Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa
Encyclopedia
The Jewish Combat Organization was a World War II
resistance movement
, which was instrumental in engineering the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
. ŻOB took part in a number of other resistance activities as well. Notably, a second Jewish resistance organization called the Jewish Military League , formed primarily of former officers of the Polish Army in late 1939—and operating side by side—was at least equally instrumental in the Jewish armed struggle.
under SS General Jurgen Stroop
began the Gross Aktion Warschau sealing the fate of the Jews confined in the Warsaw Ghetto
. "All Jewish persons living in Warsaw, regardless of age and gender, [would] be resettled in the East." Thus began massive "deportation
s" of about 254,000 Jews, all of whom were sent to the Treblinka extermination camp
. The Gross Aktion lasted until 12 September 1942. Overall it reduced the once thriving Warsaw
Jewish community of some 400,000 to a mere 55,000 to 60,000 inhabitants.
The youth groups that were instrumental in forming the ŻOB had anticipated German intentions to annihilate Warsaw Jewry and began to shift from an educational and cultural focus to self-defense and eventual armed struggle.
Unlike the older generation, the youth groups took these reports seriously and had no illusions about the true intentions of the Germans. A document published three months before the start of the deportations by Hashomer Hatzair
declared: "We know that Hitler's system of murder, slaughter and robbery leads steadily to a dead end and the destruction of the Jews."
A number of the left Zionist
youth groups, such as Hashomer Hatzair
and Dror, proposed the creation of a self-defense organization at a meeting of Warsaw Jewish leaders in March 1942. The proposal was rejected by the Jewish Labour Bund
who believed that a fighting organization would fail without the help of the Polish resistance. Others rejected the notion of armed insurgency saying that there was no evidence of a threat of deportation. Moreover, they argued any armed resistance would provoke the Germans to retaliate against the whole Jewish community.
In November 1942, ŻOB officially became part of and subordinated its activities to the High Command of the Armia Krajowa
. In return the AK began providing ŻOB with weapons and training, with the first shipment of guns and ammunition being provided in December 1942.
The deportations lasted four days during which the Germans met other acts of resistance
from the ŻOB. When they left the ghetto on 22 January 1943, the remaining Jews regarded it as a victory, however Israel Gutman
, a member of the ŻOB who subsequently became one of the leading authors on Jewish Warsaw wrote, It [was] not known [to the Jews] that the Germans had not intended to liquidate the entire ghetto by means of the January deportations. However, Gutman concludes that the [January] deportations... had a decisive influence on the ghetto's last months.
, 19 April 1943. The streets of the ghetto were vacant; most of the remaining 30,000 Jews were hiding in carefully prepared bunkers including their headquarters located in Ulica Miła 18, many of which had electricity and running water, however they offered no route of escape.
When the Germans marched into the ghetto, they met fierce armed resistance from fighters attacking from open windows in vacated apartments. The defenders of the ghetto utilized guerrilla warfare
tactics and had the strategic advantage not only of surprise but also of being able to look down on their opponents. This advantage was lost when the Germans began systematically burning all of the buildings of the ghetto forcing the fighters to leave their positions and seek cover in the underground bunkers. The fires above consumed much of the available oxygen below ground, turning the bunkers into suffocating death traps.
By 16 May 1943, the German Police General Jürgen Stroop
, who had been in charge of the final deportation, officially declared what he called the Grossaktion, finished. To celebrate he razed Warsaw's Great Synagogue
. The ghetto was destroyed and what remained of the uprising was suppressed.
side. Some Jews who escaped the final destruction of the ghetto, including youth group members and leaders Kazik Ratajzer
, Zivia Lubetkin
, Icchak Cukierman
and Marek Edelman
, would participate in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising
against the Nazis.
While many members and leaders of the youth groups perished in the Warsaw Ghetto, Zionist
and non-Zionist youth movements remain active. One can still find the left Zionist youth groups Hashomer Hatzair
and Habonim Dror
in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Israel, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There are still remnants of the non-Zionist Jewish Labour Bund's S.K.I.F.
in Australia, United Kingdom, France and United States. The right youth group Betar operates in Western Europe and the United States, and Bnei Akiva
, a religious Zionist organization, operates worldwide.
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...
resistance movement
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
, which was instrumental in engineering 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....
. ŻOB took part in a number of other resistance activities as well. Notably, a second Jewish resistance organization called the Jewish Military League , formed primarily of former officers of the Polish Army in late 1939—and operating side by side—was at least equally instrumental in the Jewish armed struggle.
Offshoot of Jewish youth groups
The seeds of the ŻOB were planted on 22 July 1942, when the German NazisNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
under SS General Jurgen Stroop
Jürgen Stroop
Jürgen Stroop, , was a high-ranking Nazi Party and Gestapo official during World War II. In 1952, he was extradited to Poland, convicted of war crimes, and hanged.-Early life:Jürgen Stroop was born in Detmold, in the Principality of Lippe, German Empire, the son of a police officer...
began the Gross Aktion Warschau sealing the fate of the Jews confined 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...
. "All Jewish persons living in Warsaw, regardless of age and gender, [would] be resettled in the East." Thus began massive "deportation
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
s" of about 254,000 Jews, all of whom were sent to the Treblinka extermination camp
Treblinka extermination camp
Treblinka was a Nazi extermination camp in occupied Poland during World War II near the village of Treblinka in the modern-day Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. The camp, which was constructed as part of Operation Reinhard, operated between and ,. During this time, approximately 850,000 men, women...
. The Gross Aktion lasted until 12 September 1942. Overall it reduced the once thriving Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
Jewish community of some 400,000 to a mere 55,000 to 60,000 inhabitants.
The youth groups that were instrumental in forming the ŻOB had anticipated German intentions to annihilate Warsaw Jewry and began to shift from an educational and cultural focus to self-defense and eventual armed struggle.
Unlike the older generation, the youth groups took these reports seriously and had no illusions about the true intentions of the Germans. A document published three months before the start of the deportations by Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair is a Socialist–Zionist youth movement founded in 1913 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and was also the name of the group's political party in the Yishuv in the pre-1948 British Mandate of Palestine...
declared: "We know that Hitler's system of murder, slaughter and robbery leads steadily to a dead end and the destruction of the Jews."
A number of the left Zionist
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...
youth groups, such as Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair is a Socialist–Zionist youth movement founded in 1913 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and was also the name of the group's political party in the Yishuv in the pre-1948 British Mandate of Palestine...
and Dror, proposed the creation of a self-defense organization at a meeting of Warsaw Jewish leaders in March 1942. The proposal was rejected by the Jewish Labour Bund
General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland
The General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland was a Jewish socialist party in Poland which promoted the political, cultural and social autonomy of Jewish workers, sought to combat antisemitism and was generally opposed to Zionism.-Creation of the Polish Bund:...
who believed that a fighting organization would fail without the help of the Polish resistance. Others rejected the notion of armed insurgency saying that there was no evidence of a threat of deportation. Moreover, they argued any armed resistance would provoke the Germans to retaliate against the whole Jewish community.
In November 1942, ŻOB officially became part of and subordinated its activities to the High Command of the Armia Krajowa
Armia Krajowa
The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
. In return the AK began providing ŻOB with weapons and training, with the first shipment of guns and ammunition being provided in December 1942.
ŻOB resistance to the second deportation
On 18 January 1943, the Nazis began a second wave of deportations. The first Jews the Germans rounded up included a number of ŻOB fighters who had intentionally crept into the column of deportees. Led by Mordechai Anielewicz they waited for the appropriate signal, then stepped out of formation, and fought the Nazis with small arms. The column scattered and news of the ŻZW and ŻOB action quickly spread throughout the ghetto. During this small deportation, the Nazis only managed to round up about 5,000 to 6,000 Jews.The deportations lasted four days during which the Germans met other acts of resistance
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
from the ŻOB. When they left the ghetto on 22 January 1943, the remaining Jews regarded it as a victory, however Israel Gutman
Israel Gutman
Israel Gutman is a Polish-born Israeli historian of the Holocaust.Israel Gutman was born in Warsaw, Poland. After playing an important role in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, he was deported to the Majdanek, Auschwitz and Mauthausen concentration camps. His older sister died in the ghetto. After...
, a member of the ŻOB who subsequently became one of the leading authors on Jewish Warsaw wrote, It [was] not known [to the Jews] that the Germans had not intended to liquidate the entire ghetto by means of the January deportations. However, Gutman concludes that the [January] deportations... had a decisive influence on the ghetto's last months.
Final deportation and uprising
The final deportation began on the eve of PassoverPassover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
, 19 April 1943. The streets of the ghetto were vacant; most of the remaining 30,000 Jews were hiding in carefully prepared bunkers including their headquarters located in Ulica Miła 18, many of which had electricity and running water, however they offered no route of escape.
When the Germans marched into the ghetto, they met fierce armed resistance from fighters attacking from open windows in vacated apartments. The defenders of the ghetto utilized guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
tactics and had the strategic advantage not only of surprise but also of being able to look down on their opponents. This advantage was lost when the Germans began systematically burning all of the buildings of the ghetto forcing the fighters to leave their positions and seek cover in the underground bunkers. The fires above consumed much of the available oxygen below ground, turning the bunkers into suffocating death traps.
By 16 May 1943, the German Police General Jürgen Stroop
Jürgen Stroop
Jürgen Stroop, , was a high-ranking Nazi Party and Gestapo official during World War II. In 1952, he was extradited to Poland, convicted of war crimes, and hanged.-Early life:Jürgen Stroop was born in Detmold, in the Principality of Lippe, German Empire, the son of a police officer...
, who had been in charge of the final deportation, officially declared what he called the Grossaktion, finished. To celebrate he razed Warsaw's Great Synagogue
Great Synagogue, Warsaw
The Great Synagogue of Warsaw was the largest synagogue of pre-war Warsaw and one of the largest in the world at the time.-History:The Great Synagogue was built by the Warsaw's Jewish community between 1875 and 1878 at Tłomackie street, in the south-eastern tip of the district in which the Jews...
. The ghetto was destroyed and what remained of the uprising was suppressed.
Epilogue
Even after the destruction of the ghetto, small numbers of Jews could still be found in the underground bunkers, on both sides of the ghetto wall. In fact, during the last months of the ghetto some 20,000 Jews fled to the AryanAryan
Aryan is an English language loanword derived from Sanskrit ārya and denoting variously*In scholarly usage:**Indo-Iranian languages *in dated usage:**the Indo-European languages more generally and their speakers...
side. Some Jews who escaped the final destruction of the ghetto, including youth group members and leaders Kazik Ratajzer
Simcha Rotem
Simcha Rotem born Szymon Rathajzer, also known as Kazik , served as the head courier of the Jewish Fighting Organization , which planned and executed the Warsaw ghetto uprising against the Nazis.-The Warsaw ghetto:In 1942 he joined the ZOB...
, Zivia Lubetkin
Zivia Lubetkin
Zivia Lubetkin was one of the leaders of the Jewish underground in Nazi-occupied Warsaw and the only woman on the High Command of the resistance group Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa .-Pre-World War II:...
, 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...
and Marek Edelman
Marek Edelman
Marek Edelman was a Jewish-Polish political and social activist and cardiologist.Before World War II, he was a General Jewish Labour Bund activist. During the war he co-founded the Jewish Combat Organization. He took part in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, becoming its leader after the death of...
, would participate in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
against the Nazis.
While many members and leaders of the youth groups perished in the Warsaw Ghetto, Zionist
Zionist youth movement
A Zionist youth movement is an organization formed for Jewish children and adolescents for educational, social, and ideological development, including a belief in Jewish nationalism as represented in the State of Israel...
and non-Zionist youth movements remain active. One can still find the left Zionist youth groups Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair is a Socialist–Zionist youth movement founded in 1913 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and was also the name of the group's political party in the Yishuv in the pre-1948 British Mandate of Palestine...
and Habonim Dror
Habonim Dror
Habonim Dror is a Jewish Labour Zionist youth movement formed by the merger in 1982 of the Habonim and Dror youth movements. Habonim Dror's sister movement in Israel is Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed, the Working and Studying Youth.-Ideology:...
in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Israel, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There are still remnants of the non-Zionist Jewish Labour Bund's S.K.I.F.
Sotsyalistishe Kinder Farband
The Sotsyalistishe Kinder Farband was founded in Eastern Europe as the youth organisation of the Jewish Labour Bund, a Jewish Socialist political party...
in Australia, United Kingdom, France and United States. The right youth group Betar operates in Western Europe and the United States, and Bnei Akiva
Bnei Akiva
Bnei Akiva is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 37 countries. It was established in Mandate Palestine in 1929.-History:...
, a religious Zionist organization, operates worldwide.