When+did+the+resistance+start+and+how+long+did+it+last?



Planning for the resistance started in April 1942. The people in the ghettos started making their own weapons, practicing battle strategies, and preparing themselves for the Germans. Later that year, in July, the Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa (known as the Jewish Combat Organization) or ZOB was created by Mordechai Anielewicz to fight back against the Germans.

On January 18,1943, the German officers came into the ghettos trying to take the Jews to the camps but were held up by the ZOB. During the resistance, some of the people in the ghetto were able to escape. This battle and struggle between the Jews and the Germans last until deportations were suspended on January 21. After it all ended, the Jews spent weeks preparing for another German raiding. They trained, attained more weapons, and made plans to defend the ghetto and the people in it. They also made underground shelters and bunkers for future hiding.

On April 19, 1943, the day of the final liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto, the Germans entered the ghetto to see that the streets were deserted. All of the residents had gone into their hiding spots. Once the members of the ZOB saw the Germans come in, that was their signal to start the attack. The members of the ZOB were armed with pistols, rifles, and grenades (many of them homemade) and managed to stun the Germans and force them to leave the ghetto. "Approximately 300 Germans and 7,000 Jews were killed in the uprising, and another 7,000 Jews were deported to the Treblinka Extermination Camp (Mitchell Brand)."

To read more about the resistance in the Warsaw ghetto click [|here] or [|here.] Written by Brae Fletcher

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