Polish MPs pay tribute to Warsaw Ghetto Uprising fighters

The Sejm, Poland’s lower house, said in the motion that the Jewish fighters had shown "the highest heroism and dedication in defence of the universal values ​​of human freedom and dignity."

The motion emphasised that the uprising was "the first act of armed resistance in a city [in Europe] occupied by the German Third Reich."

It added: "The goal was not victory over the occupiers, but to defend the dignity of Jews locked in the Ghetto, [who had been] transported from July 22, 1942 to the death camp in Treblinka set up by the Germans."

The insurgency

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began after the Germans launched the second large wave of deportations from the ghetto, which started on January 18, 1943.

The uprising was launched on April 19, with insurgents holding out for close to a month, until the revolt was finally crushed on May 16, 1943.

It is estimated that about 13,000 Jews died in the ghetto during the revolt. It had been the largest ghetto created by the Germans on Polish soil. The majority of the captured survivors were transported to death camps.

Some surviving Jewish combatants later fought in the Warsaw Uprising, launched by Poland's underground Home Army (AK) on August 1, 1944.

(pk/gs)