Teen Resisters: Emily Vera P.6 by

Who was Vladka Meed?

ev4578 — 2025-05-09 04:43:37 UTC

From 1940-1942 Vladka Meed would convince non jews that she was not Jewish. She smuggled weapons to the Warsaw ghetto walls by faking her identity. She would also smuggle jews out of the ghetto and found places for them to hide.

Impact

ev4578 — 2025-05-09 04:48:40 UTC

Vladka Meed had a heavy impact during and after the Holocaust. Vladka and many other resisters helped organize the first holocaust world gathering of Jewish Holocaust survivors in Jerusalem, and in 1983, they founded the American gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors.

Vladka's point of view.

ev4578 — 2025-05-09 05:02:17 UTC

"There were packages of 5 kilo dynamite put in greasy paper to look like I am smuggling butter. Usually the smugglers paid a certain amount of money to the foreman and he was staying near the ladder and they gave him the money, went up the ladder on the other side and jumped on the other side of the wall into the ghetto. And the smuggle was going on and it was me next to and I gave also the money to the foreman and I went up with my package. It was not suspicious for them. And while I was on top of the wall, shooting started. And I was on top and the shooting to come closer. The foreman snatched away the ladder and I was not able, not to go back to the Polish side and I didn't see anyone on the Jewish side. And I was afraid to jump, not knowing to much about dynamite, that maybe this can explode. So, I was on top and the shooting came closer and I was sure that I was done. But suddenly the two people who were waiting for me saw me there on top, and they made a human ladder from the ghetto side and brought me down, and we ran away just in time."

Interview with Vladka Meed

ev4578 — 2025-05-09 05:04:08 UTC

Vladka's experience

ev4578 — 2025-05-09 05:11:14 UTC

"But I still remember the atmosphere, the uplift, that in the ghetto with so much starvation, and the typhoid epidemic which started and the hunger and misery, we were talking about literature. And a young girl was talking to older people and they were listening, and somehow it was, they thought, the hope that this will pass, it is a time that will not remain the same forever. And this kind of hope was constantly in the life of the ghetto."

Who was Rosa Robota?

ev4578 — 2025-05-09 05:20:06 UTC

Rosa Robota helped plan a revolt in the Auschwitz Concentration camp in 1944. Robota arrived at the camp in 1944 and within the same year she resisted to what was going on in the camps. Robota helped plan a revolt in the camp and she did this by working with other Jewish women. The women who worked in the munitions factory carried the explosive powder out of the factory. They did this by scraping the powder under their fingernails and they gave this powder to a Russian prisoner named Borodin who made bombs out of this powder. Once the bombs were made they would smuggle them in match boxes.

Did the Germans ever find out?

ev4578 — 2025-05-09 05:29:30 UTC

Yes, the Germans found out. When the Germans found out one of the crematoriums was blown up letting 600 Jews escape but all were recaptured or killed. On January 6th, 1945 Robota was hanged as well as some of her helpers named, Gertner, Safirsztain, and Wajsblum.

Impact of Rosa Robota

ev4578 — 2025-05-09 05:34:41 UTC

The impact that was planned was also planned by the leaders of Sonderkommando they planned to destroy the gas chambers, and crematoria, and launching the uprising but by Robota risking this she left a legacy of heroism by risking and sacrificing her life to lead other Jewish women inmates in whets named the most courageous acts of resistance during the Shoah.

Quote from Robota

ev4578 — 2025-05-09 05:44:55 UTC

"I entered Roza's cell, on the cold concrete floor lay a figure looking like a bundle of worn out clothes. At the sound of the door opening, she turned to face me. I almost didn't recognize her. Her eyes stayed the same; they looked gloomy and sad. Moments passed before a heavy sigh broke out from her heart. She then spoke her last words, "I did not tell" as she wanted her friends to know that they don't need to be afraid. We must continue. It was easier for her to die knowing that we continued our mission. It's a pity for life and that's how she left the world, what was her doing? She was not sorry for her actions, and that is how she died. She gave me a letter for the members that remained alive. She signed it, "Be strong and courageous." It was time for me to go, and I left the bunker. It was the last time I saw her face but the image of her was one I will never forget."

Interview with one of the survivors.

ev4578 — 2025-05-09 05:46:12 UTC

Who was the White Rose and ZOB?

ev4578 — 2025-05-09 05:55:12 UTC

The White Rose was a non violent group of resisters lead by 5 students and 1 professor formed in Nazi Germany . ZOB was a group in the Warsaw ghetto formed to resist going on railroad cars. Both of these groups were formed in 1942. The White Rose was lead by Wiki Graf, Kurt Huber, Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, Hanes Scholl, and Sophie Scholl. ZOB was lead by 23 year old Mordecai Aneilwicz. They issued a proclamation calling for Jews to resist going on railroad cars.

What did The White Rose and ZOB do?

ev4578 — 2025-05-09 06:09:46 UTC

The White Rose conducted an anonymous leaflet and graffiti campaign that called for active opposition to the Nazi Regime. The White Rose wrote 6 leaflets which multiplied and leading up to about 15,000 copies. They started in Munich Regions and later moved to southern Germany as well. The White Rose were the only group of Germans who resisted and this went on from June 27th, 1942 to February 18th, 1943. When caught the members and some supporters were imprisoned and some were executed. Hans Fritz and Sophie Magdalena Scholl, and Christoph Probst were executed four days after their arrests on February 22nd, 1943. ZOB was lead by 23 year old Mordecai Aneilewicz and he issued a proclamation calling for Jewish people to resist going on railroad cars. In January, 1943 Warsaw ghetto fighters fired weapons against German troops while they were rounding up ghetto inhabitants for deportation. On April 19th, 1943 German troops came back to deport the rest of inhabitants but 700 Jewish resisters fought back with weapons and whole made bombs for nearly a month but on May 16th, 1943 the Germans ended up winning.

Impact

ev4578 — 2025-05-09 06:16:15 UTC

The White Rose inspired others to resist to the Regime and challenge the prevailing fear of state violence as well as the group's legacy that continues to resonate with activists and students around the world who see them as an inspiration. The ZOB had an impact as well because it showed that Jewish people would not accept their fate and were willing to resist the Nazi regime. By doing this The Monument to the Heroes is a testament to ZOB's legacy and heroism.

Quotes

ev4578 — 2025-05-09 06:17:41 UTC

"Isn't it bewildering that everything is so beautiful, despite all the horrors that exist?"
"I must try to throw myself on the side of the victor.”
"I'm weak and puny, but I want to do what is right”
“Long live FREEDOM!”
“After three years of war in which I’d felt helpless against the overwhelming force of the German army, I was finally doing something. I was bringing my people a chance to survive.”
“[…] I owed something to Yitzchak and Sara, and to my parents, who might eventually be forced into the death camps too. I wanted revenge for every single Jew who had already fallen, and a chance to save the life of every Jew still standing”
“Esther was petite, with a shy voice, an uncertain smile, and every possible look and mannerism to radiate her Jewishness. None of us were perfect, but we all brought something of value to our jobs. I saw nothing in Esther that would help our cause, and plenty that endangered both her and us.”

ev4578 — 2025-05-09 06:18:46 UTC

ev4578 — 2025-05-09 06:19:32 UTC