(IsraelNN.com) A newly published book contradicts the widely-held view that ultra-Orthodox Jews did not participate in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of April 1943.
"Et La'asot Lehatzalat Yisrael" ("The Time to Rescue Israel") by Haim Shalem, head of the Holocaust Studies Department at Bayit Vegan, a teachers' college for Orthodox women documents hareidi involvement in the famous battle against Nazi forces in Warsaw. In contrast with the common belief that the ultra-Orthodox community opposed physical resistance and relied solely on divine intervention, there were important rabbis in Warsaw who supported the Uprising.
The most prominent among them was Rabbi Menachem Zemba, a member of Agudat Yisrael's Moetzet Gedolei Hatorah rabbinic council, before the Holocaust, and a central authority in the Polish, ultra-Orthodox community.
Rabbi Zemba initially opposed the concept of rebellion, but Shalem presents evidence that indicates that, after the large wave of transports of Jews from the ghetto to the death camp in Treblinka (in July, 1942), he changed his mind and ruled, "I see that, according to halakha it is a mitzvah to participate in the Uprising and to make use of the best tactics of war."
Shalem also uncovers evidence that indicates that some ultra-Orthodox youths actively participated in fighting in the revolt. The most prominent of them was Rabbi Alexander Zemelman, who was an Agudat Yisrael Youth leader in Poland before the war. Most of these ultra-Orthodox fighters joined the ranks of the Jewish Fighting Union (JFU), Betar's militant wing. The JFU received little recognition of its own, after the war. Thus, the names of the ultra-Orthodox fighters were also forgotten.
Shalem cites the general disorder of JFU rosters to explain the absence of ultra-Orthodox names among those who took part in the revolt. "The Jewish Fighting Organization [the larger and more famous organization led by Mordecai Anielewicz] maintained lists, but anyone who did not arrive as a representative of an organized movement, or did not carry a weapon, was not included in the list, and even their lists were censored on the way to Israel."
"Et La'asot Lehatzalat Yisrael" ("The Time to Rescue Israel") by Haim Shalem, head of the Holocaust Studies Department at Bayit Vegan, a teachers' college for Orthodox women documents hareidi involvement in the famous battle against Nazi forces in Warsaw. In contrast with the common belief that the ultra-Orthodox community opposed physical resistance and relied solely on divine intervention, there were important rabbis in Warsaw who supported the Uprising.
The most prominent among them was Rabbi Menachem Zemba, a member of Agudat Yisrael's Moetzet Gedolei Hatorah rabbinic council, before the Holocaust, and a central authority in the Polish, ultra-Orthodox community.
Rabbi Zemba initially opposed the concept of rebellion, but Shalem presents evidence that indicates that, after the large wave of transports of Jews from the ghetto to the death camp in Treblinka (in July, 1942), he changed his mind and ruled, "I see that, according to halakha it is a mitzvah to participate in the Uprising and to make use of the best tactics of war."
Shalem also uncovers evidence that indicates that some ultra-Orthodox youths actively participated in fighting in the revolt. The most prominent of them was Rabbi Alexander Zemelman, who was an Agudat Yisrael Youth leader in Poland before the war. Most of these ultra-Orthodox fighters joined the ranks of the Jewish Fighting Union (JFU), Betar's militant wing. The JFU received little recognition of its own, after the war. Thus, the names of the ultra-Orthodox fighters were also forgotten.
Shalem cites the general disorder of JFU rosters to explain the absence of ultra-Orthodox names among those who took part in the revolt. "The Jewish Fighting Organization [the larger and more famous organization led by Mordecai Anielewicz] maintained lists, but anyone who did not arrive as a representative of an organized movement, or did not carry a weapon, was not included in the list, and even their lists were censored on the way to Israel."