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The Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

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In 1943, with the increased danger of being discovered by German patrols, the Bielskis took their entire group deeper into the most inaccessible regions of the forest. In the Bielski camp, everyone worked—some built huts, others fixed clothing, guns, and tools. There were shoemakers, metal workers, nurses—everyone did what they could. They set up a school, metalworking shop, synagogue, kitchen, mill, bakery, bathhouse, and a medical clinic. The group became a real community.
“At the same time that it saved lives and protected the noncombatants in the camp, the Bielski group carried out several operational missions. It attacked the Belorussian auxiliary police officials, as well as local farmers suspected of killing Jews. The group disabled …show more content…
On April 19, 1943, the Warsaw ghetto uprising began after German troops and police entered the ghetto to deport its surviving inhabitants. For a long time, many of the Jews held on to the belief that some of them would survive; that the Nazis did not plan to kill them all. Surely, they said, the Nazis would not kill so many valuable factory workers, these workers were vital for the Nazi war effort, it simply made no sense! The Jew held on to his sense of logic and could not fathom the Nazi plan of genocide. The signs were there. In retrospect, they were very clear, but the idea was so unthinkable to normal civilized people that most Jews were simply unable to draw the correct conclusion. Others realized that logic was dead, and soon so would be the Jew. Now there was no longer any doubt. Now they knew that the trains that arrived daily were not taking them for “resettlement.” The destination of the deportations was now known to the Jews—it was the Treblinka Death …show more content…
The German troops employed dogs to discover the hideouts, using smoke grenades and tear gas to force Jews out. In many instances, the Jews came out of their hiding places firing at the Germans, while a number of female fighters lobbed hidden grenades or fired concealed handguns after they had surrendered. It is important to note that Jewish women fought bravely side by side with the men. Small groups of Jewish insurgents engaged German patrols in nighttime skirmishes. However, German losses were minimal following the first ten days of the uprising.
On May 8, 1943, the Germans discovered the main command post of the Jewish fighters, located at Mila 18 Street. Most of its leadership and dozens of remaining fighters were killed, while others committed mass suicide by ingesting cyanide. The ghetto fighters were able to hold out for nearly a month, but on May 16, 1943, the revolt ended. Pockets of resistance remained until August of that year. The Jewish fighters of the ghetto held out longer than the entire Polish army (repeated on pages 67, 113, 147), which was crushed by the Nazis in less than three

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