Russian casualties, in German captivity, 39
Rytel, Zygmunt
on anti-Semitism, 21–22
determination to fight suffering, 18
early life of, 15–17
imprisonment in Auschwitz, 17–18
on motivation of youth, 21
murder of brother by German officer, 17–18
photo of (1966), 19
recognition by Yad Vashem, 17
view of Jews he helped, 18
work in films, 20
work with underground, 18–19, 20, 22
schools. See education
Schupper, Hela
early life of, 171–172
escape from Warsaw ghetto, 174–176
photo of, 171
reaction to Mila 18 suicides, 177
relationship with Lutek Rotman, 172
survival of, 178
work as courier, 172
Schutzstaffel (SS)
July 1942 Aktion, 86
removal of Polish elites by, 89, 181
routine murder of Jewish civilians by, 26
Secret Arms Organization (TOB), 154
self-reliance, role in resilience, 4
Serafinski, Tomasz. See Pilecki, Witold
Sereny, Gitta, 145
“service givers,” 95
Shefet, Zvi
acceptance of father’s work assignments, 87
anti-Semitism endured by, 107
break-up of family unit, 92–93
description of Slonim takeover, 85–86
and partisan groups, 91–92, 93, 107
refusal to leave family, 87–88
Shefet family
attempts to join partisan group, 91–92
division in, 92–93
escape from Slonim ghetto, 90–91
losses in Aktions, 88
Shoah (film), Jan Karski’s view of, 189
Sicherheitsdienst (SD), murder of Jewish civilians by, 26
Sikorski, Wladyslaw, 100–102, 104, 207n18
Silverstein, Leah
description of starvation, 161–162, 164–165
description of Warsaw ghetto, 161
early life of, 159
life on the Aryan side, 167–168
obtains guns for underground, 169–170
photo of, 161
relationship with Jurek Wilner, 165–166
watches Warsaw ghetto burning, 167
work as courier, 170–171
Skarzyn, Poland, “missing Jews” of, 28–29
Skarzysko Kamienna, Poland, 170
Slapak, Cecylia, study of Jewish women, 62–63
Slonim, Poland, 85–87
Slonim ghetto
burning of, 90
deportations from, 74
hiding places in, 88, 90
Mina Volkowisky in, 95–97
SS Aktion in, 88
Smolar, Hersh
aids other escapees, 110
assists Bielski partisans, 113–114
as devout communist, 107–108
discusses partisan duties, 118–119
escape from Minsk ghetto, 109–110
establishes Minsk underground, 109
imprisonment in Poland, 108
meets Tuvia Bielski, 113
move to Kiev, 108
refusal to leave Poland, 109
saved by General Platon, 113
view of Atlas Icheskel, 121
view of Tuvia Bielski, 121
Sobibor concentration camp
solidarity in, 153–154
Soviet POWs at, 154–155
underground movement at, 154
Socialist Party, 25, 42, 183
Soldatenheimat, 168
solidarity
importance in survival, 146–148, 149, 196
in Sobibor camp, 153–154
Sonderkommandos. See Kommandos
Soviet Army
approach to Auschwitz, 133
collapse of divisions in, 39
ethnic makeup of, 84
failure to hold Slonim, 85–86
Soviet-German friendship treaty, 39
Soviet-German war
collapse of Red Army divisions, 39, 84
German defeat at Stalingrad, 41
Soviet-occupied Polish territories, as haven for Jews, 48–49, 50, 184
Soviet partisan movement
anti-Semitism in, 93, 98, 107
cruelty of, 99–100
ethnic tolerance of, 41
infanticide in, 207n17
lack of attacks upon Germans by, 85
motivation of, 84–85
Stalin’s politicizing of, 41
view of ghetto escapees, 85
women’s participation in, 94–95
Soviet-Polish cooperation, 106, 117
Soviet Union
attempts to organize partisans, 85
denial of Polish officers murders, 181
refusal of Zionist entry, 122
Spitzer-Tichauer, Helen (Zippi), work with underground, 139–141
SS. See Schutzstaffel
Stalin, political agenda of, 41, 181–182
Stangl, Franz, 145
Starachowice, Poland, 171
Star of David, wearing of, 27, 87
starvation, Leah Silverstein’s description of, 161–162, 164–165. see also food
Story of a Secret State (Karski), 188
Stroop, Jurgen, 81, 205n86
Sudouwicz, Israel, 152
suicide
as alternative to capture, 173
euthanasia of Warsaw orphans, 195
as honorable death, 81
as response to deportation, 67–68
survivors, attitude of “rich” vs. “poor,” 18
Swietokrzycka Street, Oneg Shabbat archives at, 71
Szafirstein, Regina, 137, 138–139, 142
Szczara River, 85
Szengut, Tuwia (Tadek), 168–169
Szerynski, Jozef, 72–73, 73
Szternfeld, 70
Szwajger, Adina, 194–196
Tarnow underground, 169
Tec, Nechama
Defiance: The Bielski Partisans, 110
meeting with Antoni Zieleniewski, 22–31
meeting with Ephraim Bleichman, 32–46
meeting with Richard Glazar, 144–145
meeting with Tuvia Bielski, 110
meeting with Zygmunt Rytel, 16–22
Resilience and Courage, 194
Tennenbaum, Mordechai, 123
Teresianstadt ghetto, 149
They Fought Back (Ainsztein), 14
TOB. See Secret Arms Organization
Tolman-Zlotnicki, Hadassah, 131
topography, effect on resistance efforts, 5
Trap with a Green Fence, The (Glazar), 145
Trawinki concentration camp, 68–69
Treblinka
deportations from Warsaw ghetto to, 67–69
Julian Chorazycki’s work in, 150
prisoner escape from, 156–157
rebellion at, 144–145, 147, 151–152, 155–157
Richard Glazar’s memories of, 145–149
Umschlag Platz, 68
underground movement
in ghettos, 62
inexperience of commanders, 5–6
Julian Chorazycki’s work in, 150
leadership in, 5
new definition of, 12–13
Zygmunt Rytel’s work in, 20
Under the Eagle pharmacy, 102
Unger, Karl
escape from Treblinka, 151–152
life at Treblinka, 146
work with underground, 150
Union factory, 131
Union of Armed Struggle (ZWZ), 125
United States
power shift created by, 181
pressure to honor Ribbentrop-Moltov Agreement, 41
See also Allies
uprisings,
as suicidal gestures, 13
urban national resistance, focus of, 12–13
Vassia, Dziadzia, 107
Vilna ghetto
1942 New Year’s Manifesto, 6
fighters join Markow brigade, 119–120
final liquidation of, 191–192
manipulation of inmates in, 57–58
murder of inmates, 74
prohibition against procreation in, 60–61
Sonia Madejsker’s work in, 178
Tosia Altman’s work in, 178
Yitskhok Rudashevski’s transfer to, 54–55
Vilna Partisan Organization (FPO), 6, 76–77
Volkowisky, Mina
attempts to leave ghetto, 96–97
befriended by Nikolai Bobkov, 99
betrayal by “friend,” 98–99, 100
invitation from General Sikorski, 100–102
joins Soviet partisans, 98
relocation to Slonim ghetto, 96
reunites with husband, 100
separated from husband, 97–98
Voroshilov, Marshal Clement Efremovich, 39
Wachalska, Stanislawa. See Meed, Vladka
Wagner, Gustav, 155–156
Wajcblum, Ester, 137, 138–139, 142
Warsaw, Poland
food shortages in, 51–52
Jewish Historical Institute, 22
refugees’ arrival in, 47
Warsaw ghetto
Bernson and Bauman Hospital, 194–195
conditions in, 65, 161–163
construction of, 52
converted Jews in, 72–73
deportations to Treblinka, 67–69
escape from, 175
Frania Beatus’ work in, 179–180
Itzchak Giterman’s death in, 66
orphan euthanasia at, 195
planned destruction of, 79
sealing of, 160–161
Warsaw ghetto uprising
April 1943, 78, 79–80
August 1944, 13, 106
Himmler’s destruction command, 77–78, 79
Israel Gutman’s research on, 14–15
Yitzhak Zuckerman’s view of, 10–11
Warsaw University, attacks on Jewish students at, 23
Wehrmacht
Hitler’s view of, 181
and Slonim ghetto Aktion, 88
Wengrover, Jehuda, 177
White Rose, 118
Wieliczka, Poland, 50
Wilczynska, Stefania, 70
Wilner, Jurek (Arieh)
arrest and torture of, 166
relationship with Leah Silverstein, 165–166, 167
suicide of, 176
work with Jewish underground, 72, 76
Wirths, Eduard, 133
Wlodawa, Poland, 151, 153
Wolski, Mieczyslaw, arrest/execution of, 83
women
in Auschwitz munitions factory, 131
carrying arms, 94
conditions endured by, 50–51, 62–63, 95–96, 207n17
contribution to ghetto survival, 55–57, 63
physical resistance to deportation, 68
prohibition against procreation, 60
serving on Judenrat, 50
in Soviet partisan movement, 41, 94
work as couriers, 158, 163–164, 167–168, 172, 178–179
work in German factories, 193–194
work in kibbutz, 164
World Zionist Congress (1939), 47
Yaari, Bela Chazan, 122–124
Yad Vashem
historian at, 6
recognition of Jan Karski, 183
recognition of Zygmut Rytel, 17
Zabludowicz, Noah
resistance work of, 132
transfer to Auschwitz, 127
visits Roza Robota’s cell, 141–142
Zamenhof Street, 77
Zarki farm (Zionist experiment), 165
Żegota
Julian Alexandrowicz’s work with, 104
Zygmunt Rytel’s work in, 20
Zieleniewski, Antoni
commissioned as Polish officer, 24
decision to help “missing Jews,” 29–30
delay in revealing wartime activities, 31
early life of, 22
escape to Podlesie, 28
joins PPS, 22
relationship with Lolek Leczynski, 22–24
views on anti-Semitism, 31
witnesses anti-Semitism as Warsaw University, 23–24
work with Home Army, 30
ŻOB. See Jewish Fighting Organization
Zoliborz neighborhood (Warsaw), 18–19
Zuckerman, Antek, 72, 174, 176
Zuckerman, Yitzhak
armed confrontation by, 77
description of armed confrontation, 82
photo of, 78
Warsaw ghetto uprising commemoration, 10–11
work with Frania Beatus, 180
Zwiazek Walki Zbrojncj. See Union of Armed Struggle
ZWZ. See Union of Armed Struggle
żydowska Organizacja Bojowa. See Jewish Fighting Organization
Żydowski Zwiazek Wojskowy. See Jewish Military Union
Zygielbojm, Szmuel, 186
Zyskind, Sara, experience in Lodz ghetto, 56–57
ŻZW. See Jewish Military Union
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Contents
Introduction: At the Edge of Nowhere
Chapter 1 Learning How to Oppose
Chapter 2 The Ghettos
Chapter 3 The Forests
Chapter 4 The Concentration Camps
Chapter 5 The Couriers
Chapter 6 The Special Case of Jan Karski
Conclusion: “Not Alone”
Acknowledgments
Notes
Works Cited
Index