Good Evening Gilboa Community!
We're saying hello this evening with a blog post written by current Gilboa Workshopper Benji Dutta about his experience finishing his last day in Poland. Here's what he had to say:
"Today was our final but maybe most meaningful day of our Poland journey. We had an early wake up of 6:30 AM and quickly got on the bus to head to our first hadracha of the day. On the bus we chatted had fun doing the passport dance. Our first site was one of the last remaining parts of the Warsaw ghetto wall. Here, we talked about life in the ghetto and how it was common for there to be tension between rich and poor Jews. Then, we had an excellently ran hadracha by Leor where he talked about the power of Jewish resistance and uprising. Following that we played a fun game to reenergize ourselves. Epy (rakaz masa - journey coordinator) taught us this game where we had to form a triangle around a person which would lead them to being out. Toby, Amir, and Benji won the game(not to brag).
After that, we learned about Dzielna 34, the commune for our youth movement Dror. This commune is where the movement would live. Peulot would be held. Fun gossip sessions about the madrichimot would allow laughter. Seminars that lasted a month long where lecturers and various speakers would come and talk to the Jewish youth. It ran like our movement runs today. A soup kitchen was set up for all Jews. We learned about various people who had a heavy impact with in our movement and got a sneak peak of who they were. Antek Zuckerman was the dreamer of the movement. He was who everyone looked up to. He was the mazkir (head of the movement). Zivia Lubetkin was who oversaw the Jews of Warsaw. She was the person to get stuff done. If you needed a job done, you went to Zivia. Frumka was the mother figure to the chanichim.
Following this, we went to the Arkadia mall in Warsaw, where we had an opportunity to go shopping and get some good food. Next, We visited a monument that depicted the Polish uprising. We learned about the Polish uprising in Warsaw and how that has shaped Polish identity today. It was very interesting to hear another perspective of resistance that wasn’t Jewish and how the identity of Poland was stripped from them during World War 2. Following this we started our ride to the site where they would deport the Jews from the Warsaw ghetto to Treblinka. This is where we started to learn our path to heroism.
Thanks to Katie and Amir, we learned about the courageous and heroic event of the Warsaw ghetto uprising in which our movement played a heavy role in. To prepare for this uprising, the leaders of our movement (Dror), Antek Zuckerman and Zivia Lubetkin, and Mordecai Anielowicz (from Hashomer Hatzair) raised a fighting organization (JFO) where the Jewish youth were trained to fight. They used their socialist-Zionist values to come together and not only resist but to create a space for all Jews of the ghetto to feel safe and have a place to be Jewish and not scared. To prepare for the uprising, the movement leaders would often have to smuggle weapons from beyond the walls.
One day, a grave digger who escaped Treblinka came into the ghetto to warn the Jews about the atrocities being committed at Treblinka. The Jewish leadership didn’t believe him. They said it wasn’t possible for that to be true. The youth movements believed him. They knew that the ghetto was not the end for the Nazis. They knew they had to resist but needed more support from the Jewish mass. As the JFO became more powerful and impactful in ghetto life, they were able to begin operations for an uprisings. One day, the Jews noticed that the walls of the ghetto were completely surrounded. They knew this was the time. Resistance by Jews was something the Nazis never expected. They didn’t know it was possible.
Mordecai Anielowicz, the commander of the JFO, went into the square with his unit. Antek was confused looking out the window as they had no weapons. The unit went back inside and then back out. Antek stayed confused. All of the sudden, Mordecai launched a grenade at the Nazis and the uprising began. The Germans were shocked at was happening. They still believed that this little act of resistance was small. The Nazis went in to continue liquidizing the ghetto. Little did they know, an uprising on a level they couldn’t even fathom was coming. A Nazi walked into a commune. A man sitting on the couch with a book in his hand. The Nazi walked by him and when he turned back there was a gun pointed right at him. There was a gun behind the book. The streets went crazy. The Nazis had to idea what to do. Germans were getting thrown off buildings, shot, and blown up. They had to retreat. They were stunned. The up-risers celebrated. They had no idea this resistance would be such a success. For the next few months, the JFO became the main power in the ghetto. The people went to them for everything. In this time, they had to get the resources they had lost in the first uprising again. On top of this, they now had to run the ghetto essentially.
A few months pass. It is now Passover. Antek had gone out of the ghetto to smuggle more guns back but had to get back for the Seder. When he returned to the ghetto walls, he got a tip from somebody. The Germans had surrounded the wall once again. This time they were ready to destroy the ghetto. The note got into the ghetto and they prepared. They surprisingly weren’t scared. They were excited. As the Nazis came in, they walked onto the Main Street which is exactly where the Jews wanted them to go. They had set up a bunch of land mines there. Many Germans died. Everywhere in the ghetto, the JFO units were winning. The Germans were facing many casualties while the Jews suffered few. They caused the Nazis to retreat once again. Moral couldn’t be higher. They haven’t lost a single battle yet. They start partying and hanging out in the bunkers. This is when the Nazis realize they can’t win with combat.
At this point, Zivia is going from bunker to bunker checking in on people, risking her life. She did this because she was still deep down, a madricha. At this time, she realized they needed an escape plan. She bribed a polish man to take her through the sewers and they found a way out. Once she got back, the vibe was different. As i said, the Nazis knew they couldn’t use combat to win. So they used their best weapon, gas. They pumped gas into a bunker called milla 18. This bunker had around 200 people in it including mordecai. He unfortunately was killed in this bunker. Only few survived as they found a secret exit that wasn’t blocked off. After this the Nazis began setting fire to the ghetto. They needed to escape. Zivia took as many chanachim as she could through the sewers where 2 trucks were supposed to pick them up when they got out. Only one truck was there. They knew that they probably couldn’t get 2 trucks out of the ghetto. Zivia wanted to stay back to be with the rest of the chanachim in the ghetto but everyone else needed her to go with them to safety. Zivia was the movement. Without her, they felt it would die. Zivia still refused until a chanich walked up to her and pointed a gun to her head and said if you don’t come, I will kill you. So she went to safety.
Once the war was over her and Antek fought in the Polish uprising. Then they fulfilled their dream of moving to eretz Israel where they fought in the Independence War. They loved fighting I guess. After the war, they formed the kibbutz that they had always dreamed of where they could live out there days living the dream that many could not. They carried on the legacy of our movement. This story to me was extremely inspiring. From the most hopeless time, the youth stood up and said no more. They weren’t going to stand for this oppression. They weren’t going to let their lives be taken on other people's terms.
What I’ve learned from this is that myself and all of the Jewish youth of Habonim Dror have the ability to make a change, to resist. It makes us feel a responsibility to initiate change and take the future into our own hands. This was the perfect way to end our Poland journey. We started with pure death and hopelessness. We were able to remember and honor those who lost their lives in the worst way. We ended with an inspiring story of hope, strength, and resistance. This is going to allow us to go back to our movement and pass down the story of the Warsaw ghetto uprising and inspire more Jewish youth the make change."
Thanks Benji!
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