Guns or guile
The Jews of Europe were a relatively wealthy community. But, very few of them owned guns. Certainly in the midst of war having guns may not have saved them, but at least it could have provided an edge for those being rounded up to be murdered. That's why even in the wake of the tragedy at Virginia Tech. I am against denying the "right to bear arms" to ordinary citizens. In Europe, guns were very expensive and difficult to come by, but for those who were being arrested they could have made the difference between life and death.
Before WWII, Zeev Jabotinski, the Revisionist leader, proposed to the Allies that he establish a Jewish Army of 300,000 men to help defend Poland and the Jews from the Germans in case of war. But, the Allies rejected the idea, and the Poles and Jews themselves were negative. In the Warsaw Ghetto the Jewish units bought guns at exorbitant prices from the Polish underground, when they could get any. The Jews fought with rifles from WWI and had almost no ammunition. Yet they managed to hold off the might of the German Army for 1 month. If only they had had more guns, the outcome might not have been different, but at least their fight might have been less desperate. According to the famous dictum of the time, "better to die on your feet than live on your knees."
In place of guns the Jews had to use cunning to survive. Here are some examples: In Amsterdam during WWII, the Germans sent the Dutch police into houses to round up the Jews. In one case the father refused to answer the door, he told his children to be quiet and pretend they were not there. The young Dutch policeman did not try to break down the door, but said "I know you're in there, I'll be back," and went away. But, he did not come back. All the other Jewish apartment dwellers went down as told and were never seen again. The people in that apartment survived.
My wife's grandparents were on a train leaving Poland in 1914. Polish soldiers got on the train and were examining everyone's passports. Her grandfather, fearing that as a Jew his passport would get him arrested, went along the train and saw the guard's compartment. Inside he saw the Guard's clothes, including an apron and a white cloth. He put the apron on, put the white cloth over his arm like a waiter and walked along the train as if he were a waiter. He went past the soldiers when they were in a compartment and they ignored him.
In central Poland an extended family survived WWII by hiding in deep caves. They had to buy food from the local peasants at night, but noone gave them away, probably because in that isolated area there were few sources of income. They hid for nearly three years and some of them never came to the surface during that whole time, and they hold the endurance record for staying underground, but not willingly. In another case I know of a family who lived in a ditch in the middle of a deserted field. Noone came for them because there was no address! How they could survive in the open in this way is a mystery of human endurance. But they lived, and after the war moved to Canada where they prospered.
Many years ago I met Sevach Weiss, the former Knesset speaker, who with his family survived the Holocaust by hiding in the crawl space under a barn that was used as a dance school. The Ukrainian owner charged them "rent" and for the food that she delivered every night. They lived in that narrow space, unable to stand up and unable to go out during daylight, for over a year. They survived, but they were part of a small minority.
In this case, in the absence of guns to defend themselves, "better to live on your knees that die on your feet."
Before WWII, Zeev Jabotinski, the Revisionist leader, proposed to the Allies that he establish a Jewish Army of 300,000 men to help defend Poland and the Jews from the Germans in case of war. But, the Allies rejected the idea, and the Poles and Jews themselves were negative. In the Warsaw Ghetto the Jewish units bought guns at exorbitant prices from the Polish underground, when they could get any. The Jews fought with rifles from WWI and had almost no ammunition. Yet they managed to hold off the might of the German Army for 1 month. If only they had had more guns, the outcome might not have been different, but at least their fight might have been less desperate. According to the famous dictum of the time, "better to die on your feet than live on your knees."
In place of guns the Jews had to use cunning to survive. Here are some examples: In Amsterdam during WWII, the Germans sent the Dutch police into houses to round up the Jews. In one case the father refused to answer the door, he told his children to be quiet and pretend they were not there. The young Dutch policeman did not try to break down the door, but said "I know you're in there, I'll be back," and went away. But, he did not come back. All the other Jewish apartment dwellers went down as told and were never seen again. The people in that apartment survived.
My wife's grandparents were on a train leaving Poland in 1914. Polish soldiers got on the train and were examining everyone's passports. Her grandfather, fearing that as a Jew his passport would get him arrested, went along the train and saw the guard's compartment. Inside he saw the Guard's clothes, including an apron and a white cloth. He put the apron on, put the white cloth over his arm like a waiter and walked along the train as if he were a waiter. He went past the soldiers when they were in a compartment and they ignored him.
In central Poland an extended family survived WWII by hiding in deep caves. They had to buy food from the local peasants at night, but noone gave them away, probably because in that isolated area there were few sources of income. They hid for nearly three years and some of them never came to the surface during that whole time, and they hold the endurance record for staying underground, but not willingly. In another case I know of a family who lived in a ditch in the middle of a deserted field. Noone came for them because there was no address! How they could survive in the open in this way is a mystery of human endurance. But they lived, and after the war moved to Canada where they prospered.
Many years ago I met Sevach Weiss, the former Knesset speaker, who with his family survived the Holocaust by hiding in the crawl space under a barn that was used as a dance school. The Ukrainian owner charged them "rent" and for the food that she delivered every night. They lived in that narrow space, unable to stand up and unable to go out during daylight, for over a year. They survived, but they were part of a small minority.
In this case, in the absence of guns to defend themselves, "better to live on your knees that die on your feet."
posted by Jack Cohen at 2:13 PM
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