Post by pieter on Sept 11, 2007 13:43:20 GMT -7
Jewish Military Union
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Zydowski Zwiazek Walki)
Political organizations at the start of World War two in Poland
1 PPS (socialists)
2 SL (agrarian party)
3 SN (right-wing party)
SP (Christian democrats)
4 PPR (communists)
5 Bund and Hatzoar (Jewish left)
6 Betar (Zionist right)
7 Camp of National Unity (Sanacja)
ONR (right-wing)
Falanga (extreme right)
SD (centrist)
Military organizations
ZWZ
Armia Krajowa
Szare Szeregi
1 MR PPR-WRN and GL WRN
2 KB and BCh
3 NOW and NSZ
4 GL and AL
5 ZOB
6 ZZW
7 OPW
History of Poland (1939–1945)
Zydowski Zwiazek Wojskowy (ZZW, Polish for Jewish Military Union) was an underground resistance organization operating during World War II in the area of the Warsaw Ghetto and fighting during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. It was formed primarily of former officers of the Polish Army in late 1939, soon after the start of the German occupation of Poland.
Due to its close ties with the all-national Armia Krajowa (AK), after the war the Communist authorities of Poland suppressed the publication of books and articles on ZZW, whose role in the uprising in the ghetto was undervalued, as opposed to a leftist Jewish organization Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa (Jewish Fighting Organization), whose role in the struggle is better covered in modern monographs and often overstated.
Formation
The ZZW was formed some time in November of 1939, immediately after the German and Soviet conquest of Poland. Among its founding members was Dawid Mordechaj Apfelbaum, a pre-war Lieutenant of the Polish Army, who proposed his former superior, Captain Henryk Iwa?ski, to form a Jewish en cadre resistance group in collaboration with other Polish resistance organizations being formed at that time. At the end of December such an organization was indeed formed and received the name of Zydowski Zwiazek Walki. On January 30, 1940, its existence was approved by General Wladys?aw Sikorski, the Polish commander in chief and the prime minister of the Polish Government in Exile.
Initially consisting of only 39 men, each armed with a Vis pistol, with time it had grown to become one of the most numerous and most notable Jewish resistance organizations in Poland. Between 1940 and 1942 additional cells were formed in most major towns of Poland, including the most notable groups in Lublin, Lwów and Stanislawów. Although initially formed entirely by professional soldiers, with time it also included members of pre-war right wing Jewish-Polish parties such as Betar (among them Perec Laskier, Lowa Swerin, Pawel Frenkel, Merediks, Langleben and Rosenfeld), Hatzohar (Joel Bialobrow, Dawid Wdowi?ski) and the revisionist faction of the Polish Zionist Party (Leib "Leon" Rodal and Meir Klingbeil).
The ZZW was formed in close ties with Iwa?ski's organization and initially focused primarily on acquisition of arms and preparation of a large action in which all of its members could escape to Hungary, from where they wanted to flee to Great Britain where the Polish Army was being re-created. With time however it was decided that the members stay in occupied Poland to help organize the struggle against the occupants. In the later period the ZZW focused on acquisition of arms for the future struggle as well as on helping the Jews to escape the ghettos, created in almost every town in German-held Poland. Thanks to the close ties with the Zwiazek Walki Zbrojnej and then the AK (mainly through Iwa?ski's Security Corps, the Polish underground police force), the ZZW received a large number of guns and armaments, as well as training of their members by professional officers. Those resistance organizations also provided help with weapons and ammunition acquisition, as well as with organizing the escapes. Although the ZZW was active in a number of towns in Poland, it's major headquarters remained in Warsaw. When most of the Jewish inhabitants were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto, the ZZW remained in contact with the outside world through Iwa?ski and a number of other officers on the aryan side. By the summer of 1942, the Union had 320 well-armed members in Warsaw alone. During the first large deportation from the Warsaw Ghetto, the ZZW received the news of the German plans and managed to hide most of its members in bunkers, which resulted in only up to 20 of them being arrested by the Germans. Although Dawid Mordechaj Apfelbaum could not convince Adam Czerniaków to start an armed uprising against the Germans during the deportation, the organization managed to preserve most of its members - and assets. It also started to train more members and by January of 1943 it already had roughly 500 men at arms in Warsaw alone. In addition, the technological department of the ZZW, together with Capt. Cezary Ketling's group of the PLAN resistance organization managed to dig up two secret tunnels under the walls of the ghetto, providing contact with the outside and allowing smuggling of arms into the ghetto.
Structure
The commander of the ZZW at the time of the uprising was Dr. Pawel Frenkiel, though others have mentioned Apfelbaum and Dawid Wdowi?ski. The organization was divided onto groups of five soldiers. Three groups formed a unit, four units formed a platoon and four platoons - a company, composed of roughly 240 men. In early January of 1943 the ZZW had two entirely-manned and fully-armed companies and two additional en cadre companies, to be manned by newly-arrived volunteers when need arises. This indeed happened in April of 1943, though the actual number of ZZW soldiers to take part in the Uprising is a matter of debate. Apart from the fighting groups, the ZZW was organized into several departments: Information Department, directed by Leon Rodal; Organization Department, directed by Pawel Frenkel;
Supply Department ("Kwatermistrzowski"), directed by Leon Wajnsztok; Finances Department, without a director; Communication Department (contacts with Armia Krajowa mainly), directed by Dawid Apfelbaum; Medical Department led by dr Józef Celmajster (under pseudonym Niemirski); Juridicial Department under Dawid Szulman;
Saving (Ratowanie) Department (transporting Jewish children and others outside the ghetto), under Kalma Mendelson; Department of Technology, Transport and Supplies (which, among other things, built two tunnels under the Ghetto walls) led by Hanoch Federbusz; Military Department under Pawe? Frenkel and Dawid Apfelbaum.
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
During the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ZZW is said to have about 400 well-armed fighters grouped in 11 units. ZZW fought together with AK fighters in Muranowska street (4 units under Frenkel). Dawid M. Apfelbaum took position in Mila street. Heniek Federbusz group organized a strong pocket of resistance in a house near Zamenhoff street. Jan Pika unit took position in Mila street, while unit of Leizer Staniewicz fought in the Nalewki, Gesia street and Franciszka?ska street. Dawid Berli?ski's group took position in second part of Nalewki. Roman Winsztok commanded group near Muranowska, where also the headquarters of the Union was located (Muranowska 7/9 street).
After the war
Already during the war the influence and the importance of the Zydowski Zwiazek Wojskowy was being downgraded. The surviving commanders of the leftist ZOB either did not mention the ZZW's fight in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in their writings at all, or belittled its importance. Also the war-time Soviet propaganda did only briefly mention the fighters as they collided with its aims of presenting the Soviet Union as the only defender of the European Jewry. In addition, except for Dawid Wdowi?ski none of the high-ranking commanders of the ZZW survived the war to tell their part of the story and it was not until 1963 that Wdowi?ski's memoirs were published.
This led to a number of myths concerning both the ZZW and the Uprising being commonly repeated in many modern publications. This was even strengthened by the post-war propaganda of the Polish communists, who openly underlined the value of the leftist Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa, while suppressed all publications on the Armia Krajowa-backed ZZW.
Links:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto_Uprising
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Uprising
www.rzeczpospolita.pl/specjal_040612/specjal_a_10.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zydowska_Organizacja_Bojowa
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_partisans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Zydowski Zwiazek Walki)
Political organizations at the start of World War two in Poland
1 PPS (socialists)
2 SL (agrarian party)
3 SN (right-wing party)
SP (Christian democrats)
4 PPR (communists)
5 Bund and Hatzoar (Jewish left)
6 Betar (Zionist right)
7 Camp of National Unity (Sanacja)
ONR (right-wing)
Falanga (extreme right)
SD (centrist)
Military organizations
ZWZ
Armia Krajowa
Szare Szeregi
1 MR PPR-WRN and GL WRN
2 KB and BCh
3 NOW and NSZ
4 GL and AL
5 ZOB
6 ZZW
7 OPW
History of Poland (1939–1945)
Zydowski Zwiazek Wojskowy (ZZW, Polish for Jewish Military Union) was an underground resistance organization operating during World War II in the area of the Warsaw Ghetto and fighting during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. It was formed primarily of former officers of the Polish Army in late 1939, soon after the start of the German occupation of Poland.
Due to its close ties with the all-national Armia Krajowa (AK), after the war the Communist authorities of Poland suppressed the publication of books and articles on ZZW, whose role in the uprising in the ghetto was undervalued, as opposed to a leftist Jewish organization Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa (Jewish Fighting Organization), whose role in the struggle is better covered in modern monographs and often overstated.
Formation
The ZZW was formed some time in November of 1939, immediately after the German and Soviet conquest of Poland. Among its founding members was Dawid Mordechaj Apfelbaum, a pre-war Lieutenant of the Polish Army, who proposed his former superior, Captain Henryk Iwa?ski, to form a Jewish en cadre resistance group in collaboration with other Polish resistance organizations being formed at that time. At the end of December such an organization was indeed formed and received the name of Zydowski Zwiazek Walki. On January 30, 1940, its existence was approved by General Wladys?aw Sikorski, the Polish commander in chief and the prime minister of the Polish Government in Exile.
Initially consisting of only 39 men, each armed with a Vis pistol, with time it had grown to become one of the most numerous and most notable Jewish resistance organizations in Poland. Between 1940 and 1942 additional cells were formed in most major towns of Poland, including the most notable groups in Lublin, Lwów and Stanislawów. Although initially formed entirely by professional soldiers, with time it also included members of pre-war right wing Jewish-Polish parties such as Betar (among them Perec Laskier, Lowa Swerin, Pawel Frenkel, Merediks, Langleben and Rosenfeld), Hatzohar (Joel Bialobrow, Dawid Wdowi?ski) and the revisionist faction of the Polish Zionist Party (Leib "Leon" Rodal and Meir Klingbeil).
The ZZW was formed in close ties with Iwa?ski's organization and initially focused primarily on acquisition of arms and preparation of a large action in which all of its members could escape to Hungary, from where they wanted to flee to Great Britain where the Polish Army was being re-created. With time however it was decided that the members stay in occupied Poland to help organize the struggle against the occupants. In the later period the ZZW focused on acquisition of arms for the future struggle as well as on helping the Jews to escape the ghettos, created in almost every town in German-held Poland. Thanks to the close ties with the Zwiazek Walki Zbrojnej and then the AK (mainly through Iwa?ski's Security Corps, the Polish underground police force), the ZZW received a large number of guns and armaments, as well as training of their members by professional officers. Those resistance organizations also provided help with weapons and ammunition acquisition, as well as with organizing the escapes. Although the ZZW was active in a number of towns in Poland, it's major headquarters remained in Warsaw. When most of the Jewish inhabitants were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto, the ZZW remained in contact with the outside world through Iwa?ski and a number of other officers on the aryan side. By the summer of 1942, the Union had 320 well-armed members in Warsaw alone. During the first large deportation from the Warsaw Ghetto, the ZZW received the news of the German plans and managed to hide most of its members in bunkers, which resulted in only up to 20 of them being arrested by the Germans. Although Dawid Mordechaj Apfelbaum could not convince Adam Czerniaków to start an armed uprising against the Germans during the deportation, the organization managed to preserve most of its members - and assets. It also started to train more members and by January of 1943 it already had roughly 500 men at arms in Warsaw alone. In addition, the technological department of the ZZW, together with Capt. Cezary Ketling's group of the PLAN resistance organization managed to dig up two secret tunnels under the walls of the ghetto, providing contact with the outside and allowing smuggling of arms into the ghetto.
Structure
The commander of the ZZW at the time of the uprising was Dr. Pawel Frenkiel, though others have mentioned Apfelbaum and Dawid Wdowi?ski. The organization was divided onto groups of five soldiers. Three groups formed a unit, four units formed a platoon and four platoons - a company, composed of roughly 240 men. In early January of 1943 the ZZW had two entirely-manned and fully-armed companies and two additional en cadre companies, to be manned by newly-arrived volunteers when need arises. This indeed happened in April of 1943, though the actual number of ZZW soldiers to take part in the Uprising is a matter of debate. Apart from the fighting groups, the ZZW was organized into several departments: Information Department, directed by Leon Rodal; Organization Department, directed by Pawel Frenkel;
Supply Department ("Kwatermistrzowski"), directed by Leon Wajnsztok; Finances Department, without a director; Communication Department (contacts with Armia Krajowa mainly), directed by Dawid Apfelbaum; Medical Department led by dr Józef Celmajster (under pseudonym Niemirski); Juridicial Department under Dawid Szulman;
Saving (Ratowanie) Department (transporting Jewish children and others outside the ghetto), under Kalma Mendelson; Department of Technology, Transport and Supplies (which, among other things, built two tunnels under the Ghetto walls) led by Hanoch Federbusz; Military Department under Pawe? Frenkel and Dawid Apfelbaum.
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
During the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ZZW is said to have about 400 well-armed fighters grouped in 11 units. ZZW fought together with AK fighters in Muranowska street (4 units under Frenkel). Dawid M. Apfelbaum took position in Mila street. Heniek Federbusz group organized a strong pocket of resistance in a house near Zamenhoff street. Jan Pika unit took position in Mila street, while unit of Leizer Staniewicz fought in the Nalewki, Gesia street and Franciszka?ska street. Dawid Berli?ski's group took position in second part of Nalewki. Roman Winsztok commanded group near Muranowska, where also the headquarters of the Union was located (Muranowska 7/9 street).
After the war
Already during the war the influence and the importance of the Zydowski Zwiazek Wojskowy was being downgraded. The surviving commanders of the leftist ZOB either did not mention the ZZW's fight in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in their writings at all, or belittled its importance. Also the war-time Soviet propaganda did only briefly mention the fighters as they collided with its aims of presenting the Soviet Union as the only defender of the European Jewry. In addition, except for Dawid Wdowi?ski none of the high-ranking commanders of the ZZW survived the war to tell their part of the story and it was not until 1963 that Wdowi?ski's memoirs were published.
This led to a number of myths concerning both the ZZW and the Uprising being commonly repeated in many modern publications. This was even strengthened by the post-war propaganda of the Polish communists, who openly underlined the value of the leftist Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa, while suppressed all publications on the Armia Krajowa-backed ZZW.
Links:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto_Uprising
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Uprising
www.rzeczpospolita.pl/specjal_040612/specjal_a_10.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zydowska_Organizacja_Bojowa
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_partisans