Commemoration Ceremony for Jewish Uprising in Warsaw Ghetto Against Nazis

On Thursday, April 30, Poland commemorated the Jewish people who rose up against the Nazis in the enclosed Warsaw Ghetto 75 years ago, with various ceremonies held across the country. According to Polish news agencies and media, in honor of the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which coincides with April 19, sirens sounded throughout the country, and people everywhere stood in remembrance of the Jews killed in the Warsaw Ghetto and the millions of others who perished in the Holocaust. Andrzej Duda, the President of Poland, along with other officials, Ronald Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress, Polish and European Jews, and representatives from Israel and other countries attended the ceremonies. Some attendees were elderly Holocaust survivors. In the central ceremony, President Duda stated, 'We bow our heads in respect for the heroism, bravery, and determination of those who rose up in that uprising.' He added, 'Many of these brave individuals who fought for human dignity, freedom, and for Poland were killed; they were honorable Polish citizens.' Ronald Lauder also remarked, 'Jews, Poles, and every human being must ensure that such horrific atrocities like the Holocaust are never repeated.' Concurrently, other ceremonies were held in various parts of Poland to honor the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto, including at the Warsaw City Hall, where three elderly Holocaust survivors—Helena Birnbaum, Krystyna Budnicka, and Marian Turski—were awarded bravery medals. The 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising took place amid Poland's recent law prohibiting the use of the term 'Polish death camps' for Nazi death camps located on Polish soil. President Duda, who signed the aforementioned law, emphasized in response to severe criticism from Israeli officials that the Nazis established labor and death camps in Poland, which was under Nazi occupation, while Israeli officials stated that the Nazis had support from some Poles. Despite the dispute between Israel and Poland over the new law, Andrzej Duda met last week with Reuven Rivlin, the President of Israel, Yossi Cohen, the head of Mossad, General Gadi Eisenkot, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, and Roni Alsheikh, the Israeli police chief, who were in Poland to attend Holocaust victim commemorations, and together they walked the distance between the Birkenau and Auschwitz camps in memory of the Holocaust victims. The Warsaw Ghetto became an enclosed area for Jews driven there by the Nazis starting October 12, 1940, thirteen months after the onset of World War II; at one point, the ghetto housed about 450,000 Jews, most of whom were Polish Jews. In the spring of 1943, with the help of Jewish organizations 'ZOB' (Jewish Fighting Organization) and 'ZZW' (Jewish Military Union), young Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto showed their determination to stand against the Nazis; the Nazis initially attempted to intimidate them further by burning Jewish homes in the ghetto. Signs of resistance among the ghetto Jews culminated in a major uprising on April 19, after which the Nazis destroyed the entire ghetto to completely suppress the Jewish uprising and drove the remaining Jews to other enclosed areas. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is remembered in history as a symbol of the courage of oppressed people against tyrants, even though the Nazis continued their extermination of Jews under the so-called 'Final Solution' until the end of World War II in September 1945, when they were defeated by Allied forces. After World War II, efforts by Jews in Europe and elsewhere to establish a country for themselves in the land where their ancestors had lived throughout history intensified; in November 1947, the United Nations approved a resolution to partition the disputed land between Jews and Palestinians into two states; despite the firm opposition of Palestinians and the leaders of the Arab League at the time, who were strongly against granting the right to life to Jews in this land, the Jews accepted the resolution. David Ben-Gurion, the leader of the Jewish effort, declared independence for 'the Jewish state named Israel' in the spring of 1948, stating that Israel's independence was the result of the Jewish people's uprising throughout history and a continuation of the millennia-long existence of Jews in this land. The 75th anniversary ceremonies of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising coincided with the 70th anniversary of Israel's independence; Israel began special independence celebrations on the evening of Wednesday, April 29, and simultaneously, Jews in Poland and many countries around the world held numerous ceremonies in solidarity with Israel.