Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Research Paper

There are numerous ways that groups and individuals can intervene in the name of justice, from staging violent uprisings to creating underground networks that rescue children from danger, but the people involved in these movements all share several defining characteristics: Courage, selflessness, and a strong sense of right and wrong. One example of a resistance movement that held these traits is the Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa, or the Jewish Fighting Organization, a group of young Jewish rebels living in the Warsaw Ghetto who refused to be deported to extermination camps by German soldiers. The ZOB was best known for staging the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, a one-month armed revolt against the Germans. Unfortunately, the Nazis ended up crushing
Their persistence that continued even in the most hopeless circumstances further proves their bravery. In addition to courage, a defining trait that people involved in resistance movements share is selflessness, and the ZOB was no exception. Although the Warsaw Ghetto uprising was one of the more violent resistance efforts of World War II, the members of the ZOB fought selflessly. They knew that they stood no chance, but they willingly sacrificed their lives for the sake of justice. According to Emmanuel Ringelblum, a former inhabitant of Warsaw who kept a diary about life in the ghetto, “We took stock of our position and saw that this was a struggle between a fly and an elephant. But our national dignity dictated to us that the Jews must offer resistance and not allow themselves to be led wantonly to slaughter” (Kopel). Though the Jews knew they were as powerless against the Germans as “a fly” was to “an elephant,” individuals continued to fight to their own deaths. They threw away personal motivations, fighting instead on behalf of all Jews and the protection of their pride, which demonstrates their self-sacrificing
The ZOB certainly held this trait, as they fought to the very end for what they believed was right. Ringelblum wrote in his diary, “Whomever you talk to, you hear the same cry: The resettlement never should have been permitted...Our docility has earned us nothing...We must put up a resistance” (Kopel). As evidenced by this quote, the injustice of being forced to resettle in extermination camps was what angered the Jews enough to stage a revolt. Those who died died valiant deaths, going down fighting for what was right instead of being exterminated in a gas chamber. In conclusion, people and groups that intervene on behalf of justice hold several key attributes which include courage, selflessness, and a strong moral compass, and the ZOB was one of the many groups at arose during World War II that demonstrated these