Resistance In The Holocaust

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Although it seemed nearly impossible for many Jews to resist the Nazis due to the limited access to weapons, it would be a grave mistake to believe that all Jews went to their death like sheep to slaughter. The term resistance when related to the Jews and the Holocaust meant not only the active resistance against the Nazis, but also the cultural and spiritual resistance that the Jews had. There were many Jews that rebelled and resisted against the Nazi officers of the camp, but some Jews could only commit acts of cultural and spiritual resistance to oppose Nazi tyranny. The Active and Armed Resistance, Cultural and Spiritual Resistance, and Partisans allowed the Jews to practice a form of resistance and inspired Jewish hope. Without these…show more content…
Approximately, there were about one hundred underground organizations that were formed to actively stage an uprising in a ghetto. While armed resistance mainly consisted of fighting between Nazi forces, many Jews used the fighting as an opportunity to escape. The United States Holocaust Museum encyclopedia says, “The purpose of such organizations was to wage armed struggle, that is, to stage an uprising in the ghetto or to break out of the closed ghetto by the use of force in order to engage in partisan operations on the outside. In many instances, the two forms combined, the uprising being followed by an escape from the ghetto. In many of the ghettos where resistance was more organized, Jewish youth movements were deeply involved in the planning and carrying out of the plans. Active resistance occurred in many forms, from armed struggle through hiding and escape”(United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). This quote shows the purpose of many Jewish underground organizations, which is often to allow the escape of fellow Jews. This impacted the lives of many Jews because thousands of young Jews resisted by escaping from the ghettos into the forests. The Jews that manage to escape then join Soviet partisan units and formed separate partisan units to harass the German occupiers. Additionally,…show more content…
Partisans are guerrilla fighters in occupied territories that risked their lives by organizing secret resistance to oppose Nazi control. The Partisans also organized efforts to assassinate Nazi collaborators and consisted of many Jewish members that engaged warfare against the Germans. The author Yad Vashem states in the article, “The decision to join the partisans was a tragic one, since leaving for the forest meant abandoning one's family (Yad Vashem).” This quote shows the sacrifices the Jews were willing to make for one another in order to save their family members. The benefits of joining the Partisans provided them with a sense of hope to save Jewish allies which boosted the morale of the community. In addition to boosting the Jewish morale, joining the Partisans also saved many lives by housing thousands of Jews. The source states, “As many as 10,000 Jews survived the war by taking refuge with Jewish partisan units. The camp established by Tuvia Bielski in the Naliboki Forest in 1942, for example, gave refuge to more than 1,200 Jews. In some areas of Belorussia and Vohlin, the Jewish Partisan units sheltered whole families, thus maintaining the lives of many women and children during the Holocaust (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).” This quote shows the assistance that the Partisans provided for many Jews, and the impact of this on the Jews survival. Not only did the
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