What do you think?
Rate this book
Resistance
Nechama Tec's Defiance , an account of a Jewish partisan unit that fought the Nazis in the Polish forests during World War II, was turned into a major feature film. Yet, despite the attention this film brought to the topic of Jewish resistance, Tec, who speaks widely about the Holocaust and the experience of Jews in wartime Poland, still ran into the same question again and Why didn't Jews fight back? To Tec, this question suggested that Jews were somehow complicit in their own extermination. Despite works by Tec and others, the stereotype of Jewish passivity in the Holocaust persists. In Resistance , Tec draws on first hand accounts, interviews, and other sources to reveal the full range of tactics employed to resist the Nazi regime in Poland. She compares Jewish and non-Jewish groups, showing that they faced vastly different conditions. The Jewish resistance had its own particular aims, especially the recovery of dignity and the salvation of lives. Tec explores the conditions necessary for resistance, including favorable topography, a supply of arms, and effective leadership, and dedicates the majority of the book to the stories of those who stood up and fought back in any way that they could. Emphasizing the centrality of cooperation to the Jewish and Polish resistance movements of World War II, Tec argues that resistance is more than not submitting—that it requires taking action, and demands cooperation with others. Whereas resilience is individual in orientation, Tec writes, resistance assumes others. Within this context, Tec explores life in the ghettoes, the organizations that arose within them, and the famous uprising in Warsaw that began on January 18, 1943. She tells of those who escaped to hide and fight as partisans in the forests, and considers the crucial role played by women who acted as couriers, carrying messages and supplies between the ghetto and the outside world. Tec also discusses resistance in concentration camps, vividly recounting the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp uprising on October 7, 1944. The refusal of the rebel leaders to give information under unspeakable torture, Tec displays, was just one more of the many forms resistance took. Resistance is a rich book that forever shatters the myth of Jewish passivity in the face of annihilation.
MP3 CD
First published January 1, 2013
7 people are currently reading
135 people want to read
About the author
Nechama Tec
27 books26 followersNechama Tec (née Bawnik) (born 15 May 1931) is a Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Connecticut.[1] She received her Ph.D. in sociology at Columbia University, where she studied and worked with the sociologist Daniel Bell, and is a Holocaust scholar. Her book When Light Pierced the Darkness (1986) and her memoir Dry Tears: The Story of a Lost Childhood (1984) both received the Merit of Distinction Award from the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith. She is also author of the book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans on which the film Defiance (2008) is based, as well as a study of women in the Holocaust. She was awarded the 1994 International Anne Frank Special Recognition prize for it.[2]
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 23, 2013
Disclaimer: Netgalley allowed me to read this via a free pdf copy. Thanks!
Resist: withstand the action or effect of
Hollywood loves resistance stories, determined men and women fighting for survival against overwhelming odds. Of course, in Hollywood all resistance, at some level, will involve guns and, most likely, a leader in the form of man who resists all to save his family or to keep to some principle. For instance, we have a wonderful movie about Lincoln. But I have to wonder where the big budget movie treatment of Harriet Tubman is.
Nechama Tec also seems to be obsessed with the idea of resistance, in her case resistance to the Nazis. Her book Defiance dealt with the Bielski brothers and their heroic family partisan camp during the Second World War. This aptly titled book deals with all types of resistance during the Holocaust, both by Jews and by Christians.
While the book’s sub-title seems to indict a search for what made people resist and Tec does examine to a degree the conditions that are need for resistance, the focus is primary on the stories of resistance. The book’s geographical focus is primary Poland. The type of resistance, however, that makes up the discussion is far more than the rebellions in the Ghettos and the camps. The book is divided into sections – the Forests, Ghettoes, Camps, and more importantly Couriers. There are two other sections that profile various resisters.
The important thing that Tec does is use a far less narrow definition of resistance than most writers and Hollywood do. Turn on a Hollywood movie about resistance and it will usually involve guns and/or a gentile saving Jews. While Tec does detail resistance fighters such as various partisans and the fighting that occurred in the Ghettos, she also focuses on more everyday and far less flashy methods of resistance – a mother adapting to get food to feed her family or by simply giving birth , for instance. If Tec’s Defiance was too close to hagiography, this book illustrates that resistance occurred at all levels, ages, genders, and religions. The resisters do not come across as saints, but as people. And it is this illustration that makes the book important. With stories of fighting back, the reader is always placed in the position of questioner - would the reader have done what these people did. What Tec does is provide a two-fold answer to this question, and the more annoying other question –why didn’t people, primary the Jews, fight back. (TO be honest, I’m surprised that Tec doesn’t smack people who ask this question). She illustrates that resistance, the idea of rebelling, is down by those whose bravery is obvious and by those whose actions might go unnoticed. She also showcases the fact that resistance was far more common than people think, perhaps more common than being the sheep that some people seem to think the targeted groups were. Keeping a diary or journals that detailed what happened was just as important and necessary an act as shooting a guard. Staying quiet in some cases was just as brave as speaking out.
Additionally, while the second and last sections focus on men, there are women throughout. Tec not only looks at women in the ghettoes but also in the forests and camps. Her analysis of women as partisans is more detailed than in Defiance (and perhaps the commonplace experience as opposed to the exception). The part of the book I liked the best was the section on couriers. In most books dealing with resistance in the ghettos, the couriers get named and mentioned – usually briefly though with acknowledgement that being a courier was extremely dangerous. The couriers whose missions were absolutely necessary for several of these plans to work, get short shrift, perhaps unintentionally implying to that the couriers were somehow less than the others. The only exception of this seems to be in the discussion of the various networks in Occupied France. By giving the couriers their own section, Tec highlights their contributions as well as the danger, and gives more information about the risks than most other books. The couriers are usually the lesser known “active” resisters and it is nice to see them get the spotlight for a bit here.
If Tec wrote this to answer, to put to bed, that insensitive question asked above, she has more than succeeded. This book is a great companion to Defiance, but also a must reader about the Holocaust.
Resist: withstand the action or effect of
Hollywood loves resistance stories, determined men and women fighting for survival against overwhelming odds. Of course, in Hollywood all resistance, at some level, will involve guns and, most likely, a leader in the form of man who resists all to save his family or to keep to some principle. For instance, we have a wonderful movie about Lincoln. But I have to wonder where the big budget movie treatment of Harriet Tubman is.
Nechama Tec also seems to be obsessed with the idea of resistance, in her case resistance to the Nazis. Her book Defiance dealt with the Bielski brothers and their heroic family partisan camp during the Second World War. This aptly titled book deals with all types of resistance during the Holocaust, both by Jews and by Christians.
While the book’s sub-title seems to indict a search for what made people resist and Tec does examine to a degree the conditions that are need for resistance, the focus is primary on the stories of resistance. The book’s geographical focus is primary Poland. The type of resistance, however, that makes up the discussion is far more than the rebellions in the Ghettos and the camps. The book is divided into sections – the Forests, Ghettoes, Camps, and more importantly Couriers. There are two other sections that profile various resisters.
The important thing that Tec does is use a far less narrow definition of resistance than most writers and Hollywood do. Turn on a Hollywood movie about resistance and it will usually involve guns and/or a gentile saving Jews. While Tec does detail resistance fighters such as various partisans and the fighting that occurred in the Ghettos, she also focuses on more everyday and far less flashy methods of resistance – a mother adapting to get food to feed her family or by simply giving birth , for instance. If Tec’s Defiance was too close to hagiography, this book illustrates that resistance occurred at all levels, ages, genders, and religions. The resisters do not come across as saints, but as people. And it is this illustration that makes the book important. With stories of fighting back, the reader is always placed in the position of questioner - would the reader have done what these people did. What Tec does is provide a two-fold answer to this question, and the more annoying other question –why didn’t people, primary the Jews, fight back. (TO be honest, I’m surprised that Tec doesn’t smack people who ask this question). She illustrates that resistance, the idea of rebelling, is down by those whose bravery is obvious and by those whose actions might go unnoticed. She also showcases the fact that resistance was far more common than people think, perhaps more common than being the sheep that some people seem to think the targeted groups were. Keeping a diary or journals that detailed what happened was just as important and necessary an act as shooting a guard. Staying quiet in some cases was just as brave as speaking out.
Additionally, while the second and last sections focus on men, there are women throughout. Tec not only looks at women in the ghettoes but also in the forests and camps. Her analysis of women as partisans is more detailed than in Defiance (and perhaps the commonplace experience as opposed to the exception). The part of the book I liked the best was the section on couriers. In most books dealing with resistance in the ghettos, the couriers get named and mentioned – usually briefly though with acknowledgement that being a courier was extremely dangerous. The couriers whose missions were absolutely necessary for several of these plans to work, get short shrift, perhaps unintentionally implying to that the couriers were somehow less than the others. The only exception of this seems to be in the discussion of the various networks in Occupied France. By giving the couriers their own section, Tec highlights their contributions as well as the danger, and gives more information about the risks than most other books. The couriers are usually the lesser known “active” resisters and it is nice to see them get the spotlight for a bit here.
If Tec wrote this to answer, to put to bed, that insensitive question asked above, she has more than succeeded. This book is a great companion to Defiance, but also a must reader about the Holocaust.
February 19, 2023
In theory - this is a book about civilian resistance against the Germans in World War II. And - maybe it is, but it's a very difficult book to read and make sense of.
For the most part, the book is a series of mini-biographies of various people that Tec had come across in her lifetime of research on the Holocaust. A Polish Jew herself... and even more... one who was apparently saved by Polish catholics... (she was 8 years old and in Lublin, Poland, when the Germans invaded in 1939), she obviously has a personal connection to this research.
The book is essentially structured by "place" - meaning forms of resistance in the Ghettos, in the Forests, in the Concentration Camps. And so you have all these mini biographies of people who resisted the Germans in these places. But often I was reading one of these mini-biographies and struggling to understand what the point was. In the forest section there is a Mina Volkowisky in Slonim (in the area of eastern Poland that the Soviets took in their 1939 pact with Hitler and then never gave back and it became part of BelaRus).
Mina escaped from the Jewish ghetto in Slonim... and went into hiding in the forests with Soviet partisan groups... but her entire section is primarily about rampant sexism and rampant antisemitism during her time with the Soviet partisan groups. Apart from her initial escape from the ghetto.. it's unclear to me what "resistance" she offered against the Germans.
And Dr Julian Alexandrowicz's story, also in the Forest section, is also primarily about anti-semtism amongst Polish resistance groups. Wanting to join home army (AK) units in the forest... he was continually put off by Polish leadership who seemed not to want his help "Eventually Alexandrowicz had to conclude that within the high ranks of the AK hierarchy were those who were infected with the anti-Semitic virus" (page 104).
Alexandrowicz seems to have provided medical care to Jews in Krakow, under the radar of the Germans, before he went into the forests... and he seems to have eventually joined resistance units in the forest... but the author, Tec, gives more print to the anti-semitism he faced from the Polish resistance units... than she does to whatever Alexandrowicz's resistance to the Germans was... so again... it's unclear to me how these mini-biographies fit in to the overall (supposed) theme of civilian resistance against the Germans.
Apart, I guess, from being a collection of life-stories of people who in one form or another escaped from, or resisted the Germans. If so - fair enough I guess - but that's not really how this book markets itself.
There is also a general feeling of sloppiness to this book. One example is places where I feel the author didn't do quite enough research.... or is being unfairly biased. On page 80, describing a Warsaw ghetto uprising, and bemoaning the fact that the AK (Polish Home Army) didn't support the Jews in the ghetto well enough - most notably by not supplying them with any weapons - Tec writes A range of considerations had dominated and complicated the Polish-Jewish wartime relationships. One of these was probably dictated by Polish anti-Semitism. From the Polish perspective the Jews were cowards. Supplying the Jews with proper arms was hardly an option
Yikes!
Okay - setting aside this broad-brush claim that the AK was fully anti-semitic - we know from other writing, like the Lukas book Forgotten Holocaust (written in 1986 - twenty-seven years before Tec's book) that the AK itself barely had any weapons, and they were saving everything they had for their own long-planned uprising against the Germans (i.e. the later Warsaw Uprising). So I find Tec's claim that the AK didn't give the Jews any weapons solely due to antisemitism to be pretty poor research.
So there is an odd sloppiness to this book - which is especially surprising as this is an Oxford University Press publication. Apart from problems I had, Jan Láníček in 2014 book review, (see citation below) found at least five significant factual mistakes that were made by the author and the editorial staff - one being getting the discovery of the very famous Katyn forest massacre wrong by TWO YEARS.
Katyn Forest by the way (and this has nothing to do with the Tec book) was another brutal travesty for the Poles. When the Russians invaded Poland at the beginning of the war - they murdered approximately 4500 Polish officers and buried them in Katyn Forest - but then told the Poles that all these officers were with others in detention camps in the USSR. After Hitler invaded Russia and the Russians switched to the Allied side... the Poles demanded the return of their officers... obviously with no luck as this one portion at least were all dead.
In 1943 the Germans found this mass grave in Katyn Forest - and while everyone wanted to blame the Germans for this massacre, it was clearly obvious that it had been done by the Russians in 1941. So... just as it was becoming apparent that the Soviets were going to liberate eastern Poland... and the Poles would have to find some way to cooperate with them - this discovery happens , proving that the Soviets had murdered 4500 Polish officers and lied about it.
Anyway!
Tec's book - it's not really a chronicle of civilian resistance vs the Germans in World War Two.
Rather it is a collection of mini-biographies of people who in some way resisted the Germans... without really describing (in most cases) what that resistance actually entailed.
Book review mentioned above:
Láníček, J. (2014). Resistance: Jews and Christians Who Defied the Nazi Terror. By Nechama Tec. Oxford University Press. 2013. 245pp. $27.95: Reviews and Short Notices. History (London), 99(337), 722–724. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-229X.120...
For the most part, the book is a series of mini-biographies of various people that Tec had come across in her lifetime of research on the Holocaust. A Polish Jew herself... and even more... one who was apparently saved by Polish catholics... (she was 8 years old and in Lublin, Poland, when the Germans invaded in 1939), she obviously has a personal connection to this research.
The book is essentially structured by "place" - meaning forms of resistance in the Ghettos, in the Forests, in the Concentration Camps. And so you have all these mini biographies of people who resisted the Germans in these places. But often I was reading one of these mini-biographies and struggling to understand what the point was. In the forest section there is a Mina Volkowisky in Slonim (in the area of eastern Poland that the Soviets took in their 1939 pact with Hitler and then never gave back and it became part of BelaRus).
Mina escaped from the Jewish ghetto in Slonim... and went into hiding in the forests with Soviet partisan groups... but her entire section is primarily about rampant sexism and rampant antisemitism during her time with the Soviet partisan groups. Apart from her initial escape from the ghetto.. it's unclear to me what "resistance" she offered against the Germans.
And Dr Julian Alexandrowicz's story, also in the Forest section, is also primarily about anti-semtism amongst Polish resistance groups. Wanting to join home army (AK) units in the forest... he was continually put off by Polish leadership who seemed not to want his help "Eventually Alexandrowicz had to conclude that within the high ranks of the AK hierarchy were those who were infected with the anti-Semitic virus" (page 104).
Alexandrowicz seems to have provided medical care to Jews in Krakow, under the radar of the Germans, before he went into the forests... and he seems to have eventually joined resistance units in the forest... but the author, Tec, gives more print to the anti-semitism he faced from the Polish resistance units... than she does to whatever Alexandrowicz's resistance to the Germans was... so again... it's unclear to me how these mini-biographies fit in to the overall (supposed) theme of civilian resistance against the Germans.
Apart, I guess, from being a collection of life-stories of people who in one form or another escaped from, or resisted the Germans. If so - fair enough I guess - but that's not really how this book markets itself.
There is also a general feeling of sloppiness to this book. One example is places where I feel the author didn't do quite enough research.... or is being unfairly biased. On page 80, describing a Warsaw ghetto uprising, and bemoaning the fact that the AK (Polish Home Army) didn't support the Jews in the ghetto well enough - most notably by not supplying them with any weapons - Tec writes A range of considerations had dominated and complicated the Polish-Jewish wartime relationships. One of these was probably dictated by Polish anti-Semitism. From the Polish perspective the Jews were cowards. Supplying the Jews with proper arms was hardly an option
Yikes!
Okay - setting aside this broad-brush claim that the AK was fully anti-semitic - we know from other writing, like the Lukas book Forgotten Holocaust (written in 1986 - twenty-seven years before Tec's book) that the AK itself barely had any weapons, and they were saving everything they had for their own long-planned uprising against the Germans (i.e. the later Warsaw Uprising). So I find Tec's claim that the AK didn't give the Jews any weapons solely due to antisemitism to be pretty poor research.
So there is an odd sloppiness to this book - which is especially surprising as this is an Oxford University Press publication. Apart from problems I had, Jan Láníček in 2014 book review, (see citation below) found at least five significant factual mistakes that were made by the author and the editorial staff - one being getting the discovery of the very famous Katyn forest massacre wrong by TWO YEARS.
Katyn Forest by the way (and this has nothing to do with the Tec book) was another brutal travesty for the Poles. When the Russians invaded Poland at the beginning of the war - they murdered approximately 4500 Polish officers and buried them in Katyn Forest - but then told the Poles that all these officers were with others in detention camps in the USSR. After Hitler invaded Russia and the Russians switched to the Allied side... the Poles demanded the return of their officers... obviously with no luck as this one portion at least were all dead.
In 1943 the Germans found this mass grave in Katyn Forest - and while everyone wanted to blame the Germans for this massacre, it was clearly obvious that it had been done by the Russians in 1941. So... just as it was becoming apparent that the Soviets were going to liberate eastern Poland... and the Poles would have to find some way to cooperate with them - this discovery happens , proving that the Soviets had murdered 4500 Polish officers and lied about it.
Anyway!
Tec's book - it's not really a chronicle of civilian resistance vs the Germans in World War Two.
Rather it is a collection of mini-biographies of people who in some way resisted the Germans... without really describing (in most cases) what that resistance actually entailed.
Book review mentioned above:
Láníček, J. (2014). Resistance: Jews and Christians Who Defied the Nazi Terror. By Nechama Tec. Oxford University Press. 2013. 245pp. $27.95: Reviews and Short Notices. History (London), 99(337), 722–724. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-229X.120...
December 30, 2017
It's the story of Holocaust focused on that minority that managed to push some resistance. It's the fight of David and Goliath, of course, but the main thing here seem to be the purpose and choosing to die at one's own terms, rather than starving in camps or even worse. Also, it's bit different from usual survival at all cost theme. Like, since those unruly Jews knew they would probably be tortured to reveal info about their comrades, there was always some means of suicide at hand. Like last bullet or cianide pill. But, there's dilemma: when do you really know the curtain is falling down? Should you check out while you can, or wait and endure torture in hopes your comrades will come for rescue? Because, that's what happened in more cases than expected, against all odds. One pistol against Wermacht. It's This is something I'm going to take with me and really thing about it. Because, well, I'm that checkout person. Hate the pain. Bit of a pussy I guess.
March 27, 2021
Dit is een verzameling getuigenissen en blijft nogal aan de oppervlakte. Mist synthese. De persoonlijke ervaringen worden opgedeeld in “Ghettos, Camps, Forrests” etc, maar er worden geen verbanden gelegd tussen de verschillende verhalen. De conclusie is dan ook zeer mager: joodse mensen die de holocaust overleefden hadden dit te danken aan geluk, “het lot” en aan vriendschappen. Er wordt niet ingegaan op wat er specifiek was aan “joods” verzet of welke rol religie hierin speelde.
December 24, 2016
I loved this book and not just because it gave women credit for qualities that are generally applied to men but because of the humanity and hope and optimism expressed by the author while describing the real casualties of war....civilians. I think the holocaust needs to be remembered and remembered and remembered. I think here we are 72 yrs since it ended and we still look through the wrong lens
November 12, 2016
I picked up the book "Resistance" by Nechama Tec a few days ago in anticipation of Remembrance Day. My hope was that it might help me to focus my mind and my spirit on the idea of sacrifice, offering me a way of remembering those who gave their lives for the sake of our freedom today.
To be honest I did not grow up learning to value or show interest in the Remembrance Day Celebration. A part of this was not having anyone in my family who was connected to the war or military service. Getting married changed this for me.
My Grandfather in-law, who recently passed away, was a World War 2 Vet, and over the past 12 years we (as a family) have faithfully made the trek out to the Selkirk Arena to participate in the Remembrance Day service. This year was no exception. For the first time however, my Grandfather in-law did not have a wreath layed in his memory. This just goes to show how fleeting history can be sometimes. I was reminded in this moment of how important it is not only to take the time to remember but to also understand what history can teach us about the nature of freedom and sacrifice.
When we flew to Ukraine two years ago to complete our adoption we took the time to visit Jen's family village. The desire was to build a connection with Jen's own family history. A part of this was gaining some insight into who her grandfather actually was, and so following this visit to the village we made our way to Auschwitz.
Jen's Grandfather never talked much about the war. If he said anything at all it came in bite size snippets that were often encased in humorous stories It felt like the war had changed him in ways that he was unable to express, which I suppose should be expected. But taking this journey for ouselves did help to offer some insight into the struggles he likely faced and the toll it must have taken on this man and his emotional well being. I can only imagine, and even then my imagination can only take me so far.
Tec wrote this book to shed light on a great misunderstanding of how people respond to tragedy and war. More specifically he wrote it to help us understand the plight of a people (Jews) who faced their own unspeakable horror and found a way to rise above it as a better and stronger people. Tec explains in the beginning pages that he needed a way of responding to the most common question he has come up against in his personal research. "Why did the Jews not fight back?". This book is his rebuttal.
As Vic shows, the nature of this question sheds light on an unfortunate misunderstanding of the word resistance. According to Vic, the idea of resistance is far more nuanced than we often realize, while at the same time also far more intentional than simply an act of defending oneself against an outside threat.
At its heart, Vic argues, the most important thing to recognize about resistance is that it is not an individual act but rather a communal act. It always involves a community and a concern for others. Resistance is also, by nature, active and intentional. It is a movement that intends to accomplish something.
In the case of the Jewish resistance to the Nazi terror, Tec pulls back the curtain of history to help us see how the Nazi force was incredibly intentional in crippling the ability of the Jews (both men and women) to fight back. Their strategy, of locating, dispersing to the ghetto's, and eventually deportation (and execution) essentially divided the numbers, fostered an environment of uncertainty, and allowed the Nazi's to deport (both Jews and non-Jews) at their weakest point. It was an exercise of control that was intended to eliminate the possibility of resistance before it was able to gain momentum.
By helping us understand the reality of their situation, Vic then goes on to show, through personal stories and up-close encounters (with the eventual resisting force that fought back at Aushwitchz, the underground, the forest and the woman couriers to name a few), that in the midst of such a crippling strategy and horrible injustice we actually find an incredible strength and resistance that not only pushed back but strived to protect the integrity of its people.
If Vic desires to accomplish anything with this book it seems to be to reshape our perception of how resistance must work. Far too often resistance is demonstrated as violent action, emotional response, vocal push-back, immense hostility, and angry picket signs. The Jewish people, and the Christians who stood with them, help to show us a different way. This was a resistance that was concerned to preserve and protect the future of the group rather than the rights of an individual. It was a resistance that required them to see beyond their own emotional response in the moment (which for many was the loss of everything they once knew), and to find the courage to see what, if anything, they might be able to do to change the fate of the others. This was a resistance that refused to give up even when death was facing them down. A resistance that looked to uphold and to demonstrate the values and virtues that continue to define them as people.
In the midst of stories of such great horror, Vic shows a people who did not simply give themselves over to their oppressor, even as their voices were effectively silenced. They continued to hope and to work together to circumvent the trappings of the Nazi strategy.
In this season of remembrance may we remember what it means to demonstrate such integrity, to speak with action rather than words, and to always see this celebration of freedom (the freedom that people like my Grandfather in-law fought for) through the interests and the protection of the marginalized and the oppressed rather than the proclamation of our own personal rights. I have come to believe that it was seeing the plight of the marginalized that left my Grandfather in silence. I believe this is what he put his life on the line to protect, the action that broke the silence. And if this has taught me anything, it is that two minutes of silence can be worth far more than a thousand words. Allowing this silence to move me to action is worth a million more.
To be honest I did not grow up learning to value or show interest in the Remembrance Day Celebration. A part of this was not having anyone in my family who was connected to the war or military service. Getting married changed this for me.
My Grandfather in-law, who recently passed away, was a World War 2 Vet, and over the past 12 years we (as a family) have faithfully made the trek out to the Selkirk Arena to participate in the Remembrance Day service. This year was no exception. For the first time however, my Grandfather in-law did not have a wreath layed in his memory. This just goes to show how fleeting history can be sometimes. I was reminded in this moment of how important it is not only to take the time to remember but to also understand what history can teach us about the nature of freedom and sacrifice.
When we flew to Ukraine two years ago to complete our adoption we took the time to visit Jen's family village. The desire was to build a connection with Jen's own family history. A part of this was gaining some insight into who her grandfather actually was, and so following this visit to the village we made our way to Auschwitz.
Jen's Grandfather never talked much about the war. If he said anything at all it came in bite size snippets that were often encased in humorous stories It felt like the war had changed him in ways that he was unable to express, which I suppose should be expected. But taking this journey for ouselves did help to offer some insight into the struggles he likely faced and the toll it must have taken on this man and his emotional well being. I can only imagine, and even then my imagination can only take me so far.
Tec wrote this book to shed light on a great misunderstanding of how people respond to tragedy and war. More specifically he wrote it to help us understand the plight of a people (Jews) who faced their own unspeakable horror and found a way to rise above it as a better and stronger people. Tec explains in the beginning pages that he needed a way of responding to the most common question he has come up against in his personal research. "Why did the Jews not fight back?". This book is his rebuttal.
As Vic shows, the nature of this question sheds light on an unfortunate misunderstanding of the word resistance. According to Vic, the idea of resistance is far more nuanced than we often realize, while at the same time also far more intentional than simply an act of defending oneself against an outside threat.
At its heart, Vic argues, the most important thing to recognize about resistance is that it is not an individual act but rather a communal act. It always involves a community and a concern for others. Resistance is also, by nature, active and intentional. It is a movement that intends to accomplish something.
In the case of the Jewish resistance to the Nazi terror, Tec pulls back the curtain of history to help us see how the Nazi force was incredibly intentional in crippling the ability of the Jews (both men and women) to fight back. Their strategy, of locating, dispersing to the ghetto's, and eventually deportation (and execution) essentially divided the numbers, fostered an environment of uncertainty, and allowed the Nazi's to deport (both Jews and non-Jews) at their weakest point. It was an exercise of control that was intended to eliminate the possibility of resistance before it was able to gain momentum.
By helping us understand the reality of their situation, Vic then goes on to show, through personal stories and up-close encounters (with the eventual resisting force that fought back at Aushwitchz, the underground, the forest and the woman couriers to name a few), that in the midst of such a crippling strategy and horrible injustice we actually find an incredible strength and resistance that not only pushed back but strived to protect the integrity of its people.
If Vic desires to accomplish anything with this book it seems to be to reshape our perception of how resistance must work. Far too often resistance is demonstrated as violent action, emotional response, vocal push-back, immense hostility, and angry picket signs. The Jewish people, and the Christians who stood with them, help to show us a different way. This was a resistance that was concerned to preserve and protect the future of the group rather than the rights of an individual. It was a resistance that required them to see beyond their own emotional response in the moment (which for many was the loss of everything they once knew), and to find the courage to see what, if anything, they might be able to do to change the fate of the others. This was a resistance that refused to give up even when death was facing them down. A resistance that looked to uphold and to demonstrate the values and virtues that continue to define them as people.
In the midst of stories of such great horror, Vic shows a people who did not simply give themselves over to their oppressor, even as their voices were effectively silenced. They continued to hope and to work together to circumvent the trappings of the Nazi strategy.
In this season of remembrance may we remember what it means to demonstrate such integrity, to speak with action rather than words, and to always see this celebration of freedom (the freedom that people like my Grandfather in-law fought for) through the interests and the protection of the marginalized and the oppressed rather than the proclamation of our own personal rights. I have come to believe that it was seeing the plight of the marginalized that left my Grandfather in silence. I believe this is what he put his life on the line to protect, the action that broke the silence. And if this has taught me anything, it is that two minutes of silence can be worth far more than a thousand words. Allowing this silence to move me to action is worth a million more.
August 8, 2013
Will be most appreciated by serious history scholars or history nerds. Very well written.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews