Luba Blum-Bielicka
Encyclopedia
Luba Bielicka Blum was a Polish-Jewish socialist activist of the Bund
, and a nurse in the Warsaw Ghetto
.
, into an orthodox family of ten children and received her secondary education there. While in a gymnasium she met her future husband Abrasza Blum and along with him, joined the Bund's youth movement, the Cukunft. She attended the nursing school in Warsaw, became its assistant director and was responsible for the training of new nurses. During this time she married Abrasza and they had two children.
. Luba managed to have the nursing school reopened inside the ghetto, as the Nursing School of the Jewish Hospital, and continued the training of nurses under new, harsh, conditions. This was the only educational establishment allowed by the Germans in the Ghetto, with about 60 students in training.
When the German authorities commenced with the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto, the students from Luba's school were taken to the Umschlagplatz
and from there to the Treblinka extermination camp
. Luba's and Abrasza's children, Wiktoria and Alexander, were taken to the deportation point as well, but, with help from Polish nurses, she managed to have them smuggled out before the actual deportation to the camp took place. However, soon after, in the January Aktion the Nazis took over her hospital, and executed all the patients, including newborn infants, and most of the staff. Luba and her children survived by hiding in the cellar of the hospital.
When the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
erupted Luba's husband took an active part in it and was one of the leaders of the Jewish Fighting Organization (ZOB) that fought against the Germans. He also managed to escape from the ghetto right before the fall of the uprising but was captured while hiding on the "Aryan side" and murdered by the Gestapo. Luba and her daughter successfully hid in Warsaw using false papers, while Luba's son stayed with another Polish family and also survived the Holocaust. They were reunited when the Red Army
entered Warsaw.
in Otwock
and later worked in a new nursing school in Warsaw.
She received the Florence Nightingale Medal
in 1966 for her work as a nurse in a children's hospital in the Warsaw Ghetto
during the German occupation of Poland. She also worked in a hospital in New York..
She died in 1973 in Warsaw and was buried in the main alley of the Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery
.
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:...
, and a nurse 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...
.
Early life
She was born in Wilno, then a part of the Russian empireRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, into an orthodox family of ten children and received her secondary education there. While in a gymnasium she met her future husband Abrasza Blum and along with him, joined the Bund's youth movement, the Cukunft. She attended the nursing school in Warsaw, became its assistant director and was responsible for the training of new nurses. During this time she married Abrasza and they had two children.
World War II
With the German invasion of Poland and the subsequent departure of some of the staff, Luba became the director of the school. Soon after the school was closed by the Germans and Luba and her family were forced to move into 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...
. Luba managed to have the nursing school reopened inside the ghetto, as the Nursing School of the Jewish Hospital, and continued the training of nurses under new, harsh, conditions. This was the only educational establishment allowed by the Germans in the Ghetto, with about 60 students in training.
When the German authorities commenced with the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto, the students from Luba's school were taken to the Umschlagplatz
Umschlagplatz
In the Holocaust, the Umschlagplatz in the Warsaw Ghetto was where Jews gathered for deportation to the Treblinka extermination camp.During the Grossaktion Warsaw, beginning on July 22, 1942, Jews were deported in crowded freight cars to Treblinka. On some days as many as 7,000 Jews were deported...
and from there to the Treblinka extermination camp
Treblinka extermination camp
Treblinka was a Nazi extermination camp in occupied Poland during World War II near the village of Treblinka in the modern-day Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. The camp, which was constructed as part of Operation Reinhard, operated between and ,. During this time, approximately 850,000 men, women...
. Luba's and Abrasza's children, Wiktoria and Alexander, were taken to the deportation point as well, but, with help from Polish nurses, she managed to have them smuggled out before the actual deportation to the camp took place. However, soon after, in the January Aktion the Nazis took over her hospital, and executed all the patients, including newborn infants, and most of the staff. Luba and her children survived by hiding in the cellar of the hospital.
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 Luba's husband took an active part in it and was one of the leaders of the Jewish Fighting Organization (ZOB) that fought against the Germans. He also managed to escape from the ghetto right before the fall of the uprising but was captured while hiding on the "Aryan side" and murdered by the Gestapo. Luba and her daughter successfully hid in Warsaw using false papers, while Luba's son stayed with another Polish family and also survived the Holocaust. They were reunited when 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...
entered Warsaw.
Post war and recognition
After the war Luba was the director of the children's homeOrphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
in Otwock
Otwock
Otwock is a town in central Poland, some southeast of Warsaw, with 42,765 inhabitants . It is situated on the right bank of Vistula River below the mouth of Swider River. Otwock is home to a unique architectural style called Swidermajer....
and later worked in a new nursing school in Warsaw.
She received the Florence Nightingale Medal
Florence Nightingale Medal
The Florence Nightingale Medal is a medal instituted in 1912 by the International Committee of the Red Cross. It is the highest international distinction a nurse can achieve and is awarded to nurses or nursing aides for "exceptional courage and devotion to the wounded, sick or disabled or to...
in 1966 for her work as a nurse in a children's hospital 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...
during the German occupation of Poland. She also worked in a hospital in New York..
She died in 1973 in Warsaw and was buried in the main alley of the Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery
Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery
The Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe. Located on Warsaw's Okopowa street and abutting the Powązki Cemetery at , the Jewish Cemetery was established in 1806 and occupies 33 hectares of land. The cemetery contains over 200,000 marked graves, as well...
.