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These resources on Jewish resistance during the Holocaust are available for free loan from MCHE’s resource library.
Ghetto in Flames
By: Yitzhak Arad
Ghetto in Flames recalls the murderous campaign of the Nazi Einsatzgruppen against the Vilna Jews, and how this brutal campaign pushed many Lithuanian Jews, especially youth, into the resistance movement. Isaac Rudnicki, now Itzhak Arad, was one of those resisters. He became famous as a fearless avenger who carried out daring and dangerous missions to fight the brutal Nazi campaign. His story reminds us of both the destruction and struggle of the Jews of Vilna.
Against All Hope: Resistance in the Nazi Concentration Camps
By: Hermann Langbein
Hermann Langbein’s book documents a lesser known piece of history — resistance within concentration camps, the seemingly impossible fight by Jews against the Nazis within a camp system where Jews were, “morally broken, psychologically disabled, and even physically destroyed.” By telling the story of Jews who worked individually and in organized groups to thwart the cruel objectives of the concentration camps, Against All Hope is a testament to this heroic resistance and to the resilience of the human spirit.
Women in the Resistance and in the Holocaust
By: Vera Laska
Laska explores the role of women in concentration camps, in the resistance and in hiding, countering what she believes to be the misconception that resistance movements were exclusively male undertakings. She argues that women often were able to carry out clandestine work that men could not by acting on the traditional stereotype that women were innocent bystanders in “male affairs.”
On Both Sides of the Wall
By: Vladka Meed
Feigele Peltel-Miedzyrzecki was only 17 when she became a member of the Polish underground. From the start of Nazi occupation, she was determined to fight her occupiers and help as many people as she could. To do so, Feigele became “Vladka” and worked on the “Aryan” side of the underground. Speaking fluent Polish and having what was perceived as an “Aryan” appearance allowed Vladka to walk among her enemies and undermine their efforts from within. Her actions of resistance included smuggling weapons, rescuing and hiding children and Jews who escaped from the ghettos, and extending help to Jews in labor camps and those hiding in the woods.
Defiance: The Bielski Partisans
By: Nechama Tec
Based on the true story of three brothers—Tuvia, Asael and Zus Bielski—Defiance tells, “a gripping account of resistance against all odds.” By the end of 1941 the Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing squads) were systematically killing Jews. Tuvia, Asael and Zus escaped these executions and found refuge in the dense woods of Belorussia. There, the brothers met others who had escaped persecution, and with the strong leadership of Tuvia, they created not only a partisan group that was, “the largest armed rescue of Jews by Jews during World War II,” but a family-like camp that helped build bonds necessary for survival. This book served as the basis for the recent motion picture starring Daniel Craig.
Partisans of Vilna
DVD—produced by Aviva Kempner and directed by Josh Waletzky
This DVD tells the riveting story of Jewish resistance fighters in Vilna, the capital of Lithuania. Interviews, songs, newsreels and archival footage are intertwined to relate the tales of these courageous young men and women who fought against the Nazi occupation under tremendous risk. According to the Partisans of Vilna Study Guide, the film seeks not only to record the testimony of partisans about events that occurred and understand how they grappled with life-and-death decisions, but also to look at the personal consequences and greater moral implications of their actions.
The Warsaw Ghetto
DVD- produced by The Jewish Historical Institute and TPS Film Studio
This documentary project features three films created for the Jewish Historical Institute as part of its permanent exhibit on the fate of Warsaw’s Jews during the period of 1939-1945: 912 Days of the Warsaw Ghetto, Children in the WarsawGhetto and Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Together, they present the daily lives and deaths of those imprisoned in the ghetto, their hopes and efforts to survive, their armed resistance and struggle, and finally their death.
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