The Holocaust in America is understood through a uniquely westernized view. When thinking of the Holocaust, usually the Diary of Anne Frank comes to mind. Western audiences understood that Jews accepted their eventual death, they were passive lambs to the slaughter. That is what I thought for the longest time, that Jews did not resist. However, Thomas Blatts’ book, From The Ashes of Sobibor, paints a different picture about Jews in the Holocaust. It shows that not all Jews accepted their eventual death passively. There are many instances in the book that showed Jews resisted. Instances such as ghetto uprisings, extermination camp uprisings, and Jewish partisans like the Bielski brothers. Overall, the holocaust was not only passive Jewish
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However, those that had freedom decided to use that to their advantage. Thomas Blatt, a year after he escaped, joined up with the Soviets in order to avoid his death. Many Jews fought with the Soviets or in their own Otraids. Arguably, the most notable of these groups was the Bielski Otriad. They lived in the forests of German-occupied Poland, near modern day western Belarus. They rescued Jews from extermination and mainly avoided the Germans. However, they were not passive all the time. They would often disable German trains, blow up rail beds, destroy bridges, and facilitate escapes from Jewish ghettos. Despite not openly attacking the Germans, they tried to hurt the Germans at any chance they saw. This once again shows that not all Jews accepted their fate passively. Overall, Jews in the Holocaust were not all passive people who accepted their eventual deaths. Jews often fought back; whether in the Ghettos, the Camps, or not openly. They risked their lives to try to hurt the Germans anyway they could. They wrote their own fate, dying for a cause they believed in. The West needs to show more of Jews violently resisting against their captors, not as only passive people who accepted their fate of dying in camps. They deserve to be remembered for their
However, those that had freedom decided to use that to their advantage. Thomas Blatt, a year after he escaped, joined up with the Soviets in order to avoid his death. Many Jews fought with the Soviets or in their own Otraids. Arguably, the most notable of these groups was the Bielski Otriad. They lived in the forests of German-occupied Poland, near modern day western Belarus. They rescued Jews from extermination and mainly avoided the Germans. However, they were not passive all the time. They would often disable German trains, blow up rail beds, destroy bridges, and facilitate escapes from Jewish ghettos. Despite not openly attacking the Germans, they tried to hurt the Germans at any chance they saw. This once again shows that not all Jews accepted their fate passively. Overall, Jews in the Holocaust were not all passive people who accepted their eventual deaths. Jews often fought back; whether in the Ghettos, the Camps, or not openly. They risked their lives to try to hurt the Germans anyway they could. They wrote their own fate, dying for a cause they believed in. The West needs to show more of Jews violently resisting against their captors, not as only passive people who accepted their fate of dying in camps. They deserve to be remembered for their