Some of those few who escaped or went into hiding used their freedom to fight back.

by Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis and Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky

Click to Enlarge
Partisans

Group of Jewish Partisans In The Rudniki Forest
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

 

Some Jews managed to flee, escape, or otherwise hide from the Nazis. Some took to the woods, and were among the founders of the "partisan" movements, the guerrillas fighting against the Germans from the woods. The Germans did not have endless forces, and they could not go into all the forests to flush everyone out. Certain areas were simply left cordoned off.

Click to Enlarge
Kovno Partisans

Jewish Partisans From Kovno
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

The biggest problem for the Jewish underground was that they did not get Allied support like other nationalist groups. Those groups were getting money, weapons and supplies flown in. In addition, the Jews were not only fighting the Germans, but they were also fighting the locals. There were wild gangs who swore that they would kill any Germans they found...

Click to Enlarge
Partisans Marching

Partisans Marching Through Swamps
photo courtesy of Yad Vashem

 

 

 

 

and also any Jews. The Jewish resistance was fighting on both ends.

Submit Comment

Published: Wednesday, December 31, 1969
Hear related audio on this topic.

Like this article? Help us create more. Aish.com exists
only through the support of our readers.

Visitor Comments: 7

(7) s. patchen, February 2, 2010 3:37 PM

plaque on 62nd street nyc

I have looked for this plaque and cannot find it where the underground was financed by entertainers in nyc. Can you give me any info on this location

(6) none of your buisness, January 29, 2010 5:34 PM

this web page is very good info on the holocaust

(5) , December 15, 2009 6:40 PM

i think this is the best thing in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(4) shannon, February 4, 2008 12:01 PM

thank you

this web page has tought me so much about the holocaust that i never know about

(3) stephanie .R., May 18, 2007 11:10 AM

I LOVE THIS WEB SITE N IV'E LEARNED ALOT FROM IT.

See All Comments

Submit Your Comment:

  • Display my name?

  • Your email address is kept private. Our editor needs it in case we have a question about your comment.


  • * required field 2000
Submit Comment
stub

About the Author

Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis

Rabbi Eliyahu Ellis studied biology and geology at Northern Illinois University. In addition, he spent time as a deep-sea diver in the oil fields in the North Sea between Scotland and Norway and has circumnavigated the seas of the world in a sailboat. Rabbi Ellis received rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah where he is a senior lecturer at the Discovery and Essentials programs.

Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky

Rabbi Shmuel Silinsky received his BS from Cornell with a major in Communication Arts and a minor in Archeology, and did post-graduate work at UCLA in the field of Desert Plants and Natural History. Prior to moving to Israel, he worked in the field of Urban Ecology including several years as a landscape designer in Beverly Hills. Rabbi Silinsky received rabbinic ordination from Aish HaTorah and the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. He currently teaches at the Yeshivat Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem.

Related Articles:

  • Personal Accounts During the Holocaust
  • The Allied Effort
  • The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Most Popular In:

  • 1.The Ghettos

    Jews from wide areas were rounded up and forced to live in unbearable conditions in cramped ghettos.

  • 2.The Labor Camps

    Those Jews strong enough were considered as slaves for the German "masters".

  • 3.Kristallnacht

    In one night of terror, German mobs destroyed what they could of the Jewish presence.

  • 4.The Trains

    The Killing Squads could not deal with so many people, so they were shipped off to more "efficient" death camps.

Sponsors