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The seeds of the ZOB were planted on July 22, 1942 when the Nazis issued a decree regarding the fate of the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto. “All Jewish persons living in Warsaw, regardless of age and sex, [would] be resettled in the East.” Thus began massive deportations of the Jews, which lasted until September 12. Overall some 300,000 Jews were expelled, many of whom were sent to the Treblinka extermination camp. The deportations depleted the once thriving Warsaw Jewish community to 55,000-60,000 inhabitants.
The youth groups that were instrumental in forming the ZOB had anticipated German intentions to annihilate Warsaw Jewry and began to shift from an educational and cultural focus to self-defense and eventual armed struggle .
Unlike the older generation, the youth groups took these reports seriously and had no illusions about the true intentions of the Nazis. A document published three months before the start of the deportations by Hashomer Hatzair declared: “We know that Hitler’s system of murder, slaughter and robbery leads steadily to a dead end and the destruction of the Jews.”
Because of their ability to view the situation objectively, a number of the leftist Zionist youth groups like Hashomer Hatzair proposed the creation of a self-defense organization at a meeting of Warsaw Jewish leaders in March of 1942. The proposal was rejected by the Bund who believed that a fighting organization would fail without the help of Polish resistance groups who were refusing to provide any support to such an organization. Others rejected the notion of armed resistance saying that there was no evidence of a threat of deportation. Moreover, they argued any armed resistance would provoke the Germans to retaliate against the whole Jewish community.
The underground political factions met secretly on July 23 but failed to reach a consensus. On July 28, representatives from Hashomer Hatzair, Dror and Akiva convened separately from the political parties and established the ZOB. Yitzhak ZuckermanYitzhak Zuckerman ( 1915 1981), who used the alias Antek was a leader of the Polish Resistence to the German occupation during World War II. Zuckerman was born in Vilna to a Jewish family. As a young man he embraced the concepts of socialism and Zionism., one of the leaders of the ZOB described the conditions surrounding the creation of the ZOB: “At that meeting we [the youth groups] decided to establish the ‘Jewish Fighting Organization.’ Just us, all by ourselves without the [political] parties.”
The ZOB sent ambassadors to the " AryanThis article is about the term "Aryan". For "Arian", a follower of the ancient Christian sect, See Arianism. Aryan is an English word derived from the Vedic Sanskrit and Avestan term arya meaning noble . One of the meanings of this term in modern English" side of Warsaw, in an effort to procure arms and establish connections with Polish resistance groups like the Polish Armia KrajowaFor other meanings of Home Army see: Home Army (disambiguation The Armia Krajowa or AK Home Army functioned as the pre-eminent underground military organization in German- occupied Poland, which functioned in all areas of the country from September 1939 u, who might help in the Jewish armed struggle. With few exceptions, the ZOB was unable to secure any firearms and Polish groups were reluctant to waste what little resources they had by giving them to untrained Jews. General Rowecki, commander of the AK, reported that: “Jews from all kinds of groups… are turning to us and asking for arms as if our depots were full.”
The ZOB began to issue propagandaNorth Korean propaganda showing a soldier destroying the Capitol building. This article is about the type of communication. For other meanings, see Propaganda (disambiguation). Propaganda is a specific type of message presentation, aimed at serving an age calling for Jews to take up arms. A letter from the ZOB dated four months after the end of the deportations demanded, “not even one Jew must go to the [deportation] train.” The letter closed with the stern resolution: “Now our slogan must be: let everyone be ready to die like a man!”
Despite a serious lack of weapons, the ZOB managed to shoot and severely wound the head of the Jewish police force. The Jews living in the Warsaw Ghetto regarded the Jewish police force, which was operated by Jews but supervised by the Germans, with contempt and disgust. The ZOB considered them collaboratorsCollaboration literally, consists of working together with one or more others. See collaborative software, consensus. Wartime collaboration As a pejorative term, the word "collaboration' can describe the treason of cooperating with enemy forces occupying and issued edicts proclaiming they would execute anyone found to be working with the Nazis.
During the deportations, the Nazis had succeeded in capturing a number of important ZOB officials, leaving the organization in a chaotic state. Stabilization came when other Zionist youth groups such as Gordonia and Noar Zioni joined the ZOB. The most critical event in strengthening the ZOB came when the Bundists, the Communists and a number of adult Zionist political parties banded together under the ZOB banner with Mordechaj Anielewicz, the former head of the Hashomer Hatzair, as the new leader.
The ZOB immediately set out to rid what was left of the ghetto of any individuals who had collaborated with the Nazis during the deportations. Among those individuals was Dr. Alfred Nossig, a Zionist and revered man in the community who had become a Nazi informant. Although the executions were motivated by revenge, they had the secondary effect of silencing any individuals who had considered conspiring with the Germans.
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