Chasia Bornstein's Use Of Armed Resistance In The Bialystok Ghetto

The Jewish in the Bialystok Ghetto used armed resistance. They used armed resistance to fight back at the Nazis for all the horrifying and traumatizing things they were doing to them. They fought for themselves and they fought for the other Jews too. The Nazis caused the Jewish people to suffer from starvation, sickness, and disease. They caused them to suffer in some of the most depressing ways, such as separating families and taking away every ounce of childhood and decency the families had left. The Jewish people that stood up against the Nazis are the most powerful and devoted people in history. One of these Jewish people was Chasia Bornstein who used armed resistance in the Bialystok Ghetto to express the anger and hatred she had toward

She was part of the Hashomer Hatzair, a secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 (Chasia Bornstein's testimony). Chasia was a very young girl when she chose to become a courier. She joined the underground resistance movement at the age of twelve in the Bialystok and Grodno ghettos ( Chasia Bornstein Bielicka). Before joining, she saw a young woman, as well as two other men, get killed in the middle of her ghetto by the commander (Chasia Bornstein's testimony). Chasia said that the motive of the Commander killing the girl was because she was the prettiest girl in the ghetto and he wanted to kill her himself. ¨And at that very moment she spat in his face and he pushed the chair away and she died¨ (Chasia Bornstein's testimony). Seeing this tragedy made Chasia angry at the Nazis. She stood staring at the deceased girl for hours, even after everyone else had left. (Chasia Bornstein's testimony ¨Everybody had gone, but I couldn't move. I wanted to look at the three who had been killed. In order to fill myself with hatred. I stood there for hours. My friends tried to drag me away from there but I said, ¨not yet!¨¨(Chasia Bornstein's testimony). Chasia joined the underground to fight (Chasia Bornstein's testimony). She worked on the , Aryan side for a year and a half alongside the alias of other

In this particular case, the armed resistance seemed appropriate, since many lives were at stake. Many in the Holocaust needed to use armed resistance if they wanted to survive. Some Jews even thought it was the only way to survive and that they should give back as much violence as they had received. Some people think that armed resistance in general should not be used because they think it is too violent and not a peaceful way to resist. In reality, some get peace from armed resistance and people wouldn't have to use it if they weren't in a spot where it is life and