p7-uma

(Resister) **
 * Mordecai Anielewicz

Mordecai Anielewicz was born in 1919 in Wyszków near Warsaw, Poland. He grew up in a Jewish working-class family. After graduating high school, he joined and became a leader of the Zionist-socialist youth movement called Hashomer Hatzair. On September 7, 1939, a week after Germany invaded Poland, Mordecai escaped with other members of his youth movement from Warsaw to the eastern regions, hoping the Polish would stop or slow the advancing Germans. Mordecai then tried to cross from Soviet-occupied Poland to Romania, but he was caught by the Soviets and thrown into jail. Soon after, he was released.

Mordecai traveled to Lithuania, were he tried to convince other members of Hashomer Hatzair to return to Poland and fight off the Germans with him. He then returned to Warsaw, where, unfortunately, all Jews living in Warsaw were forced into the now infamous Warsaw ghetto. In 1942, hundreds of thousands of Jews were deported from the Warsaw ghetto to concentration camps and killing centers, basically, to certain death. A surviving group formed an organization called the Z.O.B. (Jewish Fighting Organization in English). They appointed Mordecai Anielewicz as its leader. Mordecai issued a proclamation for the Jews to resist going to the railroad cars. On April 19, 1943, the Warsaw ghetto uprising began after German troops entered the ghetto to deport the surviving Jews. 750 Jewish fighters fought the heavily armed Germans. The ghetto fighters were able to hold out for about a month, but on May 8, 1943 the headquarters of the Z.O.B. was demolished, killing many people. Among those was Mordecai Anielewicz. Mordecai, the leader of the Warsaw ghetto uprising, died on May 8, 1943. He was 23 years old.

Mordecai was a resister. He did not want himself or his fellow Jews to be deported and ultimately killed. He recruited people and fought against the German troops. He fought for the right to stay where he was, to not be killed. He opposed what the Nazis were doing. Even if he was killed in the fight, he still resisted, and gave other Jews spirit to fight against the Nazis, since the Warsaw ghetto uprising was the first real fight against the German troops At least he died fighting for a cause he truly believed in.

// “The most important thing is that my life's dream has come true. Jewish self-defense in the ghetto has been realized. Jewish retaliation and resistance has become a fact. I have been witness to the magnificent heroic battle of the Jewish fighters.” ~ Mordecai Anielewicz, in a letter to a friend. //

"Anielewicz, Mordecai." __Yad Vashem__. 27 Apr 2009 . "Mordecai Anielewicz." //Spartacus Educational//. 27 Apr 2009 .