Icchak Cukierman
Encyclopedia
Icchak Cukierman also known by his nom de guerre "Antek
", or by the anglicised spelling Yitzhak Zuckerman, was one of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
during World War II
.
Cukierman was born in Vilnius
, Lithuania
(then part of the Russian Empire) into a Jewish family. As a young man he embraced the concepts of socialism
and Zionism
.
After the German and Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 he was in the area overrun by the Red Army
and initially stayed in the Soviet zone of occupation, where he took active part in creation of various Jewish underground socialist organisations. In the spring of 1940 he moved to Warsaw
, where he became a leader of the leaders of the Dror Hechaluc
youth movement, along with his future wife Zivia Lubetkin
.
In 1941 he became the deputy commander of the ŻOB
resistance organisation. In this capacity, he served mainly as the envoy between the commander of ŻOB and the commanders of the Polish resistance organizations of Armia Krajowa
and Armia Ludowa
. On December 22, 1942, he and two accomplices attacked a café in Kraków
that was being used by the SS
and Gestapo
. Cukierman was wounded and narrowly escaped, and his two comrades were tracked down and killed.
In 1943, he was working on the "Aryan" side of Warsaw
to procure guns and ammunition when the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
erupted. Unable to enter the ghetto to join his comrades in battle, he nonetheless proved a crucial link between resistance forces within the ghetto and the Home Army
on the "Aryan
" side. Along with Simcha "Kazik" Rotem
, he organized the escape of the surviving ZOB fighters through the sewers to safety. During the later Warsaw Uprising
of 1944, he led a small troop of 322 survivors of the Ghetto Uprising as they fought the Germans in the ranks of the Armia Ludowa.
After the war he worked as part of the Berihah
network, whose operatives smuggled Jewish refugees out of Eastern and Central Europe to Mandate Palestine. In 1947 he himself made that journey, settling in what would soon be Israel
. There he and his wife Zivia, along with other veterans of the ghetto undergrounds and former partisan
s, were among the founding members of Kibbutz
Lohamey ha-Geta'ot
and the Ghetto Fighters' House
(GFH) museum located on its grounds, commemorating those who struggled against the Nazis. GFH has a study center named for Zivia and Yitzhak Zuckerman.
In 1961 he appeared as a witness at the trial of Nazi war criminal
Adolf Eichmann
in Israel. He died in 1981, in the kibbutz he had founded.
A record of a lengthy interview he gave in 1976 was expanded into the book Sheva ha-Shanim ha-Hen: 1939-1946 [Hebrew: Those Seven Years] published in Israel in 1991, later translated into English and published as A Surplus of Memory: Chronicle of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
His granddaughter Roni Zuckerman
became the Israeli Air Force
's first female fighter pilot.
In 2001, the tale of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was turned into a made-for-TV film entitled Uprising
, with actor David Schwimmer
portraying Zuckerman.
Antek
Given name:* Antoni "Antek" Cierplikowski , hairdresser* Antek Rozpylacz , the nom-de-guerre of Antoni Szczęsny Godlewski * Icchak Cukierman, nom de guerre: "Antek"...
", or by the anglicised spelling Yitzhak Zuckerman, was one of the leaders of 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....
during 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...
.
Cukierman was born in Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
(then part of the Russian Empire) into a Jewish family. As a young man he embraced the concepts of socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
.
After the German and Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 he was in the area overrun by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
and initially stayed in the Soviet zone of occupation, where he took active part in creation of various Jewish underground socialist organisations. In the spring of 1940 he moved to Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, where he became a leader of the leaders of the Dror Hechaluc
Habonim Dror
Habonim Dror is a Jewish Labour Zionist youth movement formed by the merger in 1982 of the Habonim and Dror youth movements. Habonim Dror's sister movement in Israel is Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed, the Working and Studying Youth.-Ideology:...
youth movement, along with his future wife Zivia Lubetkin
Zivia Lubetkin
Zivia Lubetkin was one of the leaders of the Jewish underground in Nazi-occupied Warsaw and the only woman on the High Command of the resistance group Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa .-Pre-World War II:...
.
In 1941 he became the deputy commander of the ŻOB
Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa
The Jewish Combat Organization was a World War II resistance movement, which was instrumental in engineering the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. ŻOB took part in a number of other resistance activities as well...
resistance organisation. In this capacity, he served mainly as the envoy between the commander of ŻOB and the commanders of the Polish resistance organizations of Armia Krajowa
Armia Krajowa
The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
and Armia Ludowa
Armia Ludowa
Armia Ludowa was a communist partisan force set up by the Polish Workers' Party during World War II. Its aims were to support the military of the Soviet Union against German forces and aid the creation of a pro-Soviet communist government in Poland...
. On December 22, 1942, he and two accomplices attacked a café in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
that was being used by the SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
and Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
. Cukierman was wounded and narrowly escaped, and his two comrades were tracked down and killed.
In 1943, he was working on the "Aryan" side of Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
to procure guns and ammunition when 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....
erupted. Unable to enter the ghetto to join his comrades in battle, he nonetheless proved a crucial link between resistance forces within the ghetto and the Home Army
Armia Krajowa
The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
on the "Aryan
Aryan
Aryan is an English language loanword derived from Sanskrit ārya and denoting variously*In scholarly usage:**Indo-Iranian languages *in dated usage:**the Indo-European languages more generally and their speakers...
" side. Along with Simcha "Kazik" Rotem
Simcha Rotem
Simcha Rotem born Szymon Rathajzer, also known as Kazik , served as the head courier of the Jewish Fighting Organization , which planned and executed the Warsaw ghetto uprising against the Nazis.-The Warsaw ghetto:In 1942 he joined the ZOB...
, he organized the escape of the surviving ZOB fighters through the sewers to safety. During the later 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...
of 1944, he led a small troop of 322 survivors of the Ghetto Uprising as they fought the Germans in the ranks of the Armia Ludowa.
After the war he worked as part of the Berihah
Berihah
Bricha was the underground organized effort that helped Jewish Holocaust survivors escape post-World War II Europe to the British Mandate for Palestine in violation of the White Paper of 1939...
network, whose operatives smuggled Jewish refugees out of Eastern and Central Europe to Mandate Palestine. In 1947 he himself made that journey, settling in what would soon be Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. There he and his wife Zivia, along with other veterans of the ghetto undergrounds and former partisan
Jewish partisans
Jewish partisans were fighters in irregular military groups participating in the Jewish resistance movement against Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II....
s, were among the founding members of Kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
Lohamey ha-Geta'ot
Lohamey ha-Geta'ot
Lohamei HaGeta'ot is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the western Galilee, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Asher Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 467.-History:...
and the Ghetto Fighters' House
Ghetto Fighters' House
The Ghetto Fighters' House , full name, Itzhak Katzenelson Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum and Study Center, was founded in 1949 by members of Kibbutz Lohamei Hagetaot, a community of Holocaust survivors, among them fighters of the ghetto undergrounds and partisan units...
(GFH) museum located on its grounds, commemorating those who struggled against the Nazis. GFH has a study center named for Zivia and Yitzhak Zuckerman.
In 1961 he appeared as a witness at the trial of Nazi war criminal
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
Adolf Eichmann
Adolf Eichmann
Adolf Otto Eichmann was a German Nazi and SS-Obersturmbannführer and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust...
in Israel. He died in 1981, in the kibbutz he had founded.
A record of a lengthy interview he gave in 1976 was expanded into the book Sheva ha-Shanim ha-Hen: 1939-1946 [Hebrew: Those Seven Years] published in Israel in 1991, later translated into English and published as A Surplus of Memory: Chronicle of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
His granddaughter Roni Zuckerman
Roni Zuckerman
The first female jet fighter pilot for the Israeli Air Force, Roni Zuckerman, received her wings in 2001. Zuckerman is the granddaughter of Zivia Lubetkin and Icchak Cukierman whose nom de guerre was "Antek". Her grandparents were among the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during World War II...
became the Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
's first female fighter pilot.
In 2001, the tale of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was turned into a made-for-TV film entitled Uprising
Uprising (film)
Uprising is a 2001 war/drama television movie about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The film was directed by Jon Avnet and written by Avnet and Paul Brickman...
, with actor David Schwimmer
David Schwimmer
David Lawrence Schwimmer is an American actor and director of television and film. He was born in New York City, and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was two. He began his acting career performing in school plays at Beverly Hills High School. In 1988, he graduated from Northwestern...
portraying Zuckerman.