The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which broke out on April 19, 1943 and lasted until May 16, was the first uprising in German Nazi-occupied Europe,  an act of fierce and desperate resistance to the Nazis’ efforts to transport the ghetto’s remaining population to death camps in Majdanek and Treblinka. It is the largest act of armed resistance by Jews in World War II. It is estimated that about 13,000 insurgents died in the ghetto during the revolt.

 

“In Poland, anti-Semitism is not allowed and there is no place for it in our country. Jewish people can feel safe in Poland,’’ said Polish Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Glinski, at a conference in the European Parliament in Brussels marking the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

He  said that anti-Semitic incidents were “isolated” and “15 times less numerous than in Germany.”

He added that any anti-Semitic incidents “must be combated, including through education, both about the Holocaust and the many centuries during which Poles and Jews have coexisted.”

The conference was organized by the European Jewish Association (EJA) together with the Social and Cultural Association of Jews in Poland (TSAZ) and hosted by Polish members of the European Parliament Anna Fotyga and Adam Bielan from the European Conservatives and Reformists group.

The conference, entitled: ‘Though if it be to die, we will fight… and our deeds will live forever’, featured also interventions from a range of reputed figures from the Polish and Jewish cultural and civic sectors.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which broke out on April 19, 1943 and lasted until May 16, was the first uprising in German Nazi-occupied Europe,  an act of fierce and desperate resistance to the Nazis’ efforts to transport the ghetto’s remaining population to death camps in Majdanek and Treblinka. It is the largest act of armed resistance by Jews in World War II. It is estimated that about 13,000 insurgents died in the ghetto during the revolt.

After a few days of fighting, the Germans began to systematically torch and blow up the ghetto houses in order to overcome the fighters and force the fugitives out of their hiding places. For a month, the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto fought for their lives. Many died in traps of fire and smoke. News of the revolt spread quickly and even reached the free world, and it became a symbol of the battle of the few against the many, and of the freedom and power of the human spirit.

“The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, whose 80th anniversary we are now marking, was the first big-city uprising and the biggest revolt of the Jewish people during the German occupation,’’ the Polish Deputy Prime Minister said.

Piotr Glinski paid tribute to “the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the innocent victims of the German war machine.” “We remember about the past and based on historical experiences, we seek to build a better future,’’ he said.

MEP Anna Fotyga, a former Polish Foreign Minister, stressed that the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising “is part of the history of the Polish state.” She hailed the Jewish insurgents, saying “they were dying full of fighting spirit, with dignity, with weapons in hand, demonstrating to the whole world their opposition to the German crimes against the Jewish nation.” She added: “But they were also fighting on behalf of Poland.”

In addition to the conference, an exhibition about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was opened in the European Parliament, entitled ‘’City of the Living, City of the Dead.’’ It combines archival photographs of the Warsaw Ghetto with snapshots of contemporary life in the Polish capital. “Today, Warsaw is a city of the living. But we are not forgetting about those who died or were killed. Remembrance, passed from generation to generation, must last for eternity,’’ said the Polish Deputy Prime Minister.