Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Part of World War II and the Holocaust

Jewish women and children forcibly removed from a bunker; one of the most iconic pictures of World War II.

Date

19 April – 16 May 1943

Location

Warsaw Ghetto, General Government

52°14′46″N 20°59′45″E / 52.24611°N 20.99583°E

Result

Uprising defeated

Surviving Jews deported to Majdanek and Treblinka

Belligerents

Germany
Gestapo, Orpo, SD, Waffen-SS, Wehrmacht

Jewish resistance
Jewish Combat Organization
Jewish Military Union

Supported by:

AK (Home Army)

GL (People's Guard)

Commanders and leaders

Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg
(relieved from command)
Jürgen Stroop
SSPF Oberführer Arpad Wigand
SIPO/SD Chief Dr. Ludwig Hahn

Mordechai Anielewicz †
Yitzhak Zuckerman
Zivia Lubetkin
Maurycy Orzech
Marek Edelman
Paweł Frenkiel †
Leon Rodal †
Dawid Wdowiński

Strength

Daily average of 2,090, including 821 Waffen-SS

About 600 ŻOB and about 400 ŻZW fighters, plus a number of Polish fighters

Casualties and losses

German figures:
17 killed
93 wounded
Jewish resistance estimate:
300 casualties

56,065 killed/and or captured of which approximately 36,000 deported to extermination camps (German estimate)

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was a brave act of Jewish resistance during World War II. It happened in 1943 in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland. Jewish people fought back against Nazi Germany's plan to send the remaining ghetto residents to Majdanek and Treblinka death camps.

In the summer of 1942, over 250,000 Jews were sent from the ghetto to Treblinka. After this, the Jews who remained started building secret bunkers. They also smuggled weapons and explosives into the ghetto. Two main groups formed: the Jewish Combat Organization (ŻOB) and the Jewish Military Union (ŻZW). They began to train for a fight.

In January 1943, a small resistance effort against another roundup was partly successful. This encouraged Polish resistance groups to seriously support the Jews. The uprising officially began on April 19, 1943. The ghetto residents refused to surrender to the German police commander, Jürgen Stroop. He then ordered the ghetto to be burned down, block by block. The uprising ended on May 16, 1943. About 13,000 Jews were killed. German casualties were likely fewer than 150.

This uprising was the largest single revolt by Jews during World War II. The fighters knew they couldn't win and that they probably wouldn't survive. Marek Edelman, one of the few surviving commanders, said they fought "not to allow the Germans alone to pick the time and place of our deaths." The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum calls the uprising "one of the most significant occurrences in the history of the Jewish people."

What Happened After the Uprising

Warsaw Ghetto area after the war. Gęsia Street, view to the west.

Captured Jews are led by German troops for deportation. This picture was taken on Nowolipie street.

After the uprising ended, most of the burned houses were torn down. The Warsaw concentration camp was built in their place. Thousands of people died in this camp or were executed in the ghetto ruins. At the same time, the SS continued to hunt for any Jews still hiding in the destroyed area.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943 happened over a year before the larger Warsaw Uprising of 1944. By the time of the city-wide uprising, the ghetto had been completely destroyed. The 1944 uprising was part of Operation Tempest, a plan for a nationwide rebellion in Poland.

Some survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising were known as "Ghetto Fighters." They later founded a kibbutz (a community settlement) called Lohamei HaGeta'ot in Israel. In 1984, members of this kibbutz published Daphei Edut, which means "Testimonies of Survival." These four books contain personal stories from 96 kibbutz members. The settlement also has a museum and archives to remember the Holocaust.

The last Jewish resistance fighter from the uprising, Simcha Rotem, passed away in Jerusalem on December 22, 2018. He was 94 years old.

Images for kids

From right: Małka Zdrojewicz, Bluma and Rachela Wyszogrodzka captured after offering armed resistance.
Monument to the Ghetto Heroes by Nathan Rapoport
SS-Brigadeführer Jürgen Stroop (center). 2nd from right is Heinrich Klaustermeyer. The SD-Rottenführer at right is Josef Blösche at Nowolipie 64 / Smocza 1 intersection
Stroop and foreign fighters at the Umschlagplatz, with Stawki 5/7 in the back.
Corner of Żelazna 70 and Chłodna 23 (looking east). This section of Żelazna street connected the "large ghetto" and "small ghetto" areas of German-occupied Warsaw.
Warsaw Ghetto Map, 15 October 1940
Resistance members captured at Nowolipie 64 near intersection with Smocza. Hasia Szylgold-Szpiro is on the right.
SS men on Nowolipie street
Burning buildings photographed from the intersection of Zamenhofa and Wołyńska
Burning ghetto viewed from Żoliborz district
The site of Mila 18, former resistance base, in 1964
Great Synagogue of Warsaw, destroyed in 1943
Plaque commemorating two Home Army soldiers killed during the Ghetto Action.
Plakat wydany przez Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa.png

Poster printed by ŻOB: "All people are equal brothers; Brown, White, Black and Yellow. To separate peoples, colors, races, Is but an act of cheating!"
Commemorative pennant of ŻZW – Jewish Military Union.
The cover page of The Stroop Report with International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg markings.
Page 5 of Stroop Report describing German fight against "Juden mit polnischen Banditen" – "Jews with Polish bandits".
Continuation 27 April 1943 describing fight against "jüdisch-polnische Wehrformation" ("Jewish-Polish armed formation").

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising facts for kids

What Happened After the Uprising

Images for kids

See Also