World War II Resistance

World War II Resistance:

Moral Societal Imperative

World War II and the Holocaust were seminal events in the history of the modern world. They were, in the eyes of many, a battle between good and evil. Not just between powerful nations, but between life and death in the human experience. Men and women were placed in unimaginable positions within which they had the option to do nothing and allow the storm to sweep them away or to become the storm. While resistance efforts during WWII had little effect on the actual war effort against the Nazi's it did have a profound effect on civilians and the lives of the persecuted. Resistance provided various outcomes for those people effected by the Nazi regime. In some instances resistance provided a way for people to recover the reputation and dignity of their country.¹ For others it fulfilled the need for revenge for their families and still for some it was a means of escape even if that was from their own lives.

These acts of resistance took on various forms, intensity and range depending on the location of the resistance, the demographics of the people and the actions of the Nazi's. The resistance itself can be looked at on a sliding scale. By examining the various forms of resistance and the resistance groups you begin to see a correlation between the topography and people of the various regions and the effect and type of resistance. Eastern Europe tended to have more resistance groups due to having better places to hide (forests and mountains), but they were limited in their effectiveness. Western Europe on the other hand had smaller groups due to the fact that keeping hidden was much harder to do within the cities of the West. From passive resistance of simply refusing to die in the concentration camps to the creation of faulty armaments by forced labor to sabotage and assassination as well as espionage. If one were to step back and evaluate the people that took up the torches of resistance, the personal trait that would stand out the most is that of character.² This concept of character was not limited to any one group, it could be found in men and women, young and old. Additionally, despite popular belief that many Jews did not fight back much of the resistance was carried out by Jews located in these various regions.³ As stated above, while resistance rarely affected the Nazi war machine these various resistance movements had a large impact on the civilian population in the various Nazi occupied regions of Europe.

Eastern European Resistance

Resistance in Eastern Europe was categorized by several factors that influenced their success against the German Military. Resistance groups were by no means found in all areas controlled by the Soviet Union. Many areas, such as the Baltic States, were used to years of Soviet oppression and looked at the Germany as the great liberator. However, if you examine regions such as Poland and European Russia this mentality takes a different point of view. Most of the resistance in Eastern Europe occurred in Poland as well as the portion of Russia occupied by Army Group Center and while these particular partisan groups working in these regions did not achieve any major military victories, they proved to be a veritable thorn in the side of the Wehrmacht via sabotage and guerilla type operations.

Realizing the type of actions that the German military were capable of and willing to do, Soviet partisan groups, unlike the Balkan States and Western Europe, formed almost immediately. These particular partisan groups were originally made up primarily of former Soviet army soldiers who were caught behind enemy lines as well as local civilians. Ironically, these partisan groups caused nearly as much trouble for the civilians of the region, forcibly taking food and supplies, as they did, through sabotage, for the German military. To compound the issue for the civilians, the SS were known to exterminate entire villages for being suspected of assisting the partisan groups that had taken food from them.⁴ Despite being no more than glorified gangs and criminals, these partisan groups were able to save thousands of Jewish lives by hiding and feeding them as well as getting them out of the region to safety.

While some of the Jews that were rescued decided to join the partisan groups in Eastern Europe, making up approximately on third of the man power⁵, others formed their own groups while hiding in the forest. According to Mira Shelub, a Jewish survivor, their group hide in the woods during warmer months and during the winter stayed with villagers that were sympathetic to their cause.⁶ As with other groups, the group that Mira worked with created havoc for the Germans through sabotage as well. Not all of the people that worked with the resistance in Eastern Europe originally planned on doing so. Many like Vera Laska, as she put it, simply fell into it. According to Vera, a friend of hers was approached and asked if she would guide two Frenchmen, prisoners of war, through the mountains from Czechoslovakia to Hungary. Her friend accepted, but wanted her friend, Vera, to go with her. After completing this task they were asked to do it several more times. Eventually, Vera was arrested and jailed as a political prisoner.⁷

While Jews in Eastern Europe were making as much of a difference as they could by causing as many problems for the Germans as possible, the efforts made by the various forms of resistance in the Ghettos has become more of a foundation for modern Judaism than any other effort.⁸ Of all the ghetto resistance efforts of World War II the Warsaw uprising has the most lasting effect on the Jewish community. The Warsaw ghetto was proof that despite the fact that the German military outnumbered and outgunned the resistance groups they were not by any means indestructible.

Prior to the spring of 1943 the type of resistance, whether Jewish or non-Jewish, consisted primarily of smuggling and participating in the black market, refusing to work in the factories, escape, or simply choosing to live or to die. In some form or another most if not all Jews in the ghettos took advantage of the black market. Considering the fact that the Nazis only provided a tenth of the food needed by the Jews,⁹ without the black market the Jews within the walls would have died of starvation at a much quicker pace. Subsequently, this smuggling was carried out by various methods making use of openings in the ghetto walls, passed through tunnels, later used during the uprising, and also through the sewers,¹⁰ was also the source of weapons and ammunition for the resistance. Those people that were left in the ghetto and not transported to a killing center were used as forced labor. Of course the best way that these laborers could resist and hinder the war capabilities of the Germans was to create faulty munitions and other armaments. Canon shells were found to contain no explosives and aircraft produced by Germany nearly fell apart in midair.¹¹ The ultimate form of resistance of course was the choice to live or to die. Considering the abuse, torture and death that surrounded the ghettos and camps it was an immense show of resistance to refuse to die. On the opposite end of the spectrum was the choice to end one's life on their own terms, knowing that they were going to die many chose to take control of at least how an when they would die¹².

In the spring of 1943 the Jews that still remained in the Warsaw ghetto came to the realization that they were going to be transported to a camp for extermination. They accepted that possible fate, but chose to fight rather than to be led like sheep to the slaughter. In his las correspondence Mordechai Anielewicz, leader of the Jewish Military Organization in the ghetto, stated this about the Jews in the ghetto: "Only a few will be able to hold out. The remainder will die sooner or later. Their fate is decided."¹³ They knew they were going to die and were resolved to make sure the Germans knew they weren't going without a fight. This fatalistic attitude was further corroborated by Sol Liber, a surviving resistance fighter from the Warsaw ghetto, who explained that they knew they were going to die so they chose to go down fighting.¹⁴ Using available methods of smuggling the Polish Home Army was able to supply the resistance fighters within the ghetto with more firearms and munitions.

Despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered by the German army and Ukrainian fighters, the Jewish Military Organization, led by Anielewicz, fought for a month before the primary conflict was ultimately decided. While most of the resistance fighters were executed or sent to Treblinka, smaller resistance groups continued to fight in the ruins of the ghetto for the next year. Additionally, Warsaw was not the only ghetto to see resistance and fighting was not the only resistance that was used, various forms of non-violent resistance were employed as well. In Bialystok, the resistance movement was more focus on making sure Jews were able to escape the ghetto. In Lodz, there was a large number of communist party members who organized the forced labor. Workers like Roman Kent would carry out production slowdowns in the factory providing a fraction of what the Germans were demanding. Despite it being illegal, schools were being set up in secret so that education would continue for the children. Lodz itself had a symphony that would play for the people so that they could feel hopeful in the nightmare they were living in. In the words of Roman Kent "There are more ways to resist than with a gun and a bullet."¹⁵ The fact that not all resistance was violent leads us to recognize the fact that it was spiritual act that provided the Jewish community the ability to survive and that survival was the greatest form of resistance.

French Resistance

The resistance in France was not simply a direct response to the German invasion and their policies and actions, but was also a reaction to the French leaders after the armistice with Germany. According to historian Robert Paxton, the government of Vichy France actively pursued collaboration with Nazi Germany. The French government believed that Germany had won the war and were attempting to carve out a spot within a Europe under the control if Germany.¹⁶ Additionally, the Vichy government began instituting authoritarian policies as well as anti-Semitic laws similar to those of Nazi Germany limiting professions and education for Jews. Despite these policies most French citizens were non-committal about them. Only a small percentage of French, approximately 2%, were involved in the resistance with an equal percentage of collaborators.¹⁷ This leaves a vast majority that were focus on themselves and or their families.

Resistance in France was not an immediate response to the German invasion. It evolved over time in proportional and adapted response to the actions and reality of Nazi Germany.¹⁸ Much of the resistance activities that occurred were highly influenced by the Jewish population of France. Within France there were actually more French Jews than non-Jews participating in the resistance.¹⁹ This disparity was due to the fact that Nazi programs and policies focused on the Jewish population. This particular fact also reinforces the idea that most of the French population was non-committal, the Nazi policies simply didn't affect them. This attitude, of the majority of the French population, extended to their attitude toward the Vichy Government as well. They didn't necessarily like the Germans, but they trusted that Petain was doing everything he could to protect the French people.

Most French Jews considered themselves French before Jewish. Many of these families took pride in the fact that they had ancestors that fought for France in World War I and felt a great deal of patriotism towards France for this fact.²⁰ This particular attitude was evident in not just those fighting in France, but also in the French Jews that made it to London to fight with De Gaulle. This desire by French Jews is further corroborated by the fact that there were approximately six times the number of Jews fighting with De Gaulle. This patriotism over Jewish identity can be best explained in a quote from historian Marc Bloch, who fought with the resistance. "France will, whatever may transpire, remain the homeland in which my heart is rooted. I was born here, I have drunk at the wellsprings of her culture, I have made her past mine, I breathe easily only under her skies, and I have, in turn, striven to defend her to the best of my ability."²¹

This desire to fight rested not only in the hearts of the French Jews, but also in those immigrant Jews who fled to France, from various other European nations, in search of freedom. Originally, when these men enlisted to fight in the French military, the French government placed them in to the French Foreign Legion. This particular policy changed in 1939 after France mobilized in response to German provocations. Eventually, these same men that France attempted to brush aside became extremely active in the French resistance.²² Because these men were not French, had no social contacts and accents that would give them away they lived completely in the shadows, depending completely on themselves. In 1943 this same group created two new groups: The Union of Jewish Youth and The Union of Jews for resistance and mutual aid. Both of these groups made it their goal to rescue as many Jews as possible by either hiding them in France or getting them out of the country. Overall, Jews in the French resistance employed a variety of methods, including the documentation of war crime, armed raids recues as well as reinforcing Jewish culture.²³

Resistance in Nazi Germany

Of all the resistance movements in Europe during World War II, Germany had the lowest incident rate of the various nations. Resistance in Germany was carried out by less than one percent of the population. Not because people were afraid, obviously many were, but because in Germany, with the exception of the Jewish community, the Nazi party was a popular dictatorship and the majority of the population approved of the terror used against political dissenters.²⁴ Of course because of the racial and Social Darwinist policies enacted by the Third Reich it was easier for non-Jews rather than Jews to carry out acts of resistance. Initially, there were three primary reactions by Jews to the Nazi policies after 1933. For those that had the ability and the money to do so, approximately 60,000, leaving Germany for other countries was the first choice. Others were more optimistic and decided to stay, thinking that they could outlast the dictatorship. Young Jews, on the other hand, were angry and defiant when it came to the Nazi Party and were the group more likely to carry out the more outward forms of resistance.

Most resistance actions took place during the first two years of the Third Reich and were carried out by both youth groups and leftist groups.²⁵ Initially, these groups focused on various forms of propaganda rather than violent attacks. These acts consisted of distributing communist and anti-Nazi literature, vandalism and speaking against the Nazi's in public. Normally, the punishment for these resistors was up to several years in prison during which time they were subjected to interrogations, torture, and other various forms of abuse.²⁶ In order to evade arrest and persecution many of these groups, such as "New Beginning", created standard operating procedures which included espionage tactics including hidden codes, drop locations, evasion tactics and the like.²⁷

One prominent group, the Baum Group, was a conglomeration of various youth groups that were forced to disband after Hitler instituted regulations in the 1930's. Initially, the Baum Group stayed with non-violent resistance, documenting and distributing leaflets describing the atrocities happening in Eastern Europe. Eventually, the leaders of the Baum Group decided to commit more aggressive acts of resistance against the Nazi dictatorship. In May of 1942 the Baum Group planned and executed a fire bombing of a massive propaganda display, designed by Goebbels, called "The Anti-Soviet and Anti-Semitic Exhibition".²⁸ While the operation was a success, the conspirators were captured within weeks and eventually executed.

While much historiography focuses on these resistance groups it would be a mistake not to give proper attention to the individual forms of resistance. Individuals throughout Germany performed a multitude of acts of resistance, many of which were not violent in nature, but just as important to the survival of these people. Jew and non-Jew alike were provoked into resistance in response to the treatment experienced under Nazi rule. Many refused to follow anti-Jewish regulations, others committed illegal border crossings, listened to banned radio stations, had intimate relations with Jews and some refused to give up their religion. Within Berlin thousands of Jews chose to hide within the city itself, going underground. Many of these Jews moved around from location to location within the city with the assistance of friends. Other attempted to alter their personal appearance in order to look less Jewish. In the spring of 1943 there were an estimated 7000 Jews hiding within the city of Berlin. As time progressed those numbers dwindled until Berlin itself was liberated. At the time of liberation the number of Jews hiding in Berlin had dropped to approximately 1400, one fifth of the original population.²⁹

Within the Jewish Hospital in Berlin resistance was occurring right under the noses of the SS. The Jewish hospital was left open in case of an emergency dealing with the Jews, mainly mass illnesses as in an epidemic. The hospital, staffed primarily with mischling, people who had two Jewish grandparents, and Jews in a mixed marriage.³⁰ The hospital staff did various things to protect their patients including faking of various illnesses as well as bogus surgeries. By the end of the war and the liberation of Berlin the hospital had saved approximately 800 Jews from the death camps.

". . , one of the most surprising side-effects of this war is the clinging to life, the almost total absence of suicides. People die in great numbers of starvation, the typhus epidemic or dysentery, they are tortured and murdered by the Germans in great numbers, but they do not escape from life by their own desire. On the contrary, they are tied to life by all their senses, they want to live at any price and to survive the war."³¹

• AVRAHAM LEVIN, 1942

Conclusion

As earlier stated, resistance during World War II had a much more concrete effect on individuals and society, primarily Jewish society. While there are documented instances of resistance efforts that actually make some small difference in the outcome of local battles they did not have an overall effect on the outcome of the war. For those individuals and the communities that were part of these acts of resistance the acts themselves kept them alive, both physically and spiritually. It gave some control back to them when all other control was forcibly taken from them.

Eastern Europe the partisans fought back against the Germans almost immediately and fought bravely however they only made a difference locally. The reasoning for this was that they were located in areas that the Germans were not interested in. The missions that they performed focused on sabotage and assisting in the escape of Jews and other persecuted groups. Unfortunately, as stated earlier some of these partisan groups were as much of a problem for the local villagers as the Nazi's were. While the fighting that was done by these groups was centered on their survival rather than victory in the war it is completely understandable considering the condition of the Soviet military at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa.

On the Western Front the French resistance did not respond as quickly as Eastern Europe. Theirs was a gradual increase in severity based on the actions of the German regime. With many in the French public indifferent about the German occupation, unless of course it directly affected them, most of the resistance was left to French Jews. Ironically the French Jews fought not because they were Jewish, but because they were French. This patriotism for many was the reason for their resistance and that fact that the Vichy government was collaborating with Germany made the issue of resistance a moral imperative. The French resistance was fighting primarily for themselves and their families for the freedom of the country they loved.

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1 Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett. A War to be won. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000), 408.

2 Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett. A War to be won (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000), 405.

3 Stephen Halbrook. Gun Control in the Third Reich (Oakland: The Independent Institute, 2013), 211-214.

4 Stephan Lehnstaedt, "Resistance in Eastern Europe," in A Companion to World War II Volume II, ed. Thomas W. Zeiler and Daniel M. Dubois (Sussex: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.), 621

5 Ibid 622

6 Interview with Mira Shelub. USC Shoah Foundation. 11/4/1996

7 Interview with Vera Laska. USC Shoah Foundation 12/12/1996

8 Stephan Lehnstaedt, "Resistance in Eastern Europe," in A Companion to World War II Volume II, ed. Thomas W. Zeiler and Daniel M. Dubois (Sussex: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.), 623

9 THE SMUGGLING OF FOOD INTO THE WARSAW GHETTO in Documents on the Holocaust: Selected Sources on the Destruction of the Jews of Germany and Austria, Poland, and the Soviet Union. Ed. Yitzhak Arad, Yisrael Gutman, Abraham Margaliot (Pergamon, 1987), 228

10 Ibid 229

11 Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett. A War to be won (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000), 408

12 Jack Nusan Porter. "Holocaust Suicides." In Problems Unique to the Holocaust, edited by Cargas Harry James (University Press of Kentucky, 1999), 57

13 THE LAST LETTER FROM MORDECAI ANIELEWICZ, WARSAW GHETTO REVOLT COMMANDER, APRIL 23, 1943

14 Interview with Sol Liber. USC Shoah Foundation 8/11/94

15 Interview with Roman Kent. USC Shoah Foundation 4/29/96

16 Julian Jackson, "Occupied France: The Vichy Regime, Collaboration, and Resistance," in A Companion to World War II Volume II, ed. Thomas W. Zeiler and Daniel M. Dubois, 825-840 (Sussex: Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2013), 827.

17 Julian Jackson, "Occupied France: The Vichy Regime, Collaboration, and Resistance," in A Companion to World War II Volume II, ed. Thomas W. Zeiler and Daniel M. Dubois, 825-840 (Sussex: Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2013), 830

18 Nathan Bracher, "Up in Arms: Jewish Resistance against Nazi Germany in France." In Jewish Resistance Against the Nazis, ed. Henry Patrick (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2014), 73.

19 Julian Jackson, "Occupied France: The Vichy Regime, Collaboration, and Resistance," in A Companion to World War II Volume II, ed. Thomas W. Zeiler and Daniel M. Dubois, 825-840 (Sussex: Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2013), 836

20 Ibid 838

21 Nathan Bracher, "Up in Arms: Jewish Resistance against Nazi Germany in France." In Jewish Resistance Against the Nazis, ed. Henry Patrick (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2014), 77

22 Ibid 83

23 Interview with Justus Rosenberg. USC Shoah Foundation 1/2/98

24 Frank McDonough, "Resistance Inside Nazi Germnay," in A Companion to World War II Volume II, ed. Thomas W. Zeiler and Daniel M. Dubois (Sussex: Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2013), 813.

25 Dieter Kuntz. "Jewish Resistance in Nazi Germany and Austria, 1933-45." In Jewish Resistance Against the Nazis, ed. Henry Patrick (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2014), 350.

26 Interview with Alfred Adler. USC Shoah Foundation 11/21/1995

27 Dieter Kuntz. "Jewish Resistance in Nazi Germany and Austria, 1933-45." In Jewish Resistance Against the Nazis, ed. Henry Patrick (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2014), 349

28 Ibid 359

29 Ibid 360

30 Jewish Resistance in Germany 361

31 EXTRACTS FROM THE WARSAW GHETTO DIARY OF AVRAHAM LEVIN, 1942