Unit 4 – Jewish Resistance

When studying about the Holocaust, students frequently ask, “Why didn’t the Jews fight back?” At first glance, it may appear Jews didn’t resist, but this is not the truth. They resisted as much as any other group under Nazi occupation. Most often, they had to act under circumstances that could hardly have been less suited for such activities. They used the methods available to them according to local situations and individual circumstances. Resistance was usually carried out against great odds and with incomplete information about the overall situation. They had little or no outside help and often had to contend with the anti-Semitism of others who were also under occupation.