The Ghetto Fights (Warsaw 1941-43)

Marek Edelman was a leading member of the ZOB (Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa) the Jewish Resistance Organisation that led the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The Ghetto Fight is his personal testimony.

Initially the collaborationist Judenrat remained committed to the prospect of the “resettlement to the east” held out to them by Nazi’s. Although the existence of Treblinka and the final solution was known to the Jewish bund it was simply not believed outside of these circles. These circumstances, combined with the illegal policy of collective responsibility ensured the relative passivity of the ghetto population.

By late 1942 however it was obvious to large sections of the population that there were no labour camps. After talks between the Jewish Bund and various Zionist political groups a joint battle organisation was formed. When The Nazi’s second push for deportations began in January 1943 it was met with concerted resistance. Poorly armed and vastly outnumbered the ZOB inflicted heavy casualties. Unable to dislodge the Jewish resistance fighter the Nazis put the Ghetto to flame. Thousands perished in the ensuing conflagration, either burning to death in the attics and hideouts or shot fleeing the flames. Edelman and a small number of insurgents escaped through the sewers to join the Polish partisans.

The Ghetto Fights is at times a harrowing read. What lifts it are the tales of individual acts of heroism, the final passages a testament to the kind of courage that is beyond imagining. It’s an important book and deserves to be more widely known.