Resistance movements, as well as rebellions and armed uprisings against the Germans, took place in various ghettos established in occupied Poland. On August 16, 1943, in response to another deportation to the Treblinka extermination camp, members of the resistance movement in the Białystok ghetto took up arms.
The third part of Białystok
The Białystok ghetto was established in July 1941. Previously, the region had been under Soviet occupation since September 1939. Following the launch of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, the Germans occupied the city and gradually began implementing a new legal order. After July 22, 1941, Białystok found itself within the so-called Bezirk Bialystok, an administrative unit similar to a regency. Formally, it was headed by Erich Koch, Gaulaiter of East Prussia. This district was divided into eight district police stations. "On July 26, 1941, the German commandant's order establishing the ghetto was posted on house walls and poles. The streets comprising it, as well as its borders, were designated. Within five days, by August 1, 1941, the entire Jewish population was ordered to move into the ghetto. […] The ghetto covered a third of Białystok," recalled Samuel Berkner. The Białystok ghetto housed approximately 50 Jews from the city and surrounding towns. The ghetto was sealed off and surrounded by a high fence, and leaving its borders without permission carried severe penalties, including the death penalty. As in the General Government, those over 14 were forced to work. Housing and food conditions deteriorated over time. To survive, Jews tried to establish contacts on the so-called Aryan side and illegally transport food into the district. Unlike the General Government, where the largest deportations from ghettos to extermination camps, carried out as part of the so-called Operation Reinhardt, took place mostly in 1942, the liquidation of the Białystok ghetto began in February 1943. The first so-called operation took place from February 5–12; during it, approximately 1–2 people were shot in the ghetto, and approximately 10 were deported to the Treblinka extermination camp and murdered there.
Resistance groups
The first underground groups in the Białystok ghetto were formed as early as the autumn of 1941. Jewish youth were largely involved in these activities. Initially, aid was provided to, among others, Soviet prisoners of war, and the Committee for Aid to Soviet Prisoners of War was established. Over time, additional tasks were undertaken. "As it grew, the organization set itself increasingly broader tasks: 1. publishing an information bulletin about the situation at the front; 2. organizing radio monitoring; 3. distributing bulletins and leaflets; 4. procuring weapons to prepare the ghetto for self-defense; 5. forming partisan units," recalled one of those involved in such activities, Lejb Pudłowski. The committee changed its name to the Anti-Fascist Committee of the City of Białystok. Members met in various locations, including the bathhouse, the hospital laundry, and private homes. Those involved in the underground movement were active both inside and outside the ghetto. Various methods were used to smuggle weapons and other essentials into the district. They were brought in, among other things, in sacks containing food. Sometimes, they were smuggled in by taking advantage of the crowds at the ghetto gate or by throwing them over the fence. Pudłowski recalled that individual weapons were stolen from German warehouses where weapons captured during the fights against the Soviets were stored. It's worth noting that Berkner, quoted above, emphasized that members of the resistance movement differed in their approach to the direction they should take. "There were also very serious political problems, primarily the question of the strategy and tactics of the underground struggle. There were two views. Most of the leadership believed that the underground organization should prepare for a two-front fight: it should gather weapons and prepare to resist when the fascists began to liquidate the ghetto. […] The second view was that the fight against the fascists inside the ghetto had no prospects. […] Therefore, it is better to consider organizing a partisan movement outside the ghetto as the primary goal and to bring as many young people as possible into the forest."
In November 1942, Mordechai Tenenbaum, an activist with the Jewish National Committee and the Jewish Combat Organization, made his way to Białystok from the Warsaw Ghetto. This was after the Grossaktion, when the truth about where Warsaw Jews were being deported became known. Tenenbaum arrived in the Białystok Ghetto to help organize and unite the resistance groups there. A month later, the first group of partisans left the ghetto and made their way to the forest.
“Jewish brothers!”
As mentioned, the first deportation from the Białystok ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp took place in February 1943. The ghetto's residents disbelieved any German assurances, and it was expected that further deportations would follow. This signaled the members of the underground operating in the ghetto to begin preparing for armed resistance. Efforts were directed toward intensifying attempts to acquire weapons, stockpiling supplies, training, and developing action plans. Partisan groups were also formed, which left the ghetto and headed for the forest. Radio surveillance was also employed, thus obtaining information about the Germans' next steps. "Outside the ghetto, a factory producing false documents was established. Helle Zylberstein, a lithograph engineer, was producing them on the Aryan side. […] The documents allowed ghetto envoys to move around the city and reach representatives of the underground," recalled Regina Wojskowska. Other means were also prepared to fight the Germans, such as bottles with hydrochloric acid and Molotov cocktails.
In the summer of 1943, the decision was made to liquidate the Białystok ghetto. It is estimated that it may have held around 30 people at the time. At that time, resistance factions merged, and Mordechai Tenenbaum and Daniel Moszkowicz led the unified organization. Leaflets were distributed to encourage ghetto residents to take action. Their content appealed to take part in the fight: "Jewish brothers! Terrible days have come for us. Not only the ghetto, the yellow patch, hatred, contempt, humiliation, and degradation are our lot; now we face death! Before our eyes, our wives and children, our fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters are being deported to extermination. […] Jews! They are leading you to Treblinka! […] Do not willingly go to your death! Fight for life until your last breath! With teeth and claws, axe and knife, hydrochloric acid and crowbar, greet our executioners. […] We have nothing to lose except our honor! […] Do not escape from the ghetto – you will die without a weapon – after fulfilling your national duty, armed – go to the forest! You can get a weapon from any German in the ghetto." The content of this leaflet indicates the direction they intended to take. It seems, however, that divisions within the underground members did not make these activities easier.
Rebellion or uprising?
On the night of August 15-16, 1943, the Germans launched another operation. The district was surrounded by officers from German units and Ukrainian auxiliary units. Seeing these actions, groups of resistance members joined the fight. Historians call these events variously, depending on their duration and other factors, often describing them as a mutiny or fighting in the Białystok ghetto rather than an uprising. The fighters sought to break through the cordon and allow the ghetto residents to escape. Their headquarters was located on Chmielna Street. Due to German actions, coordinating the fighting from this point soon became impossible. The prepared plans assumed that Jewish partisans from outside the ghetto would attack from outside and swell the ranks of those fighting in the district. This attempt was unsuccessful; they failed to penetrate the ghetto, but they did help several dozen people escape. The group of fighters, armed with a few pistols, Molotov cocktails, and homemade grenades, had to fend for themselves. Despite the failure of their plans and the overwhelming force of the occupiers, resistance continued in several locations within the ghetto. For the next several days, they fought against the very well-armed and superior forces of German soldiers. As some members of the underground movement feared, many of them died in these battles. A particularly difficult moment came on August 19th, when 72 fighters discovered in the bunker at 7 Chmielna Street were shot. A day later, the last bastion of resistance – the hospital on Fabryczna Street – fell. The leaders of the uprising, Tenenbaum and Moszkowicz, realizing it was doomed, committed suicide. The uprising by resistance members in the Białystok ghetto ended.
Researchers estimate that as many as over a hundred fighters managed to escape to the Knyszyńska Forest, where they joined partisan groups. Only a few survived until the end of the German occupation. Most of those still in the ghetto were sent to the Treblinka extermination camp. A group of approximately 1200 Jewish children was taken to the ghetto in Terezin (Theresienstadt) in the Czech Republic. They stayed there for six weeks and then were sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Jews capable of working were sent to labor camps that were still operating, including Poniatowa in the Lublin district. After the uprising was suppressed and subsequent transports were sent to the extermination camp, the liquidation operation was completed. A residual ghetto remained in Białystok, with a group of approximately 2,000 people remaining there. Less than a month later, this group was also liquidated. Those able to work were taken to labor camps, the rest were sent to extermination camps.
