‘Human dignity and honour': remembering the Warsaw Ghetto uprising
When the Nazis entered the ghetto in spring 1943 for the final-round up, ZOB resisted by force. ZOB was a mix of Zionist and Socialist organisations, with big differences in politics, their point of unity being that all Jews, regardless of their political outlook, would end in Auschwitz.
ZOB was completely outnumbered and outgunned but held out against the German army for some five weeks. It tied down thousands of German troops, meaning they could neither be deployed in the war nor used to hunt Jews. Goebbels (the Nazi propaganda chief) fumes in his diary about Jews fighting back and with captured German weapons!
It was an inspiration understood by some of the leaders of the Polish resistance, one of whom commented that "the blood of the ghetto fighters was not shed in vain…it gave birth to an intensified struggle against the fascist invader". By the middle of May, the Nazis decided to burn the ghetto to the ground to avoid further German casualties. Some survivors fled through the sewers; most were captured and killed.
The uprising was part of a radical Jewish tradition which included large numbers of young Jews joining left parties and antifascist groups, including the International Brigades to fight against fascism in Spain in the late 1930s; the cemetery and monument in Montjuic in Barcelona tells us that some 15% of the International Brigaders were Jewish (indeed 50% of the USA Abraham Lincoln Brigade), a hugely disproportionate number. This radical tradition preceded this and continued to the Ghetto.
One of the great historical ironies is how a large proportion of the shock troops of the ethnic cleansing (Naqba) of the Palestinians in 1948 was carried out by this same tradition, recruited from the left kibbutz movement. Pre-Second World War this tradition had been avowedly non-Zionist. A mixture of the Holocaust and western immigration controls convinced many Jews that a homeland was necessary. The Palestinians became the victims of the Holocaust victims.
The ghetto fighters left us a universal message of humanism and hope in the face of barbarism. This is a message that we need to remember as we confront racism and fascism wherever and whenever it raises its head.
Henry Maitles is Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of the West of Scotland
Agenda is a column for outside contributors. Contact: agenda@theherald.co.uk
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
'How do I know my mum isn't dead in a ditch after Israel arrested her?'
Seren Murphy, 43, was relaxing at home on a Saturday night when she got a message on the WhatsApp family group chat from her mum. She'd been arrested by Israel. Seren's mum, Máire Ní Mhurchú, 70, flew to the occupied West Bank in early May to do what she has done for 20 years – help Palestinians. But no one heard from the mum-of-three, grandmother-of-eight and great-grandmother-of-two for days after she was detained and threatened with deportation on Saturday, an order she is fighting in the courts. Seren, a librarian in Swansea, told Metro: 'How do I know she's not dead in a ditch somewhere? 'When you look at what's happening in Gaza, the fact that they have murdered aid workers and medical staff, what's to stop them from bumping off a little old lady?' As much as Seren's phone has been 'red-hot' recently from her frantically checking it, she knows her mum will be fine. She said: 'My mum is my hero. She's got the biggest heart of anybody I've ever met – Palestine is part of her life and soul.' Almost every autumn, Mhurchú, who goes by D Murphy, goes to the West Bank to help pick olives off the terraced hillsides. But the olives were unharvested when she landed last month. Seren said: 'The joy is disappearing. They're living in fear… Some of the villages she's been to have been bulldozed to the ground. Some people she knows are dead.' One village is Khalet Al-Daba'a in Masafer Yatt, home to 14 families before Israeli forces demolished 90% of the homes and infrastructure. Murphy, from Douglas in Cork, was joined by her friend Susanne Björk on May 28 to volunteer for the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Björk, 48, told Metro Israeli settlers she filmed 'terrorising' Palestinian villagers stole her phone on May 30. She reported them to the police. But at 6.30am the next day, masked soldiers kicked down their door and gave them 10 seconds to get out. Israeli settlers serving as reservists reportedly told them to leave as they were in a 'military area' before police arrested them. Björk said: 'But the police and soldiers the day before had not mentioned this. How are we to know we were not supposed to be there?' To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Inside the station, they saw two Palestinian boys, aged about 13. Björk recalled: 'An officer told me: 'These are terrorists. If we don't zip-tie them, they'll run.' We were in the middle of an illegal settlement. There was nowhere for them to go.' Israel has classified the area as a military zone since the 1980s, complicating residents' ability to remain. Khalet Al-Daba'a is inactive, according to a 2022 map. At a Sunday hearing in Tel Aviv, the court accused them of being in a military zone and threatening soldiers and police. Björk said: 'Which is a ridiculous thing to say because these are heavily armed people and I'm a 48-year-old woman with a 70-year-old.' After agreeing to board the next available flight, Björk was deported. Murphy is in Givon Prison and was denied counsel on Wednesday, ISM said. Björk said: 'I fear for D. She's a 70-year-old woman in detention – we had to fight to use the toilet.' On Wednesday, Seren's aunt received a call – it was Murphy, saying she had not spoken with her lawyer since Monday. Seren said: 'I'm reassured knowing she's still alive. It's surreal to think that way about your mum. 'But alongside those feelings is also anger at the fact we're in this situation and what is happening every day in Palestine.' Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 people hostage. Israel has killed nearly 54,700 Palestinians, mainly women and children. ISM told Metro: 'Israel labels indigenous Palestinians, their supporters and those who tell the truth about the genocide unfolding in occupied Palestine as criminals, uses force to silence and remove them from occupied Palestine.' More Trending Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told Metro officials are providing consular assistance. It said: 'As with all consular cases, the Department does not comment on the details of individual cases.' The IDF, the Israel Police and Sweden's Ministry for Foreign Affairs have been approached for comment. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Ireland has a US border — it could help travellers nervous about Trump's America MORE: I spent 48 hours in Ireland's rebel city — it's in the midst of a revolution MORE: US suggests Palestinian state should be in the French Riviera
Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
What is Ukraine's ‘mystery missile'? Russia quaking after Kyiv uses ‘new weapon' to blitz Putin on night of hell
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) VLADIMIR Putin has been left shell-shocked by a brand new mystery missile he claims Ukraine attacked him with overnight. A massive strike ripped through an airport in Bryansk and reportedly destroyed a placement of Putin's Iskander missile system. 9 Vladimir Putin has been left shell-shocked by a brand new mystery missile he claims Ukraine attacked him with overnight in Bryansk Credit: East2West 9 The huge blasts targeted a Russian airfield with a giant mushroom cloud eruption seen by onlookers Credit: East2West 9 The severity of the attack has led to Russians accusing Kyiv of using German-supplied Taurus missiles Credit: Getty 9 Thursday saw one of the most explosive evenings of fighting for some time during the gruelling war. The night of hell saw Putin exact revenge for Ukraine's stunning Operation Spiderweb drone blitz last weekend. The Russia tyrant hammered Ukraine with 407 drones and 44 missiles - unleashing a deadly wave of strikes that killed three and injured dozens. But a valiant Ukraine hit back with their own set of attacks. Dramatic footage shows one explosion, believed to be from the mystery weapon, followed by a powerful secondary blast. A follow up attack also took out a launcher for the Iskander a day earlier, Ukraine claimed. But the blasts were something never been seen before by the quaking Russians during their illegal invasion. This led to speculation on pro-Kremlin media channels that Ukraine may have fired a powerful German-supplied Taurus missile. Putin-loyalists Tsargrad said on Telegram: 'Did the first Taurus strike Russia? "Unprecedented escalation in Bryansk and destruction of Iskander missiles.' Putin plotting 'final killer offensive' to WIN Ukraine war despite Russian losses nearing 1 MILLION As channel MIG Russia claimed the pinpoint Bryansk strike was carried out with Western-made long-range missiles. If it was a Taurus, it would mark the first ever time it has been used by Kyiv. The Russians would also view it as an 'unprecedented escalation' in the conflict due to the damage the weapon can cause. Discourse around German weapons has ramped up in the parts 24 hours ever since Chancellor Friedrich Merz met in the Oval Office with Donald Trump. German sources have had to deny that any agreement had been reached during the talks to send supplies of long-range Taurus' to Ukraine. Merz had announced at the end of May that Ukraine's key backers - including Germany, France, the UK and the US - had all lifted restrictions on where donated weapons can be used. And the announcement could even mean that Britain's state-of-the-art Storm Shadow missiles could soon be used by Ukraine. Britain's bunker-busting Storm Shadow rockets are a nightmare for enemies as they are capable of dodging air defences. 9 The mystery blast from Ukraine saw two explosion ring out across the airfield Credit: East2West 9 Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone attack in Kyiv Credit: Reuters 9 A Russian bomb lands in Ukraine overnight Credit: AP The £800,000 missiles - already being fired within Ukraine - use GPS to precisely hit targets, and can travel at 600mph. The Taurus missile system is widely regarded as Germany's equivalent to the Storm Shadow. The tit-for-tat attacks came hours after US President Donald Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia fight for a while. The president has been so far unsuccessful on getting the two countries to agree to peace - with Moscow not moving on its demands. The American was full of praise for Ukraine though as he labelled the daring Operation Spiderweb attack as "strong and badass". The daring operation saw a fired up Ukraine wreck 41 Russian planes across the strategic airfields. Putin's doomsday bomber fleet was crippled with a third of his most prized aircraft lying in smouldering wrecks. It comes as a new report accused Putin of plotting a final killer offensive along three fronts to win the war this summer. The Russian army is nearing one million casualties in its bungled three-year-old invasion as peace talks continue to stall. Now, some 125,000 Russian soldiers are reportedly right now massing along the Sumy and Kharkiv frontiers, according to Ukraine's military intelligence. Over the past fortnight border villages have fallen to Russia as it is may to be preparing the ground for the offensive. But some senior commanders in Ukraine believe that could be a feint and Russia is actually preparing to attack further south to push further into the Donbas, Ukraine Pravda reports. Russia is likely to attack through three areas near each other in the Donbas - Kramatorsk, Kostiantynivka, and Pokrovsk. 9 Fire and smoke rise in Kyiv following a Russian drone and missile strike overnight Credit: Reuters
Belfast Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Eid under way in Gaza Strip with prayers outside destroyed mosques
With much of Gaza in rubble, men and children were forced to hold the traditional Eid al-Adha prayers in the open air and with food supplies dwindling, families were having to make do with what they could scrape together for the three-day feast. 'This is the worst feast that the Palestinian people have experienced because of the unjust war against the Palestinian people,' said Kamel Emran after attending prayers in the southern city of Khan Younis. 'There is no food, no flour, no shelter, no mosques, no homes, no mattresses … The conditions are very, very harsh.' The Islamic holiday begins on the 10th day of the Islamic lunar month of Dhul-Hijja, during the Hajj season in Saudi Arabia. For the second year, Muslims in Gaza were not able to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform the traditional pilgrimage. In northern Gaza on Friday, Israel issued a new warning to civilians saying the military was about to undertake intensive operations in an area after it said rockets were fired toward Israel from the sector. The war broke out on October 7 2023 when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 hostages. They are still holding 56 hostages, around a third of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight living hostages from Gaza and recovered dozens of bodies. Since then, Israel has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians in its military campaign, primarily women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians or combatants in its figures. The offensive has destroyed large parts of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population of roughly two million Palestinians. After blocking all food and aid from entering Gaza for more than two months, Israel began allowing a trickle of supplies to enter for the UN several weeks ago. But the UN says it has been unable to distribute much of the aid because of Israeli military restrictions on movements and because roads that the military designates for its trucks to use are unsafe and vulnerable to looters. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome said on Thursday that Gaza's people are projected to fall into acute food insecurity by September, with nearly 500,000 people experiencing extreme food deprivation, leading to malnutrition and starvation. 'This means the risk of famine is really touching the whole of the Gaza Strip,' Rein Paulson, director of the FAO office of emergencies and resilience, said in an interview.
