Nazi intentions, resigned themselves to the establishment of ghettos. They hoped that living together in mutual cooperation under self-rule would make it easier for them to overcome the period of repression until their country would be liberated from the Nazi yoke.

The Warsaw Ghetto confined the local population as well as deportees from other countries. Soon after its establishment in October 1940, the ghetto contained 200,000 more than the area normally encompassed. The ghetto was surrounded by a high wall. Its inmates were provided with little food, and deprived of hygienic conditions. The mortality rate was so high that daily burials had to be made in mass graves. Nevertheless, the Jews organized a semblance of communal life in which mutual assistance and education of the children were dominant features, indicating refusal to become demoralized.

Liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto: In July, 1942, the Germans began a systematic liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto. In order to prevent resistance and rebellion, the Nazis resorted to subterfuge to keep the victims ignorant of their ultimate fate. No one knew the fate of the 6,000 to 10,000 Jews daily deported from Warsaw. By autumn l942, only 40,000 Jews remained in the ghetto, and for a time deportations ceased. On January 19, 1943, deportations resumed, and Warsaw Jews actively opposed the Germans for the first time. The Nazis revenged this act that was to prelude a greater uprising a few months later.

Resistance and revolt in the Ghetto: From the start, some Jews kept contact with underground forces outside of the ghetto. At great risk they smuggled in arms and ammunition they kept hidden, to be used when resistance plans were completed. Such acts of rebellion had been postponed because of the unwillingness of many Jewish community leaders to believe reports about the Germans. Eventually, however, a Jewish combat organization was organized: the remaining Jews chose to die fighting.

On April, 1943, the first night of Passover, a detachment of Nazis arrived in the ghetto. They were met with pistol shots and hand grenades. Thus began a struggle of Maccabean courage. Massive German forces had been brought into the former Warsaw Ghetto to fight the Jewish rebels. Every house became a fortress, with flags of Zion and of Poland; every street became a battlefield. Most of the ghetto was soon set on fire, to flush out the Jewish fighters. On the forty-second day of fighting, only one house remained standing. The few surviving Jews contested every floor until none was left to fight. The ZOB command bunker, staffed by Mordecai Anielewicz and other leaders of the resistance fell on May 8. Warsaw - the Nazis triumphantly announced - was at last ‘free of Jews’ - Judenrein.

Armed Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto, in April l943, was born out of desperation, determination and selfless courage. The Warsaw Ghetto uprising was a turning point in Jewish history. Jews realized they had to fight. The importance of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising lies not in the fact that unarmed and untrained groups of youthful survivors organized a hopeless struggle against the mighty German war machine, but in the symbolic significance of the change in Jewish attitude.

This uprising is considered to be the first time Jews fought their own battles under their own banners, after Jewish Wars with the Romans, and after Massada, 135 C.E. This change in national consciousness laid ground for the birth of the State of Israel and the rebirth of the Jewish nation five years later.

Under the leadership of Mordecai Anielewicz, Warsaw Ghetto Jews staged the first urban uprising in occupied Europe. Seven hundred and fifty Jewish fighters fought the heavily armed and well-trained Germans for almost a month. Their arsenal consisted of nine rifles, 59 pistols and several hundred grenades, explosives and mines. But, on May 16, l943, the revolt ended. The Germans had slowly crushed the resistance. Of the more than 56,000 Jews captured, about 7,000 were shot, and the remainder deported to annihilation centers or concentration camps.

Just before his death Anielewicz wrote to his colleague, Yitzhak Zukerman: "…what really matters is that the dream of my life has come true. Jewish self-defense in the Warsaw ghetto has become a fact. Jewish armed resistance and retaliation have become a reality. I have witnessed the magnificent heroic struggle of Jewish fighters.”


When the major deportation to extermination camps started in Warsaw Ghetto, in the summer of 1942, Anielewicz was visiting in the south-west region of Poland, that was annexed to Germany, trying to organize armed defense. At his return he found only 60,000 Jews from 350,000, and a small "Jews Fighter Organization", without any weapons and with a lot of difficulties, a lost of fighters and failures. Anielewicz started to reorganize the group with great success because there was much support for the idea of fighting after the major deportation of all the underground groups. Next step was to compose a public committee and a coordination committee. In November 1942 Anielewicz was elected as chief commander. Until January 1943, a few fighter groups of youth movement members were based in the ghetto. A connection with the Polish army commanded from London was made and weapons were supplied from the Polish side of the city.

In January 18, 1943, the Nazis planned the second big deportation of the Jews to the extermination camps from the Warsaw Ghetto. The headquarters organization did not have enough time to discuss the possible response but the armed groups decided to react. The resistance was lead in two points. Anielewicz commanded the battle in the main street. The fighters joined the deported and when they got a signal between the streets Zamenhoff and Niska they attacked the escort. The Jews escaped and dispersed. Most of Hashomer Hatzair's members were killed in this battle. This was a very significant move because four days after the revolt, the Nazis stopped the operation.

The next three months - January to April 1943 - was an intensive preparation and very decisive period for the underground organization, under Anielewicz's command. In April 19, on the eve of Pesah, the last deportation began, and the uprising broke out. At the first the superiority of the resistance was clear, and the Nazis suffered many losses. Three long days of battles between streets took place. The Nazis greatly outnumbered the resistance in soldiers and weapons, so that the hundreds of fighters, with only hand revolvers, had no chances. However, the Jewish fighters didn't surrender, and even survivors in shelters did not exit them despite the calls and promises. The Nazis forces were compelled to burn house by house and to go through every shelter in the Ghetto. The fight lasted for four weeks, and in May 16, 1943, after a lot of casualties, General Jurgen Stroop could report that the Ghetto was defeated and "there is no more Jewish suburb in Warsaw".


In January 18, 1943, he was instrumental in the first Warsaw ghetto uprising, preventing the majority of a second wave of Jews from being deported to extermination camps. This initial incident of armed resistance was a prelude to the Warsaw ghetto uprising that commenced on April 19 and fought the German troops until its suppression on May 16, 1943. Anielewicz committed suicide, along with his girlfriend and many of his staff, in the ŻOB bunker at 18 Miła Street[1] on May 8, once their capture by the Germans was inevitable.

Death

Mordechai Anielewicz's memorial in Wyszków

The last known letter of Mordechai Anielewicz was dated April 23, 1943, and was addressed to his friend Yitzhak Cukierman. In it, he writes:

It is impossible to put into words what we have been through. One thing is clear, what happened exceeded our boldest dreams. The Germans ran twice from the ghetto. One of our companies held out for 40 minutes and another – for more than 6 hours. The mine set in the "brushmakers" area exploded. Several of our companies attacked the dispersing Germans. Our losses in manpower are minimal. That is also an achievement. Y. [Yechiel] fell. He fell a hero, at the machine-gun. I feel that great things are happening and what we dared do is of great, enormous importance....

Beginning from today we shall shift over to the partisan tactic. Three battle companies will move out tonight, with two tasks: reconnaissance and obtaining arms. Do you remember, short-range weapons are of no use to us. We use such weapons only rarely. What we need urgently: grenades, rifles, machine-guns and explosives.

It is impossible to describe the conditions under which the Jews of the ghetto are now living. Only a few will be able to hold out. The remainder will die sooner or later. Their fate is decided. In almost all the hiding places in which thousands are concealing themselves it is not possible to light a candle for lack of air.

With the aid of our transmitter we heard the marvelous report on our fighting by the "Shavit" radio station. The fact that we are remembered beyond the ghetto walls encourages us in our struggle. Peace go with you, my friend! Perhaps we may still meet again! The dream of my life has risen to become fact. Self-defense in the ghetto will have been a reality. Jewish armed resistance and revenge are facts. I have been a witness to the magnificent, heroic fighting of Jewish men in battle.

During the initial days of battles Anielewicz commanded the resistance forces. Eventually the street fight ended and Anielewicz moved to the headquarters shelter to Mila 18 street. On May 8, the headquarter's bunker was overtaken, and Anielewicz was killed along with a few colleagues. His body was never found, and it's generally believed that his remains were taken to the nearby crematoriusm along with the bodies of several other Jewish people.

In 1944, Mordechai Anielewicz was posthumously awarded the Virtuti Militari, the Polish military cross, by the Polish government in exile.

Kibbutz Yad Mordechai in Israel is named for him, and a monument was erected in his memory.

Cultural references

  • Anielewicz is a key figure in Harry Turtledove's alternate history series Worldwar.
  • Hank Azaria plays the role of Anielewicz in the 2001 TV Movie Uprising.

Further reading

Yitzhak ("Antek") Zuckerman, A Surplus of Memory : Chronicle of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (A Centennial Book), ISBN 0-520-07841-1.

External links

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