Jewish resistance???

Was just discussing "xenocentrism" in Sociology class and was wondering how or even if it may relate to Jewish oppression durring the war. What I mean is- how Jews saw themselves in the sociological eyes of their tormentors. I remember reading that they, for the most part, were not apt to armed resistance because it was not a part of their nature, niether were they steeped in any sort of violence because their modes of living and working were not given to forms of armed aggression or racial narcissism. As I remember, their was only one "substantial" revolt that took place in the camps.

 

I know of 2 cases: Sobibor(?)((I know it was in of the camps)) and the Warsaw uprising. It is probably best that they didn't revolt against the Nazis, or it would have ment more death and yet another reason for Hitler to rage against them.

 

Read 'Smoke without fire' by Florian Mayevski, a Jewish Polish partisan. He was definatly a fighter but the one impression I get from it is that by the time the Jews in Poland needed to resist it was too late. The Jews of his town did not know what was going on until the Germans turned up, and by then it was too late. A few got away and Mayevski hid in a forest and eventually started a partisan unit. The problem was that the Polish Home Army was very anti-semitic and so he had to pretend not to be Jewish, when someone found out he was they tried to kill him. Perhapse that is why there was so little resistance by Jews, the rest of Europe was so anti-semitic that no one would have supporeted them, particularly with Germans around. Perhapse that is it, they thought it was a lost cause.

 

Well, Jewish people were peaceful ones, at least at Germany. And they were a hated minority all over Europe, so they really couldn't do much. The times in which they resisted they suffered severe consequences, like the uprising of the Warsaw Ghetto, the uprising at Sobibor concentration camp and the Jewish partisan groups at the USSR (of course they served in different partisan groups because Stalin didn't want Jews in normal partisan groups...).

 

As an asise though, as an armed formation, they were not averse to the odd bit of shooting either.

Jewish brigade of the British army in Italy.

 

And the practice of leaving Jewish soldiers in a room with German prisoners, return ten minutes later and you will have any information you need plus you may not have a prisoner to worry about. From what I hear this occured in at least one British MP unit and in the airborne.

 

Have read that for the previous 2000 years the Jewish people were of a very diplomatic nature in dealing with their advesaries and their means of resistance did not include armed revolt. Jews tried to appeal to their German enemies by making themselves available for work with hopes that the Germans would spend themselves out, collecting valuables from people to give to German commanders, etc.. The book I read gave 5 main ways of resistance that Jews practiced during the war. From the German perspective Jews were said to have been extremely disorganized as a people when it came to dealing with the question of extermination partly because of their long history of diplomatic appeasment and in some ways are even thought to have helped Germany perpetuate their (Jews) own demise. When I locate this book I will elaborate further and ask more opinions.

 

I agree with your post, wilconqr. The Jews were pacifists and diplomatics. WWII made them agressive warriors. I don't think that general Dayan and the wars of 1948, 6-days and Yom-Kippur are signs of 'peaceful' Jews...

 

Although Jews on thw whole are very peaceful, there was another armed uprising carried out by the Jews. It occured in Cracow, where a small band of Jewish partisans fought a force of like 1000 Germans. Needless to say it was crushed quickly, but at first the Jews showed such tenacious resistance the Germans were ready to give up.