In Commemoration of
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

May Day in the Ghetto

On May Day the Command decided to carry out a “holiday” action. Several battle groups were sent out to “hunt down” the greatest number of Germans possible. In the evening, a May Day roll-call was held. The partisans were briefly addressed by á few people and the Internationale was sung. The entire world, we knew, was celebrating May Day on that day and everywhere forceful, meaningful words were being spoken. But never yet had the Internationale been sung in conditions so different, so tragic, in a place where an entire nation, had been and was still, perishing. The words and the song echoed from the charred ruins and were, at that particular time, an indication that Socialist youth was still fighting in the Ghetto, and that even in the face of death they were not abandoning their ideals.

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On May 8th detachments of Germans and Ukrainians surrounded the Headquarters of the Z.O.B. Command. The fighting lasted two hours, and when the Germans convinced themselves that they would be unable to take the bunker by storm, they tossed in a gas-bomb. Whoever survived the German bullets, whoever was not gassed, committed suicide, for it was quite clear that from here there was no way out, and nobody even considered being taken alive by the Germans. Jurek Wilner called upon all partisans to commit suicide together. Lutek Rotblat shot his mother, his sister, then himself. Ruth fired at herself seven times.

Thus 80 per cent of the remaining partisans perished, among them the Z.O.B. Commander, Mordchaj Anilewicz ...

All night we walked through the sewers, crawling through numerous entanglements built by the Germans for just such an emergency. The entrance traps were buried under heaps of rubble, the thorough-ways booby-trapped with hand grenades exploding at a touch. Every once in a while the Germans would let gas into the mains. In similar conditions, in a sewer 28 inches high, where it was impossible to stand up straight and where the water reached our lips, we waited 48 hours for the time to get out. Every minute someone else lost consciousness.

Thirst was the worst handicap. Some even drank the thick, slimy sewer water. Every second seemed like months.

On May 10th, at 10 a.m., two trucks halted at the trap door on the Prosta Street-Twarda Street intersection. In broad daylight, with almost no cover whatsoever (the promised Home Army cover failed and only three of our liaison men and Comrade Kraczek – a People’s Army representative specially detailed for this assignment – patrolled the street], the trap door opened and one after another, with the stunned crowd looking on, armed Jews appeared from the depths of the dark hole (at this time the sight of any Jew was already a sensational occurrence). Not all were able to get out. Violently, heavily the trap door snapped shut, the trucks took off at full speed.

Two battle groups remained in the Ghetto. We were in contact with them until the middle of June. From then on every trace of them disappeared.

Those who had gone over to the “Aryan side” continued the partisan fight in the woods. The majority perished eventually. The small group that was still alive at the time took an active part in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising as the “Z.O.B. Group.” At present the following of our comrades are still among the living: Chajka Belchatowska, B. Szpigel, Chana Krysztal, Masza Glejtman, and Marek Edelman.

Deportation to the Death Camps

The gendarmes, Ukrainians and Jewish Police cooperate nicely.

The roles are meticulously and precisely divided. The gendarmes surround the streets; the Ukrainians, in front of the gendarmes, encircle the houses closely; the Jewish police walk into the courtyards and summons all the inhabitants. “All Jews must come down. Thirty kilograms of baggage allowed. Those remaining inside shall be shot, ...” And once again, the same summons. People run from all staircases. Nervously, on the run, they clothe themselves in whatever is handy. Some descend as they are, sometimes straight from bed, others are carrying everything they can possibly take along, knapsacks, packages, pots and pans. People cast frightened glances at one another, the worst has happened. Trembling, they form groups in front of the house. They are not allowed to talk but they still try to gain the. policemen’s pity. From nearby houses similar groups of trembling, completely exasperated people arrive and form into one long column. A gendarme beckons with his rifle to a casual passerby who, having been warned too late, was unable to escape the doomed street. A Jewish policeman pulls him by his sleeve or by his neck into the column in front of the house. If the policeman is half-way decent, he hides a small piece of paper with the scribbled address of the victim’s family – to let them know ... Now the deserted houses, the apartment entrances ajar according to regulations, are given a quick once-over by the Ukrainians. They open closed apartments with a single kick of their heavy boots, with a single blow of a rifle butt. Two, three shots signify the death of those few who did not heed the call and remained in their homes. The “blockade” is finished. On somebody’s table an unfinished cup of tea gets cold, flies finish somebody’s piece of bread ...

It is a long way to the “Umschlag.” The Deportation Point, from which the cars leave, is situated on the very edge of the Ghetto, on Stawki Street. The tall walls surrounding it and closely guarded by gendarmes are broken at only one narrow place. Through this entrance the groups of helpless powerless people are brought in. Every one holds some papers, working certificates, identification cards. The gendarme at the entrance looks them over briefly. “Rechts” – means life; “links” – means death. Although everyone knows in advance the futility of all arguments, he still tries to show his particular helpfulness to German industry, to his particular German master, and thus hopes to receive the magic little order, “rechts.” The gendarme does not even listen. Sometimes he orders the passing people to show him their hands – he chooses all small ones: “rechts”; sometimes he separates blondes: “links”; in the morning he favors short people; in the evening he takes a liking to tall ones. “Links,” “links,” “links.”

The human torrent grows, deepens, floods the square, floods three large three-story buildings, former schools. More people are assembled here than are necessary to fill the next four days’ quota, they are just being brought in as “reserves.” People wait four–five days before they are loaded into the railroad cars. People fill every inch of free space, crowd the buildings, bivouac in empty rooms, hallways, on the stairs. Dirty, slimy mud floods the floors. One’s foot sinks in human excrements at every step. The odor of sweat and urine sticks in one’s throat. There are no panes in the windows, and the nights are cold. Some are dressed only in night shirts or house-coats.

On the second day hunger begins to twist the stomach in painful spasms, cracked lips long for a drop of water. The times when people were given three loaves of bread are long since gone. Sweating, feverish children lie helplessly in their mothers’ arms. People seem to shrink, become smaller, greyer.

The Ghetto Fights Back

Finally, the Germans decided to liquidate the Warsaw Ghetto completely, regardless of cost. On April 19, 1943, at 2 a.m., the first messages concerning the Germans’ approach arrived from our outermost observation posts. These reports made it clear that German gendarmes, aided by Polish “navy blue” policemen, were encircling the outer Ghetto walls at 30-yard intervals. An emergency alarm to all our battle groups was immediately ordered, and at 2:15, i.e., 15 minutes later, all the groups were already at their battle stations. We also informed the entire population of the imminent danger, and most of the Ghetto inhabitants moved instantly to previously prepared shelters and hide-outs in the cellars and attics of buildings. A deathly silence enveloped the Ghetto. The Z.O.B. was on the alert ...

But no, they did not scare us and we were not taken by surprise. We were only awaiting an opportune moment. Such a moment presently arrived. The Germans chose the intersection at Mila and Zamenhofa Streets for their bivouac area, and battle groups barricaded at the four corners of the street opened concentric fire on them. Strange projectiles began exploding everywhere (the hand grenades of our own make), the lone machine pistol sent shots through the air now and then (ammunition had to be conserved carefully), rifles started firing a bit further away. Such was the beginning.

The Germans attempted a retreat, but their path was cut, German dead soon littered the street. The remainder tried to find cover in the neighboring stores and house entrances, but this shelter proved Insufficient. The “glorious” SS, therefore, called tanks into action under the cover of which the remaining men of two companies were to commence a “victorious” retreat. But even the tanks seemed to be affected by the Germans’ bad luck. The first was burned out by one of our incendiary bottles, the rest did not approach our positions. The fate of the Germans caught in the Mila Street-Zamenhofa Street trap was settled. Not a single German left this area alive. The following battle groups took part in the fighting here: Gruzalc’s (“Bund”); Merdek’s (“Hashomer”); Hochberg’s (“Bund”); Berek’s (“Dror”); Pawel’s (“P.P.R.”).

Simultaneously, fights were going on at the intersection of Nalewki and Gesia Streets. Two battle groups kept the Germans from entering the Ghetto area at this point. The fighting lasted more than seven hours. The Germans found some mattresses and used them as cover, but the partisans’ well-aimednfire forced them to several successive withdrawals. German blood flooded the street. German ambulances continuously transported their wounded to the, small square near the Community buildings. Here the wounded lay in rows on the sidewalk awaiting their turn to be admitted to the hospital. At the corner of Gesia Street a German air liaison observation post signalled the partisans’ positions and the required bombing targets to the planes. But from the air as well as on the ground the partisans appeared to be invincible. The Gesia Street-Nalewki Street battle ended in the complete withdrawal of the Germans.

At the same time heavy fighting raged at Muranowski-Square. Here the Germans attacked from all directions. The cornered partisans defended themselves bitterly and succeeded, by truly superhuman efforts, in repulsing the attacks. Two German machine guns as well as a quantity of other weapons were captured. A German tank was burned, the second tank of the day.

At 2 p.m., not a single live German remained in the Ghetto area. It was the Z.O.B.’s first complete victory over the Germans. The remaining hours of the day passed in “complete quiet,” i.e., with the exception of artillery fire (the guns were in positions at Krasinskich Square) and several bombings from the air ...