Monday, December 2, 2013

PERIOD 6: UPRISING

Between July 22nd and September 12th of 1942, the German authorities deported more than 400,000 Jews who were living in the Warsaw ghetto. The Germans then began the second phase of their operation to remove the remaining Jews from the Warsaw ghetto on April 19, 1943, the eve of Passover. The renewal of deportations was the signal for an armed uprising within the ghetto. The German command originally estimated that it would only take them a few days to put down the resistance. Standing against tanks and seasoned combat troops, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising lasted for more than a month. In your post cite what you learned that you did not know before watching the film.

23 comments:

Shannon Connors said...

After watching this film, I learned a lot more about Jewish resistance to the German forces. I didn't know that Jewish poles living in the ghettos got so far living underground and keeping up a fight to the Germans. I didn't even know that Jewish poles living in the ghettos hid underground and moved from building to building as the Germans executed a complete destruction of the ghetto. I learned that the Germans literally coated buildings in gasoline and flammable substances and lit them on fire with flame torches. I also didn't know that the Jewish poles had a means of finding and getting their hands on weapons in order to put up a fight with the Germans. I thought it was incredible how willing Jews were to sacrifice their lives for family or loved ones. I also leaned that woman played an equal combative role in fighting against the Germans as men did, as they were all fighting to protect themselves and their family. Overall I saw, in a much more vivid way, the limits Jewish people went to to survive rather than just succumbing to the Germans, as many films and readings make it seem.

Lalith Pramod Ganjikunta said...

I learned many things after watching the uprising take place. I came into knowledge that men and women fought side by side against the Nazi forces attacking the ghetto. I learned that they managed to hold their own ground against the massive artillery of the Nazis. I also learned that the rebellion lasted more than the polish army and how the Jews never gave up and kept on having hope that would never die. This hope could not die no matter what conditions imposed them like hiding in the dirty tunnels underground.

Chloe Skraly said...

Watching this film, I learned many things. I didn't know that the Jews fought back against the Nazis and killed many of them. I was surprised to learn that some Jews had that much courage to shoot Nazis and kill them, especially because there were way more Nazis than there were resisting Jews. I was also surprised and impressed that the women in the Jews who were resisting played an equal role in killing the Nazis and planning to escape.I did not know that the Jews kept moving buildings in the ghetto because the Nazis were blasting their homes into pieces and even fumigating the sewers and underground where the Jews where hiding.

Klein Muthie said...

Wow, I didn't know that the Jews fought for their independence so fiercely,especially the women. It was sad when the head Jew council man committed suicide because he couldn't take any more of his people being killed. They wanted to get rid of the Nazis in the ghettos by killing them. Even though,the Germans killed a lot of Jews by using guns or gasoline guns, they still went on to fight for themselves. They weren't scared of anything. I didn't know that some Jews went across the border and sold their belongings to get food or money in return.Some did it for their loved one's who were sick. They tried their best to move around without being caught. I was happy to find out that in the end some of the Jews who fought made it out alive and escaped the Nazi's.

Elizabeth Volpe said...

Before watching this film, I did not know just how many Jews fought back and what it looked like. I also did not know that they were fighting as part of the Polish underground. I didn't know they used the tunnels below the cities as their meeting places and exit and entry ways. I also was not aware that the Jews asked for arms and supplies from the United States and Britain and were denied even after they saw physical evidence of what was taking place in the ghettos. It makes it hard not to blame my own country for what happened in the holocaust. It is also new to me that the Jews had as much success fighting back as they did. Although it was not enough to put an end to the Holocaust, it was still a valiant effort that I didn't know took place.

Ashley Chiu said...

Before watching this film, I'd always thought that the Jewish people had never tried to resist the horrible actions of the Nazis. The movie thought me that in fact, they did, and a lot more specifics about the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. I was surprised at how long the uprising was able to last, especially because of how much harder it was for the Jews to get arms and weapons, and because of the sheer numbers of the German army. I also learned of how much of a role women played in this uprising, which is that they were on the front lines exactly like men were. I also liked learned some of the more logistical aspects, such as how the resistance movement used the sewers and went underground, and used spies to sneak maps of Treblinka to the Allies in order to try and get help. Overall, the film showed the incredible bravery of this movement.

Olivia Longo said...

After watching this film, I learned a lot about Jewish resistance in the ghettos. I didn't know that Jews fought back against the Nazis so much. I learned about how Jews were able to possess weapons by sneaking into neighboring towns and through connections outside the ghettos. The film showed how brave the Jews were for fighting back against the Nazis and how closely-knit they were because they stuck together and risked/sacrificed their lives for each other.

Tabitha Domeij said...

This film allowed me to gain a lot of knowledge about what happened in the Warsaw Ghetto and how the Jewish people living in Poland were able to resist the Nazis. My great-grandmother was born on a ship coming from Warsaw, Poland to America during this time as her family escaped the burning down of the Polish city and the Germans. Prior to watching this film, all I knew of Warsaw was that it had been basically burned to the ground and that my great-grandmother and her family had been able to flee. I think it was very beneficial for me to learn about all of the details and to see that not all Jews followed along with the German orders, but some actually did stand up and fight back. I had no idea that there was an underground system through which some were able to find safety or that the Jews were able to obtain weapons to fight back. I was also glad how the movie portrayed women as being just as strong and brave as men as they fought right beside them with their guns and bombs. I think this is important in understanding how all became one in the retaliation against the Germans and how it wasn't just men who were brave enough to resist.

Jake Foster said...

After watching this film I learned a lot about how the Jews were willing to go against the German orders and to fight back for their own will. It showed a lot about who the Jews really were and it showed how much power and strength they had to do so. Also, it was very interesting to see how well both men and women worked together. It showed how women and men were completely equal and it also proved how women were just as strong as men. I'm very thankful for the protection we have and I one have a much better perception on the ghettos lives. I'm glad I got to watch this film and I learned a lot from it.

Caitlin Potts said...

After watching Uprising!, i've learned a lot more about the attempts made by the Jews to resist the Germans. I learned about how the Jewish resistance would actually live under ground to protect themselves and their cause. It was shocking to find out that they had such little support from the poles, the UK, and the US because I would've thought that they would've wanted to support a resistance to the horrific things the Germans were doing. This film also showed me how prevalent women were in the fight against Germany they did not stand idly by and watch as the men took on the Army, they stood right alongside them. I didn't realize how many jews fought against the Germans in attempt to salvage their jewish honor and protect their people, i was happy to find out that some people were brave enough to fight for the entire group of people. Before watching this movie, I didn't know that there was any organized rebellion against the Germans from the Jews and it has opened my eyes to the bravery of the Jewish resistance at the time.

Corey Schairer said...

what i learned after viewing the video, was that Jews were a lot stronger then i thought they were by being able to stand up against the gestapo and fight back for once which i didn't think many Jews were willing to do at the time. also I learned that Jews would use tunnels and sewer systems to get out of the ghettos by going under the ground,and that the Germans when they found out gassed and flood out the tunnels and sewers. i can now see why MR Gallagher has this as one of his favorite movies, its insight full on how the Jews rebelled and not only that but there's scenes and situations in the movie that get latched in your head. One scene I wont forget is the Germans using the people as target practice as their jumping from burning buildings. I'm glad that Mr. Gallagher chose this as one his films to show in the class.

Shannon lawton said...

Before watching this film I didn't realize how hard the Jews fought back. I knoww people would refuse orders from the nazis but I didn't realize that they were going to that extent. Seeing the Jews making the explosives and stealing the guns and seeing the damage they did really opened my eyes. I really liked watching this film in this class because it showed me how courageous the Jews are. It took so much courage just to survive as a Jew during this time but the fact that they also had the courage fight back to those measures is amazing.

Brittany Baxendale said...

This film was so interesting. I did not know that the Jews put up a fight back. It was hard watching some of the scenes. It was amazing though how they had the courage to stand up for themselves and try to fight for what they know is right. It was so sad watching them jump and get shot on buildings. No one deserves to be treated that way.

Rachel Hurkmans said...

This film showed me that the Jews did try to fight back against the Germans. In the other films we have watched in class all we saw was the Germans treated the Jews horribly and the Jews not doing anything to stop it. In this film I was able to see the Jews fight back and finally stand up for themselves.
This film also showed me that women played just as great a part in the up rising as the men did. The men and women Jews fought side by against the Germans.

Maddi Avergon said...

Before watching this film, although I knew about the uprising as a whole, I was always curious about how the Jews were exactly able to fight with the little they had. In watching the film I learned that they would steel weapons from the Nazis and slowly save them up. The weapons they stole were mostly machine and handguns. However, apart from these stolen weapons the Jews often set bottles of alcohol on fire and threw them as flaming grenades. A lot of the resistance work was underground for both meanings, 1stly the entire operation was secret and 2ndly cause there were literal holes and tunnels for supplies and space underground.

Ethan Peterson said...

After watching this film I was informed that there was resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto. The resistance had a valiant effort and defended there religion with honor. I was not aware that the Jews had the power and intelligence to develop such a sophisticated resistance. I always thought life in the Ghetto was hopeless for everyone, and for most it was. However the resistance displayed in the film fought with intelligence. I thought it was amazing that the women fought just as hard and strong as the men. They stood side by side defending what they believe in. Overall, I enjoyed this film.

Leah Bridge said...

I was absent today from school, but from the days of the film I saw, I learned how increadably hard the Jews fought for independence. I never knew how hard and how much planning the jewish people had put into fighting for their independence. It was incredable to see how the jewish people were so willing to sacrafice their lives for the other Jewish people of their community. I was also suprised to see how there were many women who stood up and were major roles in fighting against the natzis in order to gain indepence for the jewish people.

Emily Zarrilli said...

Before watching this film I really had no idea what life was like in the Warsaw ghetto, I had previously thought that it was a pleasant life and although the jews were segregated that they were still allowed to leave and live normally. I had no idea the ridiculous treatment they had to deal with daily, the dead bodies on the streets, the random killings for no reason and especially the jews that killed their own people. I learned that the jews formed resistance groups that used violence against the germans to try to escape their imminent death sentence. I was surprised that the jewish people fought back I had never been told that they put up any sort of fight and it was amazing to see what a group of people can achieve when they work together.

Abby Underwood said...

I was absent for the last day of this film. While watching this film I learned a lot about the Jew's life within the ghettos. I had no idea resistance groups existed. I also had no idea they had so many members as they did. Their ability to slowly gather arms through killing of the police and stealing their guns as well as smuggling them in was all new to me. I had thought that the Jews were completely unprotected while they were in the ghettos. I also learned that the Nazis would take innocent Jews citizens for any harm that came to a soldier and they made the Jewish Council give money to support the Nazis.

Ryan Neil said...

I was absent for this class

Kevin Koenigsberg said...

I never understood the true scale of the strength and ferocity that the Jewish resistance fought back with. I was amazed at their level of organization and their endurance, living in bombed out buildings, tunnels, and sewers while they fought back with practically no help from the outside. They proved that everyone has the option to resist, but it is necessary for everyone to do it together. It is unfortunate that the details of the stand that the Warsaw resistance made were not able to be shown to the rest of the oppressed Jews in time for all of them to fight back. If a few hundred poorly armed, untrained fighters could last for months unassisted, I wonder what would have happened if the Millions of people suffering from Nazi oppression rose up against them, with aid from the Allies.

Anna Meshreky said...


I thought this movie was a very powerful representation of what was happening in the Warsaw ghettos. Many of the Jews had rebelled against the resistance and their uprising caused the lives of courageous Jews to be saved. I liked the image of powerful courageous women that this film portrayed.



Sabrina Herstedt said...

There were many things that i was surprised i did not know before this movie. The ghettos as a whole, and the way they were run, were something i was unaware of before the course. furthermore i did not know that the nazis kicked them out of their homes to move them into the ghettos, only to deport them from their as well. the uprising was something i was surprised to learn about. the fact that they could be so victorious for over a month against all odds is such an amazing message.