Examples Of Resistance In Ghettos

White Rose Essay Unarmed resistance methods in Jewish ghettos were essential for the survival of Nazi methods, and to further preserve their beliefs. Many methods of unarmed resistance include smuggling, continued religious practice, forming resistance groups, schooling, and more. Many examples of this are found in resistance stories. They continuously used these resistance methods, even though they knew Nazis could discipline them with methods such as collective punishment, death camp sentence, beatings, and many additional gruesome punishments. Unarmed resistance methods shown by women and children in the Vilna Ghetto show how people still risked everything for survival, by smuggling and maintaining spiritual practices in terrible times,

Smuggling was a very common method of attaining food in ghettos. Zenia Malecki’s story of surviving the holocaust highlights, “Smuggling food into the ghetto became a common survival method. Children often wriggled through the sewers to enter the city outside of the ghetto and sneak food back in” (“Zenia Malecki”). This was a very risky practice, but it was essential for survival in the ghettos. Food was very limited there, and really one of the only ways to attain it was smuggling. Additionally, many children and families were growing up together in the ghetto. Parents tried their very best to create a good and normal atmosphere for their kids, even in tough conditions. An idea from The World Holocaust Remembrance Center states, “They did everything they could to create a normal atmosphere.” This fact highlights how many Jewish people living in ghettos still continued religious practices, even though they were shamed for their religion. They would have religious ceremonies, holidays, weddings, and much more. In a particular photograph from The Resistance Photograph Collection, ghetto residents are shown attending a religious memorial service at the Jewish cemetery in

The Nazis had many harsh discipline methods, including collective punishment. In this quote from Zenia Malecki’s experience, it shows the effects of one person’s actions. “Once at Straszuna 12 there was an incident. Two Germans were killed. A Jewish girl shot even though she didn’t receive the order to shoot, so the gun was taken away from her. After that, as a result, we had an Aktion” (“Zenia Malecki”) Deportation was something commonly done in Jewish ghettos, and many people feared it. The Nazis would take people every few days, and many people were in fear of their lives when this time came. London Jewish Cultural Centre mentions, “On 22 July 1942, the Jewish Council of Warsaw published a Nazi notice to the ghetto, stating that almost all of its inhabitants would be deported to camps in the east, regardless of age or gender.” A whole ghetto was being deported, of thousands of people. Many Jews lived in fear of Nazi methods, and many of these methods were extreme. Nazis went to extreme lengths to assure resistance was not done, but many Jews still risked their lives in effort of resistance. “The deprivations of ghetto life and the constant fear of Nazi terror made resistance difficult and dangerous but not impossible.” (Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington