The Ghetto In Warsaw

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HIST 310 European Holocaust Studies Term Paper Nick Byland Tuesday-Thursday 1:30 P.M.-2:45 P.M. Many people remember the ghetto in Warsaw as an important historical example of Jewish resistance. By this, it is implied that some groups of Jewish people in other areas of Europe may have complied with the deportation of their families, friends, and fellow countrymen, likely for fear of retaliation if they resisted the Nazis. How could this have happened then, that during World War II so many people affiliated with those captured (Jews, Romani, political prisoners, and others) would have been so compliant to watch their friends and neighbors be sent away? Though the Nazis attempted to tighten their control over the Warsaw ghetto’s citizens,…show more content…
In addition, many Jews in Warsaw’s ghetto were now plunged into confusion about what they were supposed to do next and about who would step forward and take Czerniakow’s place. For many, time seemed like it was running out; especially now that this deportation was in full swing. Still, others blamed themselves for not doing enough to oppose the Germans or the Jewish Police that acted in their interests. In any case, it was certainly an opportunity for heroic figures to rise up in resistance; but was also one for crooked people to exploit others even more. Vladka Meed (born Feigele Peltel), a member of the illegal socialist youth organization Zukunft (a branch of the S.C.) wrote in her book “On Both Sides of the Wall” that eight AM every morning from here on out signaled the commencement of round-ups by the Jewish police[35]. At about the end of July though, other groups such as; the SS, Latvian, Lithuanian, as well as Ukrainian soldiers aided efforts to besiege the ghetto[36]. The first to be sent away were groups that were deemed the most vulnerable, with those that lacked occupations or certain documents being sent afterward, followed by those that had been exempt for a while, and then by those who even had correct papers and occupations. Much of the activity that went on previously had now stopped, since people were now afraid to even go outside their homes; lest they be one of the next to be collected or shot on site. However it was this same tension that led many people to develop survival instincts that they would need to avoid deportation and death in these dark days ahead of them. In addition, it influenced people such as Dr. Alex Hershaft (notable ghetto survivor, chemist, and animal rights activist) who eventually used his horrific
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