This Day in History: 19 April 2020
19 April 1943
77 years ago, today, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began, when Jewish resistance fighters start firing against Nazi forces attempting to clear out the Jewish ghetto. Shortly after the German occupation of Poland, the Jewish citizens were forced into a 'ghetto', that was surrounded by barbwire and SS guards. This occupied almost 500,000 Jews in shocking conditions, that caused disease and starvation, killing thousands every month. From this ghetto, 6,000 Jews per day started to be transported to the Treblinka concentration camp, but the remaining Jews were assured that their friends and family were being sent to work camps. An underground resistance group was established in the ghetto, called the Jewish Combat Organisation, and limited arms were gained at great cost.
The uprising began when Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler announced the ghetto would be emptied in honour of Hitler's birthday. Many of the ghetto's remaining 60,000 dwellers attempted to hide in secret bunkers, but more than 1,000 resistance members met the Germans with gunfire and homemade bombs. The Germans initially withdrew, but suffering moderate casualties, soon returned, and 5 days later launched an all-out attack against the Warsaw Jews. Thousands were slaughtered in the ghettos, as buildings were blown up one by one, but the resistance continued to group in the sewers. Unfortunately, on May 8, their command bunker fell to the Germans, leading to their leaders committing suicide. During the uprising, around 300 Germans were killed, but thousands of Jews were massacred. It is believed that all those who survived the uprising to reach Treblinka were dead by the end of World War Two.
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