My Blog: Event Summary of The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

The Warsaw Ghetto was a horrible place to live and it is known for its terrible conditions. It is also known for the many people who died in the ghetto itself and also the people who were deported to death camps. In 1943, the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto tried to prevent more Jews from being sent to death camps. This was the largest organized uprising in the Holocaust.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising took place in Germany in 1943. Between July 22 and September 12 1942, the German authorities deported and murdered around 300,000 Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. The Jews were transferred to a death camp named Treblinka. In response to the deportations on July 28, 1942 several Jewish underground organizations created an armed self-defense unit known and the Jewish Combat Organization.

The Revisionist Party formed another resistance organization, the Jewish Military Union. Both of the Jewish groups fought the German forces. The Battles lasted two months and eventually the German forces overpowered the Jewish groups. All the Jewish people who fought in the battle died.

Since the battle happened, some of the Jewish people were able to stay in the ghettos. Today, days of remembrance ceremonies to commemorate the victims and survivors of the Holocaust are linked to the dates of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

The Pain of Elie Wiesner and Many Others

Elie Wiesner (Victim)

May 23, 1943
Warsaw Ghetto

Why do I continue to tell myself that I am going to live a long happy life? My best friend was just transported to a death camp. I have no one left in my life. No family that loves me or no friends. I am not afraid to die anymore. I feel as though death is always upon me. I never cry anymore, or pray. I do not think that there is anyone to pray for anymore. All I do is wait to die. Wait to be transported to a death camp. I do not talk to anyone anymore.

In a way I do want to be transferred to a death camp. I have nothing else to live for in my life anymore, I have no reason to live. I want to be reunited with my family and with my friends, and I will do whatever it takes to be with them again.

I am going to ask one of the German guards if I could be transported with the other Jews that are being transported. He is going to have to say yes. I will soon be with my family again and I will be happy again.

The Rescuer Who Tried to Save Them All

Ezra Rosenburg (Rescuer)
July 26, 1943
Warsaw Ghetto

At this moment I am scared to death. I am scared to die. I would hate to lose this war. We Jews have been blamed for everything. We are as good as anyone else if not better. We did not do half of the  things the Germans accused us of doing. We are not bad people we are just people that have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I want to win this battle so we can prove to the Germans that they are not better than us. This is going to be a very tough battle to win, though. They are going to have a lot more weapons than us. We need to be ready. I want to save the Jews that are not in the war. Many Jews at this moment are being transported and I want that to stop. I hope no more more Jews will be hurt. It is not fair for innocent Jews to die. If I die during the war at least I know that I would have died trying to fight for what is right, and that is all that matters to me.

Poor Polish Bystander Witnessed it All

Jona Bongaries (Bystander)
April 19, 1943
Warsaw Ghetto

I remember sitting on my front porch watching all of these Jews being transported to death camps and into the ghettos. The look on their faces, I will never get that image out of my head. The sorrow that was on their faces, their sobs. I would rather be anywhere than there at that moment. I watched thousands of Jews being transferred and I never did anything. What could I do? If I said something I  would probably die. I did not want to take that risk.

Today was worse than any other day. I heard the Jews screaming for mercy and they were being transferred to death camps. Their screams brought me to tears, but I still did nothing. I couldn’t risk dying for people that I did not know. All I could do was wait. Wait for a miracle to save these poor people from death. No one else seemed to care. I felt as though I was the only one, alone forever.

I could have made a difference if I had just stepped up. I cannot live like this anymore. I am going to take my life. I will never be the same after what I have seen. I will live every moment of my life wondering what could have happened if I made a difference. If I stood but for what I believed in.

From The Eyes of The Perpetrator

Jurgen Stroop (Perpetrator)
May 16, 1943
Warsaw Ghetto
As I stand there watching so many Jews die right before my eyes I think to myself, “Why do I enjoy this? Why do I enjoy watching all these Jews die?” I supervise all of the Jews who are sent to death camps. I watch Jews die for a living.

I was born on September 26, 1895 in Detmold, Germany. When I was born my real name was Josef Stroop but I changed my first name to the more “Aryan” sounding Jurgen Stroop in 1941. I also commanded the German Forces that destroyed the Warsaw Ghetto. Many people think that I should be killed for what I am doing to these filthy Jews. I have made many choices during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Choices that I think benefit me and my people. I have sentenced Jews to death. I believe Ferdinand Sammern-Frankenegg was not up to the task of completely destroying the Warsaw Ghetto like I was so I took his place.

We entered the ghetto on April 19, 1943 and we called it the “Great Operation”. 750 Jewish fighters were waiting for us so I ordered my men to retreat. I gave instructions for all of the building to be burned to the ground. I remember watching buildings fall to the ground and burn Jews to death. All the Jewish people who escaped from the burnings of the building were rounded up and deported to death camps. I remember it like it was yesterday, so many Jews, men and women, begging me to let them live. Crawling on me to save them. I did nothing but ignore them and kept giving orders.

The ghetto fighters continued the battle from the cellars and attics of Warsaw. I remember using poison gas to kill the Jews. Many Jews escaped out of the sewers but the rest died. My final report about the military campaign said, “The Great Operation terminated on May 16, 1943, at 8:15 pm, with the blowing up of the Warsaw synagogue.” I remember being so proud of those words that came out of my mouth. Only 300 Jews out of thousands survived the uprising. Many people in the world would probably think that I should be sentenced to death.