- Summary
- "Holocaust accounts typically cast Jewish victims as meek, going "like sheep to the slaughter." Given such portrayals, people ask, "Why didn't Jews resist?" But Jews did resist, staging armed uprisings in ghettos and camps throughout Nazi-occupied Europe. This book's goal is not to dispel the myth of Jewish passivity, however; instead, it argues that Jewish resistance deserves explanation. Research on social movements shows that protest occurs when protesters have an opportunity for action and both the material resources and belief in themselves to get their protest off the ground, but members of Jewish resistance movements lacked these factors. So why did they fight back? Using methods of comparative-historical sociology, the book answers this question by comparing three Jewish ghettos during World War II: Warsaw (site of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943), Vilna (where activists planned for armed resistance in the ghetto but could not achieve that goal), and Lodz (where no plans for armed resistance emerged). It finds that resistance rested on Jews' assessments of the threats facing them, and especially on their hope for survival. Somewhat ironically, armed resistance took place only once activists reached the critical conclusion that they had no hope for survival and saw such resistance as the best response to their situation. These findings have implications for other examples of resistance under extreme conditions, such as prison riots and rebellions of enslaved people"-- Provided by publisher.
- Format
- Book
- Author/Creator
- Einwohner, Rachel L., author.
- Published
- New York : Oxford University Press, [2022]
- Locale
- Poland
Warsaw
Lithuania
Vilnius
Łódź
Pologne
Varsovie
Lituanie
Vilnious
- Contents
-
Preface
Timeline of Important Events
Studying Jewish Resistance
Understanding Resistance: Theoretical Underpinnings
Fighting for Honor in the Warsaw Ghetto
Competing Visions in the Vilna Ghetto
Hope and Hunger in the Łódź Ghetto
Resistance: Past, Present, and Future
Appendix: Data Sources.
- Notes
-
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Preface -- Timeline of Important Events -- Studying Jewish Resistance -- Understanding Resistance: Theoretical Underpinnings -- Fighting for Honor in the Warsaw Ghetto -- Competing Visions in the Vilna Ghetto -- Hope and Hunger in the Łódź Ghetto -- Resistance: Past, Present, and Future -- Appendix: Data Sources.
