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Abba Kovner's Manifesto, "Let Us Not Go Like Lambs to the Slaughter" (Ozacky-Stern).

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Abba Kovner, a Jewish resistance leader during the holocaust, was residing in Vilna, Lithuania, when he heard rumors of mass executions. Kovner, in light of this, wrote a manifesto as a call for arms from the Jewish community to not go out as passive victims of the Nazi regime, but rather resist the persecution of the Jewish people. The manifesto, “Let Us Not Go Like Lambs to the Slaughter,” was first shown to a collection of youth groups of over 150 members, warning of the genocidal actions of the Nazis, and inspiring armed resistance (Calderon-Espinal).

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Abba Kovners, “Let Us Not Go Like Lambs to the Slaughter” manifesto was the first public piece that called out the Nazis’ intentions of the extermination of Jews and advocated for resistance from multiple different organizations. His manifesto led to the creation of the Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye (FPO), the United Partisan Organization in Vilna. The FPO engaged in sabotage and armed resistance and uprisings. As Abba Kovner was the co-founder of the FPO, he united many Jewish youth organizations into the FPO, and later gained full control of the organization since the previous leader was caught (Wallenberg).

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“We will not be led like sheep to slaughter. True we are weak and helpless, but the only response to the murders is revolt. Brethren, it is better to die fighting like free men than to live at the mercy of the murderers. Arise, Arise with last breath” (Middleton-Kaplan).

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Abba Kovner Beside the Other Leaders of FPO

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Abba Kovner Beside the Other Leaders of FPO

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The FPO led many acts of sabotage under Abba Kovner, one in particular partaking in June 1942, when the organization placed a mine on the Vilna-Vileyka railway line. The Vilna-Vileyka railway line was important to the Nazis in its deportation and military supply efforts. The FPO targeted this line in an effort to disrupt the military logistics, and slow down the deportation process. The mine they placed ended up being detonated under an ammunition train, and their identities remained under cover (Felson).

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Along with the sabotage of German supplies and tactics, the FPO also smuggled weapons into Vilna. Within the ghetto, the FPO relied on covert smuggling routes in order to move things such as contraband, weapons, and precious materials. Because of the Heavy Nazi surveillance, the smuggling needed to be extremely discreet. The FPO hid contraband in plain sight most of the time. Food deliveries were the most common way of smuggling. It was common for food to be delivered to the ghetto. The FPO’s connections and suppliers hid weapons and explosives inside barrels, boxes, and sacks. The black market within the ghetto was also a viable place to get contraband, since jewish traders, or even german sympathizers. The FPO would use these connections to get weapons they would use for their acts of sabotage (Calderon-Espinal).

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Abba Kovner | Historical Figures of the Holocaust | Yad Vashem (Vashem)

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Abba Kovner | Historical Figures of the Holocaust | Yad Vashem

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In 1943, the Nazis were beginning to liquidate the Vilna ghetto, and soon the FPO realized that armed resistance was going to be difficult. Instead of fighting inside of the ghetto as they've been doing, the FPO decided to begin planning for escape. As the Nazis were becoming more aggressive, Abba Kovner, along with others, started to set up escape routes, hoping to seek refuge in the forests. The FPO collaborated with Jewish smugglers, knowing that if they didn't leave, death was waiting for them. Women, children, and members of the FPO traveled in the night through the rural outskirts of Vilna. They eventually made their way to the forest hideouts and gave access to the Soviet partisan groups that were willing to take them in. Abba Kovner took leadership in the Soviet partisan groups, allowing him to continue his fight against the Nazis (Hazikaron).

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Nakam, also known as an avengers partisan unit, was a jewish revenge organization that was founded by Abba Kovner in 1945. After surviving the war, Kovner focused his efforts towards revenge and justice towards the Nazis. The morals of this organization were questioned, as collective punishment towards almost all Germans for the holocaust, and not just prison time. Kovner saw this as a form of historical reckoning, and believed it was completely justified (Hazikaron).

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Since Nakams goal was to punish all Germans for the horrific acts during the holocaust, they created a plan. The goal was to kill 6 million Germans to mirror the lives lost in the holocaust and send the message that the cruel killings of Jews would not be forgotten. The scale of this plan was highly unrealistic, and caused many ethical debates. The official plan, made by Abba Kovner himself, was to poison the water supply of major German cities, such as Nuremberg, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Berlin. They were to use a colorless and tasteless poison, hoping it would be lethal in large quantities. Abba traveled to Palestine to gain supplies and support, but on his way back was caught and arrested in the Mediterranean sea. Even though he was carrying the poison with him, he was about to dump it in the water before it was taken. With Abba arrested, the plan failed (Felson).

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With Kovner in Britain custody, Nakam took punishment into their own hands. They wanted to focus their efforts on more specific perpetrators, A couple thousand of SS soldiers that are in American custody. The revenge organization infiltrated the bakery that was supplying food to the SS soldiers, and laced around 3,000 loaves of bread with arsenic. Around 1,200 soldiers fell ill, and few were said to have died. Thanks to the worries of the public, political pressure, and the want to shift towards a brighter future, Kovner and Nakam stopped their plans of revenge (Felson).