July 28, 1942

Jewish Fighting Organization Established

In the midst of the first wave of deportations from Warsaw ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp, the Jewish Fighting Organization (ZOB, Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa) is established. On July 22, 1942, the Germans begin massive deportations which last virtually without stop until September 12, 1942. During this time some 300,000 Jews from the ghetto are deported or killed. The ZOB, formed by members of Jewish youth organizations, calls for the Jews of the ghetto to resist deportation. Reports of the massacres of Jews by mobile killing units and in extermination camps have already filtered into the ghetto. However, the ZOB is not yet ready to stage a revolt. After deportations end in September, the ZOB expands to incorporate members of underground political organizations and establishes contact with the Polish resistance forces who provide training, armaments and explosives. Mordecai Anielewicz is appointed commander.

January 18-21, 1943

Germans Encounter Resistance

The Germans renew deportations from the Warsaw ghetto. This time however, they encounter resistance from the ZOB (Jewish Fighting Organization; Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa). The early morning roundups take the ZOB organization by surprise, and individuals take to the streets to resist the Germans. Other Jews in the ghetto retreat into prepared hiding places. The Germans, expecting the expulsions to run smoothly, are surprised by the resistance. In act of retaliation they massacre 1,000 Jews in the main square on January 21, but suspend further deportations. The Germans were able to deport or kill 5,000-6,500 Jews. Encouraged by the results of resistance actions, the Jews in the ghetto plan and prepare a full-scale revolt. The fighting organization is unified, strategies are planned, underground bunkers and tunnels are built, and roof-top passages are constructed. The Jews of the Warsaw ghetto prepare to fight to the end.

May 16, 1943

Ghetto Destroyed, Uprising Ends

After a month of fighting, the Germans blow up the Great Synagogue in Warsaw, signaling the end of the uprising and the destruction of the ghetto. On April 19, 1943, the Germans under the command of SS General Juergen Stroop, began the final destruction of the ghetto and the deportation of the remaining Jews. The ghetto population, however, does not report for deportations. Instead, the ghetto fighting organizations have barricaded themselves inside buildings and bunkers, ready to resist the Germans. After three days, German forces begin burning the ghetto, building by building, to force Jews out of the hiding places. Resistance continues for weeks as the Germans reduce the ghetto to rubble. Although there are only about 50,000 Jews left in the ghetto after the January 1943 deportations, General Stroop reports after the destruction of the ghetto that 56,065 Jews have been captured; of those 7,000 deported to the Treblinka extermination camp, and the remainder sent to forced-labor camps and the Majdanek extermination camp. Some of the resistance fighters succeed in escaping from the ghetto and join partisan groups in the forests around Warsaw.