Marek Edelman

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Marek Edelman

Marek Edelman (born December 31, 1922) is a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is 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 Enclave and exclave, to the north....
political and social activist, cardiologist, and last living leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Lódz

Bund

Bund is the German language and Yiddish word for Federation or Union, in which context it is pronounced "boont".Bund is also an English language word deriving from the Urdu language word band, which means embankment, levee or dam....
activist - Jidisze Arbeter Froj.

As a child Marek Edelman became a member of Socjalistiszer Kinder-Farband (SKIF) (Socjalistyczny Zwiazek Dzieciecy).

In 1942, as a youth leader in the Bund

General Jewish Labor Union

The General Jewish Labour Union of Lithuania, Poland and Russia, in Yiddish the Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter Bund in Lite, Poyln un Rusland , generally called The Bund or the Jewish Labor Bund, was a Jewish political party in several European countries operating predominantly between the 1890s and the 1930s with remnants o...
, Edelman was among the founders of the underground Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa

Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa

The Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa was a World War II resistance movement, which was instrumental in engineering the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. ZOB took part in a number of other resistance activities as well....
(Jewish Fighting Organization).

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Marek Edelman (born December 31, 1922) is a Polish

Poland

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Lódz

Biography

Born (exact place and date of birth unknown) in 1919 in Homel (now Belarus

Belarus

Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north....
) or in 1922 in Warsaw in a Polish Jewish family. Mother, Cecylia Edelman (died in 1934) was a Bund

Bund

General Jewish Labor Union

Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the History of the Jews in Poland insurgency that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in Occupation of Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to the Treblinka extermination camp....
of April-May 1943, led by head-commander Mordechai Anielewicz, Edelman became one of the three ZOB sub-commanders in the brushmakers' area of the ghetto and a leader after death of Anielewicz. Edelman survived the uprising's suppression and the ghetto's liquidation, and managed to escape aided by Polish underground activists of the Armia Ludowa

Armia Ludowa

Armia Ludowa was a Partisan force set up by the Polish Workers' Party during World War II. Its aims were to support the Soviet Union military against the German forces and aid the creation of a Soviet-controlled communist regime in Poland....
(People's Army). He later joined the Polish underground Armia Krajowa

Armia Krajowa

The Armia Krajowa , abbreviated "AK", was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II Nazi Germany-History of Poland . It was formed in February 1942 from the Zwiazek Walki Zbrojnej and over the next two years absorbed most other Polish underground forces....
(Home Army), and in the summer of 1944 participated in the Warsaw Uprising

Warsaw Uprising

The Warsaw Uprising was a struggle by the Armia Krajowa to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany occupation during World War II. The Uprising began on 1 August 1944, as part of a nationwide rebellion, Operation Tempest....
.

After the Second World War, Edelman studied at the Medical University

Medical University of Lódz

The Medical University of L?dz was founded on October 1 2002 as a merger of the Medical Academy of L?dz and the Military Medical Academy of L?dz ....
in Lódz

Lódz

L?dz is the third-largest city in Poland. Located in the central part of the country, it had a population of 753,192 in 2007. It is the capital of L?dz Voivodeship, and is approximately south-west of Warsaw....
. In 1976 he became an activist with the Komitet Obrony Robotników (Workers' Defense Committee) and later of the Solidarity

Solidarity

Solidarity is a Poland trade union federation founded in September 1980 at the Gdansk Shipyard, and originally led by Lech Walesa.Solidarity was the first non-communist trade union in a communist country....
movement. During the period of martial law

Martial law in Poland

Martial law in Poland refers to the period of time from December 13, 1981 to July 22, 1983 when the government of the People's Republic of Poland drastically restricted normal life by introducing martial law in an attempt to crush the political opposition against the Communism rule in Poland....
in 1981, he was interned. He took part in the Round Table Talks

Polish Round Table Agreement

The Polish Round Table Talks took place in Warsaw, Poland from February 6 to April 4, 1989. The government initiated the discussion with the banned trade union Solidarity and other opposition groups in an attempt to defuse growing social unrest....
and served as a member of the Sejm (Polish parliament)

Sejm

The Sejm is the lower house of the Poland parliament.Before the 20th century, the term "Sejm" referred to the entire three-Chambers of parliament Polish parliament, comprising the lower house , the upper house and the monarch....
from 1989 until 1993.

In the summer of 2007 an Israeli

Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
youth group came to Lódz

Lódz

L?dz is the third-largest city in Poland. Located in the central part of the country, it had a population of 753,192 in 2007. It is the capital of L?dz Voivodeship, and is approximately south-west of Warsaw....
in order to make documentary films with a group of Polish youth. One of the films was made about Marek Edelman, and emphasized the fact that the Israeli youngsters had never heard of Edelman, supposedly because he had been anti-zionist

Zionism

Zionism is the international Jewish political movement that originally supported the reestablishment of a homeland for the Jewish People in Palestine....
. While the filming, the group met Edelman and interviewd him.

On April 17, 1998, awarded with Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is 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 Enclave and exclave, to the north....
's highest decoration, the Order of the White Eagle

Order of the White Eagle

The Order of the White Eagle is Poland's highest Order awarded to both civilians and the military for their merits. It was officially instituted on November 1, 1705 by Augustus II the Strong and bestowed on eight of his supporters, four Polish magnates, three Russian field marshals, amongs them Peter von Lacy and one Cossack hetman....
.

Marek Edelman was married to Alina Margolis-Edelman (1922-2008)

External links

on Peoples Archive
Peoples Archive

The Peoples Archive is a website which has videos of notable persons telling their Life Story. It was originally named the Science Archive and so has videos from many distinguished scientists....
, by Marek Edelman