Dawid Wdowinski
Encyclopedia
Dawid Wdowiński (1896–1970) was a psychiatrist
and doctor of neurology
. He was a member of the right-wing Jewish organization Hatzohar
and political leader of the Żydowski Związek Wojskowy (ŻZW – Jewish Military League) resistance organization before and during the Warsaw Ghetto uprising
.
Before World War II
, Wdowiński was a chairman of the Revisionist Zionism
party in Poland
. Together with many Jews in the Polish Army and Polish Jewish political leaders (Dawid Apfelbaum, Józef Celmajster, Henryk Lifszyc, Kałmen Mendelson, Paweł Frenkel and Leon Rodl), he founded the ŻZW group in the Warsaw Ghetto
. He was never a military commander, serving instead as political head of the ŻZW. In 1963 he published his memoir, in which he told about his involvement with the ŻZW and the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
After the war, accounts of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising were filtered through former members of the left-leaning ŻOB. These accounts (also adopted by the postwar Polish Communist state) diminished both the roles and the importance of the ŻZW and Wdowiński. One writer, Israel Guttman, was an activist in Ha'Shomer Ha'Tsair. Guttman's perspective continued in authoritative citations of Barbara Engelking-Boni and the Polish Center for Holocaust Research
, who described Wdowiński as "a senior activist in the Revisionists' movement (formed by Ze'ev Jabotinsky's New Zionist Organization); revisionist leader in the ghetto, he attributes himself in command of the fighting organisation of this political movement. After the war he prepared his memoirs." Another ŻOB fighter (Icchak Cukierman
) wrote, "The Revisionists had seceded from the World Zionist Organization
; and before the war, all socialist
movements, including the Zionists
, saw them as the Jewish ebodiminent of Fascism
." Wdowiński candidly noted the pro-Soviet
political orientation of the leftist Jews: "The second, the confused political orientation, was largely because many Jewish leaders were reared in the spirit of the Russian Revolution, and they thought they could translate the ideas of the class struggle into Zionist terms."
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
and doctor of neurology
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
. He was a member of the right-wing Jewish organization Hatzohar
Hatzohar
Hatzohar , officially Brit HaTzionim HaRevizionistim was a Revisionist Zionist organisation and political party in Mandate Palestine and newly-independent Israel.-Background:...
and political leader of the Żydowski Związek Wojskowy (ŻZW – Jewish Military League) resistance organization before and during the Warsaw Ghetto uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German occupied Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp....
.
Before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Wdowiński was a chairman of the Revisionist Zionism
Revisionist Zionism
Revisionist Zionism is a nationalist faction within the Zionist movement. It is the founding ideology of the non-religious right in Israel, and was the chief ideological competitor to the dominant socialist Labor Zionism...
party in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. Together with many Jews in the Polish Army and Polish Jewish political leaders (Dawid Apfelbaum, Józef Celmajster, Henryk Lifszyc, Kałmen Mendelson, Paweł Frenkel and Leon Rodl), he founded the ŻZW group in the Warsaw Ghetto
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
. He was never a military commander, serving instead as political head of the ŻZW. In 1963 he published his memoir, in which he told about his involvement with the ŻZW and the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
After the war, accounts of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising were filtered through former members of the left-leaning ŻOB. These accounts (also adopted by the postwar Polish Communist state) diminished both the roles and the importance of the ŻZW and Wdowiński. One writer, Israel Guttman, was an activist in Ha'Shomer Ha'Tsair. Guttman's perspective continued in authoritative citations of Barbara Engelking-Boni and the Polish Center for Holocaust Research
Polish Center for Holocaust Research
Polish Center for Holocaust Research | Centrum Badan nad Zaglada Zydow is an academic and research center at the Polish Academy of Sciences.-Mission:Created in 2003, the main goal of the Center is interdisciplinary research relating to the Holocaust...
, who described Wdowiński as "a senior activist in the Revisionists' movement (formed by Ze'ev Jabotinsky's New Zionist Organization); revisionist leader in the ghetto, he attributes himself in command of the fighting organisation of this political movement. After the war he prepared his memoirs." Another ŻOB fighter (Icchak Cukierman
Icchak Cukierman
Icchak Cukierman , also known by his nom de guerre "Antek", or by the anglicised spelling Yitzhak Zuckerman, was one of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during World War II.Cukierman was born in Vilnius, Lithuania into a Jewish family...
) wrote, "The Revisionists had seceded from the World Zionist Organization
World Zionist Organization
The World Zionist Organization , or WZO, was founded as the Zionist Organization , or ZO, in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress, held from August 29 to August 31 in Basel, Switzerland...
; and before the war, all socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
movements, including the Zionists
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
, saw them as the Jewish ebodiminent of Fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
." Wdowiński candidly noted the pro-Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
political orientation of the leftist Jews: "The second, the confused political orientation, was largely because many Jewish leaders were reared in the spirit of the Russian Revolution, and they thought they could translate the ideas of the class struggle into Zionist terms."