Members of the Jewish resistance captured by SS troops during the suppression of the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
—National Archives and Records Administration, College Park
The NBC miniseries Uprising raised awareness of the Warsaw ghetto and its resistance movement. Based on historical events, the film presented a fictionalized version of these acts of defiance. Collected here are some of the resources available on the Museum’s website to explore the history that inspired this miniseries.
What do you think?
Most of us never experience extreme circumstances of danger and deprivation—we can’t know what we might do. Below are some questions for contemplation.
What did the Warsaw ghetto uprising accomplish?
The role of the Jewish council is controversial. Can you make an argument for its head, Adam Czerniakow, as a collaborator? As a resister?
The Nazis sometimes practiced a policy of collective punishment for actions committed in the ghetto. The movie depicts two Jews killing Nazi guards who have just shot an unarmed ghetto resident and are about to murder another. Were the actions of these Jews justified? If so, is your answer different when you consider the possibility of collective punishment?
Are the moral dilemmas of resistance different for parents? How much outside news reached the ghetto? How might knowledge of atrocities influence ghetto residents’ attitudes? Remember, no one could predict or imagine the Holocaust before the fact.
Music
Listen to the song “1, 2, 3...” (based on a Polish Scouting song found in the Museum's archives)
The hunger in the ghetto was so great, was so bad, that people were laying on the streets and dying, little children went around begging, and, uh, everyday you walked out in the morning, you see somebody is laying dead, covered with newspapers or with any kind of blanket they found...
