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Rivolta del ghetto di Varsavia (19 aprile - 16 maggio 1943)   Cerca

Definizione

The resistance by the Jews against the Germans in the Warsaw ghetto from April 19 to May 16, 1943, was the first uprising in an occupied city in Europe during the war. In 1942, members of the Jewish underground started to plan an organized, large-scale resistance against upcoming deportations and on July 28, the Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ZOB; Jewish Fighting Organization) was formed out of the Zionist movements Ha-Shomer ha Tsa'ir, Dror, and Akiva. In the fall, another resistance group Zydowski Zwiazek Wojskowy (ZZW; Jewish Military Union) was established from the Betar and Revisionist movements. Under the command of Mordechai Anielewicz, the ZOB managed to obtain a small amount of weapons from the Armia Krajowa. The ZOB's first act of armed resistance occurred in January 1943, when ZOB detachments attacked the Germans who were rounding up Jews, thus managing to disrupt the deportation procedure for a short while. From January to April, the ZOB worked on strategic planning, acquiring weapons, forming twenty-two fighting units, and establishing a network of bases throughout the ghetto along with the ZZW. The civilian population of the ghetto prepared hiding places in underground bunkers. On April 19, 1943, equipped with pistols, rifles, and hand grenades the 700 to 750 members of the ZOB and ZZW launched an attack on the German forces led by General Jürgen Stroop. Initially, the resistance fighters managed to attack German tanks and evade being captured during combat while the other Jews hid in the underground bunkers. The Germans then set fire to the ghetto, trapping those in the bunkers. On May 8, the ZOB headquarters on Mila street and Mordechai Anielewicz were captured and on May 16, Stroop concluded the fighting. The uprising lasted for twenty-seven days. Although some Jews managed to escape the ghetto to the Polish side, many were deported to the Poniatowa, Trawniki, and Majdanek camps. News of the Warsaw ghetto uprising spread throughout Europe and inspired further acts of resistance. (en-US)

Fonte

Laqueur, Walter. The Holocaust Encyclopedia. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. p. 690-694

Termini più generici

• resistenza e clandestinità