Bernard Goldstein (Warsaw Uprising)
Encyclopedia
Bernard Goldstein sometimes called "Comrade Bernard", was a Polish socialist, union organizer, and leader of the Bund
prior to World War II
. During the war, he was active in the Warsaw Ghetto
, helping smuggle in arms in preparation for the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
.
After Poland's liberation from German occupation, he emigrated to the United States and wrote his autobiography, Five Years in the Warsaw Ghetto (originally titled The Stars Bear Witness).
Resistance. During the time he spent living in and organizing resistance against the Nazis in the Ghetto, Nazi Germany
systematically murdered half a million Jews once resident there.
Over a year after the German Army had reduced the Warsaw Ghetto
to rubble in liquidating its remaining Jewish occupants, Socialist resister survivors were rounded up by the Soviets and either imprisoned or executed.
Throughout the occupation, in spite of numerous confidence tricks by the Nazis and their assistants in the Jewish Gestapo to produce docility in the Ghetto population by labeling the forced removals to Treblinka as mere "work resettlement," Goldstein remained adamant that the Nazis were in fact gradually liquidating the Ghetto's residents. Via underground publications, Goldstein urged the Ghetto population to resist the German Army at all costs and not to cooperate with the Jewish collaborators whom the Gestapo controlled. When deportations started, his organization manufactured fake documents for those marked for liquidation.
When it became clear the Nazis were planning to kill everyone, Goldstein helped organize the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
which ultimately ended in the Ghetto's destruction by German SS brigades. Escaping the Ghetto, Goldstein joined the Polish resistance and helped stage the following year's city-wide 1944 Warsaw Uprising
.
General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland
The General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland was a Jewish socialist party in Poland which promoted the political, cultural and social autonomy of Jewish workers, sought to combat antisemitism and was generally opposed to Zionism.-Creation of the Polish Bund:...
prior to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. During the war, he was active in the Warsaw Ghetto
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
, helping smuggle in arms in preparation for the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German occupied Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp....
.
After Poland's liberation from German occupation, he emigrated to the United States and wrote his autobiography, Five Years in the Warsaw Ghetto (originally titled The Stars Bear Witness).
Life
Goldstein was a leader in the Bund movement in Poland, and was active in the Warsaw GhettoWarsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
Resistance. During the time he spent living in and organizing resistance against the Nazis in the Ghetto, Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
systematically murdered half a million Jews once resident there.
Over a year after the German Army had reduced the Warsaw Ghetto
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
to rubble in liquidating its remaining Jewish occupants, Socialist resister survivors were rounded up by the Soviets and either imprisoned or executed.
Throughout the occupation, in spite of numerous confidence tricks by the Nazis and their assistants in the Jewish Gestapo to produce docility in the Ghetto population by labeling the forced removals to Treblinka as mere "work resettlement," Goldstein remained adamant that the Nazis were in fact gradually liquidating the Ghetto's residents. Via underground publications, Goldstein urged the Ghetto population to resist the German Army at all costs and not to cooperate with the Jewish collaborators whom the Gestapo controlled. When deportations started, his organization manufactured fake documents for those marked for liquidation.
When it became clear the Nazis were planning to kill everyone, Goldstein helped organize the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German occupied Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp....
which ultimately ended in the Ghetto's destruction by German SS brigades. Escaping the Ghetto, Goldstein joined the Polish resistance and helped stage the following year's city-wide 1944 Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
.
External links
- Five Years in the Warsaw Ghetto, Goldstein's autobiography