Yitzhak Wittenberg
Encyclopedia
Yitzhak Wittenberg was a Jewish resistance fighter in Vilna during World War II
. He became famous as the leader of the Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye, a resistance group in the Vilna Ghetto
. When the Germans learned about the existence of the group, they requested from the head of the Jewish council, Jacob Gens, to give up Wittenberg. Gens invited Wittenberg among others to his office where he had him arrested and later handed him over to the Gestapo.
The FPO managed to free Wittenberg. When the Germans threatened to raze the Ghetto and kill all inmates, Wittenberg surrendered himself to the Gestapo. He was later found dead in his prison cell, presumably having swallowed poison. It has been speculated, that Gens had slipped the poison to Wittenberg earlier.
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...
. He became famous as the leader of the Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye, a resistance group in the Vilna Ghetto
Vilna Ghetto
The Vilna Ghetto or Vilnius Ghetto was a Jewish ghetto established by Nazi Germany in the city of Vilnius in the occupied Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , during the Holocaust in World War II...
. When the Germans learned about the existence of the group, they requested from the head of the Jewish council, Jacob Gens, to give up Wittenberg. Gens invited Wittenberg among others to his office where he had him arrested and later handed him over to the Gestapo.
The FPO managed to free Wittenberg. When the Germans threatened to raze the Ghetto and kill all inmates, Wittenberg surrendered himself to the Gestapo. He was later found dead in his prison cell, presumably having swallowed poison. It has been speculated, that Gens had slipped the poison to Wittenberg earlier.