Jewish Combat Organization

Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa ייִדישע קאַמף אָרגאַניזאַציע
Jewish Combat Organization
Flag of ŻOB
Active	July 28, 1942
Country	Nazi occupied Poland
Engagements	World War II Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Commanders
Notable commanders	Mordechai Anielewicz Yitzhak Zuckerman Marek Edelman
Insignia
Military eagle

The Jewish Combat Organization (Polish: Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa, ŻOB; Yiddish: ייִדישע קאַמף אָרגאַניזאַציע Yidishe Kamf Organizatsie) was a WWII resistance movement in Nazi-occupied Poland. The ŻOB is well-known for its role in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising between April 19 and May 16, 1943.

Formation

The ŻOB was formed on July 28, 1942, six days after words began to spread about the Nazi German decision to deport all Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to concentration camps as part of the Holocaust. Hashomer Hatzair, a Labor Zionist group, declared,

We know that Hitler's system of murder, slaughter and robbery leads steadily to a dead end and the destruction of the Jews.

Operation

A poster of the Jewish Combat Organization. The Yiddish text reads:
"All people are equal brothers;
Brown, White, Black, and Yellow.
To talk of peoples, colors, races
‒ Is all a made-up story!"

In November 1942, the ŻOB became part of the Polish Home Army's (Polish: Armia Krajowa, AK) High Command.

Second deportation

On January 18, 1943, the Nazis resumed their deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto. 6,000 Jews deported by the Nazi Germans included a number of ŻOB fighters, who had snuck into the deportees. Led by ŻOB's co-founder Mordechai Anielewicz, ŻOB fighters awaited the signal, then broke out to fight the Nazi Germans with small arms. News of the ŻOB, and Jewish Military Union (Żydowski Związek Wojskowy, ŻZW), rising up spread throughout the ghetto. The deportation lasted four days. The Nazi Germans left the Warsaw Ghetto on January 22, 1943.

Uprising

ŻOB's appeal to the Polish people issued on April 23, 1943.

A housing block burns during the suppression of the Warsaw ghetto uprising.

Picture taken at Nowolipie street looking East, near intersection with Smocza street, perhaps Nowolipie 64 / Smocza 1. In the back one can see ghetto wall with a gate.

Captured Jews during Warsaw Ghetto Uprising led by the Germans for deportation to death camps. Picture taken at Nowolipie street, near the intersection with Smocza.

The final deportation began on the eve of Passover, April 19 1943. The ghetto's streets were empty as most of the remaining 30,000 Jews were hiding in carefully built bunkers, including their headquarters at Ulica Miła 18. The Nazi Germans were attacked by Jewish fighters when they entered the ghetto. Intense fighting followed.

Struggling to deal with the fighters, the Nazi Germans burned down all of the buildings in the ghetto. Fighters hiding in underground bunkers lacked oxygen and started suffocating. On May 8, 1943, fighters started killing themselves to avoid capture. On May 16, 1943, the Warsaw Ghetto was destroyed and the uprising failed.

Aftermath

20,000 Jews, including some ŻOB fighters, managed to flee to the Aryan side of Warsaw. Kazik Ratajzer, Zivia Lubetkin, Yitzhak Zuckerman and Marek Edelman joined the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, which saw 90% of Warsaw destroyed and at least 200,000 Poles killed.

Post-war period

During the Cold War in Eastern Europe, when many countries were ruled by Soviet-backed communist regimes, both the anti-Jewish nature of the Holocaust and the history of Jewish resistance were suppressed in their official WWII history, partly due to Soviet state antisemitism and the native antisemitism in Eastern European communist countries. The recognition of the importance of WWII Jewish resistance did not become common until the Eastern European countries restored their democracy in the 1990s.

Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, Warsaw, Poland.

70th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Monument to the Warsaw Ghetto Heroes in Warsaw.

Gallery of Jewish fighters in Warsaw

• 
  Mordechai Anielewicz
• 
  Mira Fuchrer
• 
  Yitzhak Zukermann
• 
  Zivia Lubetkin
• 
  Marek Edelman
• 
  Izrael Kanal
• 
  Itzhak Katzenelson
• 
  Michael Klepfisz
• 
  Vladka Meed
• 
  Symcha Ratajzer
• 
  Yitzhak Sukenik
• 
  Dawid Wdowiński [ŻZW]

Related pages

• Antisemitism
• Final Solution
• Jewish Ghetto uprisings
• Holocaust uniqueness debate
• Ghettos in Europe during the Holocaust