Marek Edelman, leader and last survivor of the Warsaw Jew uprising is dead
16 replies, posted
[url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8288156.stm[/url]
[quote=BBC]The last surviving leader of the 1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising against the Nazis, Marek Edelman, has died at the age of 90.
The uprising - triggered by the Nazis' decision to send residents to concentration camps - lasted three weeks before it was crushed.
Mr Edelman, then 23, was one of 200 young Jews who fought German troops.
His friend, Paula Sawicka, told the Associated Press that he died "at home, among friends".
Former Polish Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski paid tribute to him.
"He reached a good age. He left as a contented man even if he was always aware of the tragedy he went through," he told the Gazeta Wyborcza paper.
"I don't want to say he was irreplaceable, nobody is, but there are few people like Marek Edelman."
Pitched battle
For nearly a month in the spring of 1943 a group of young Jews, armed with pistols and home-made bombs, held off the German army before the ghetto was razed to the ground.
By that time the Nazis had sent 300,000 Jewish residents of the ghetto to the gas chambers at the Treblinka death camp.
The first clashes occurred at the start of 1943 as residents took up arms to prevent more Jews being sent to the camp.
The full-scale uprising began in April in response to Nazi plans to wipe out the 60,000 remaining inhabitants.
Thousands of Jews died in the fighting as Nazi troops resorted to explosives to destroy the ghetto - created by the German occupiers in 1940.
More than 55,000 people were then killed or deported to concentration camps when the uprising failed.
Mr Edelman escaped and helped coordinate anti-Nazi resistance. After the war he became a doctor and joined Poland's democratic opposition, speaking out against racism and on human rights.
"He will remain in my memory as a fighting hero, a man of great courage," Former Israeli ambassador to Poland Shevach Weiss said.
"He never ceased in his struggle for human freedom and for Poland's freedom."[/quote]
[img]http://www.polityka.pl/_gAllery/97/81/97819/0Edelmann600.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bi.gazeta.pl/im/0/4849/z4849920X.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/warsaw_uprising.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.ww2incolor.com/d/233801-2/Warsaw+Ghetto+Uprising+1943+--+__Cleaning+up__[/img]
This man was a true hero. Just days before he died I read an interview with him, he fought for freedom till the day he died.
Never heard of him before
This guy was fucking awesome. [IMG]http://i33.tinypic.com/xf2u81.gif[/IMG]
[QUOTE=Schlotbaron;17673464]
[img]http://www.lynneolson.com/questionofhonor//questionofhonor/warsaw_uprising-kid_insurgents.jpg?1f6582e0[/img]
[/QUOTE]
Wrong uprising OP. This picture was taken during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Also, I have great respect for this man.
[QUOTE=MachiniOs;17673562]Wrong uprising OP. This picture was taken during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Also, I have great respect for this man.[/QUOTE]
Man and I thought I'd be on the safe side if I'd just google "warsaw ghetto uprising". I'll replace it.
[QUOTE=Schlotbaron;17673655]Man and I thought I'd be on the safe side if I'd just google "warsaw ghetto uprising". I'll replace it.[/QUOTE]
Ok. Most people get them muddled.
Shit, I got a bit teary eyed reading that.
I also have great respect for the man.
Also for those interested in this i reccomend watching The Pianist.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHADYLob8bs[/media]
This needs more attention
He should have been president.
What a badass
RIP
[IMG]http://i33.tinypic.com/xf2u81.gif[/IMG]
People like him deserved better.
RIP
he looks femaleish in that first picture
Rest in peace sir, you did great work.
Read about the uprising in history a few years back, very interesting stuff. Amazing they were able to hold off against the Germans for so long.
Never heard of him before this, but he has mine and many other peoples respect...
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