Marek Edelman
Marek Edelman | |
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ŻOB) | |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Awards |
Marek Edelman (
Before
After the war, Edelman remained in Poland and became a noted cardiologist. From the 1970s, he collaborated with the
Early life
Details of Marek Edelman's birth are not known for certain; sources give two possible years of birth, either 1919 in
As a child, Edelman was a member of Sotsyalistishe Kinder Farband (SKIF), the Jewish Labour Bund's youth group for children.[10]
In 1939 he joined and became a leader in Tsukunft (Future), the Bund's youth organization for older children.[11] During the war, he restarted these organizations inside the Warsaw Ghetto.[12]
The defiance and organization of the Bund made their mark on Edelman. As conditions for
World War II
In 1939, after the
When the Germans had stopped their campaign of transporting Ghetto residents to Treblinka extermination camp in September 1942, only 60,000 had remained.[9] Edelman and his comrades, however, had had little doubt that the Germans would resume the job. The Jewish Combat Organisation had begun acquiring weapons and organizing into units that would make up for lack of training and munitions with an intimate knowledge of the ghetto, both above ground and in its sewer network.[9]
The Germans resumed their attack on the ghetto on April 19, 1943, with over 2,000 troops. According to Edelman: "The Germans weren't expecting resistance of any kind, let alone that we would take up arms." The outnumbered and outgunned Ghetto fighters' strong resistance forced the German troops to withdraw.
The Germans proceeded to flush out the few remaining fighters by burning down the ghetto - Edelman always insisted, "We were beaten by the flames, not the Germans."[9] At that juncture, couriers from the Polish underground outside the ghetto came through the sewers that still linked it with the rest of Warsaw.[15] On the morning of May 10, Edelman and his few remaining comrades escaped through the sewers and made their way to the non-Ghetto part of Warsaw to find safety among their Polish compatriots. At this point the Uprising was over and the fate of those fighters who had remained behind is unknown.[9]
After World War II, the Ghetto Uprising was sometimes given as an unusual instance of active Jewish resistance in the face of the horror perpetrated by the Germans. However, Marek never saw a difference in the character of those who fought in the Uprising and those who were sent to the death camps, as, in his view, all involved were simply dealing with an inevitable death as best as they knew how.[9]
"We knew perfectly well that we had no chance of winning. We fought simply not to allow the Germans alone to pick the time and place of our deaths. We knew we were going to die. Just like all the others who were sent to Treblinka.... Their death was far more heroic. We didn't know when we would take a bullet. They had to deal with certain death, stripped naked in a gas chamber or standing at the edge of a mass grave waiting for a bullet in the back of the head.... It was easier to die fighting than in a gas chamber."[9]
In mid-1944, Edelman, as a member of the leftist
Later life
Edelman's hospital upbringing had proven invaluable in the Warsaw Ghetto. After World War II, he studied at
In 1981, when General
In an open letter dated February 2, 1983, he wrote of his refusal of invitation:
Forty years ago we fought not only for our lives. We fought for life in dignity and freedom. To celebrate our anniversary there where social life is dominated throughout by humiliation and coercion would be to deny our fight.
Hanna Krall, "Shielding the Flame"
A couple of days before the official event, on April 17, 1983, several hundred Solidarity members staged a commemoration of their own, gathering spontaneously at the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial. Edelman was then prevented from being present at this occasion because he was being held under house arrest back in Lodz. Edelman sat in his house surrounded by the police cars, at a table set for a fancy dinner which included empty places because the police were not letting the guests in, except the journalist Hanna Krall. [22]
In
Edelman lent public support to
On April 17, 1998,[29] Edelman was awarded Poland's highest decoration, the Order of the White Eagle.[1] He received the French Legion of Honour.[2]
Edelman was a lifelong
Family life
Marek Edelman was married to Alina Margolis-Edelman (1922–2008). They had two children, Aleksander and Anna.[2][34] When his wife and children emigrated from Poland to France in the wake of the 1968 Polish political crisis and antisemitic actions by the Polish Communist authorities, Edelman decided to stay in Łódź. "Someone had to stay here with all those who perished here, after all."[9] He published his memoirs, which have been translated into six languages.[34] Each April he laid flowers in Warsaw for those he had served with in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.[2] Edelman's wife Alina, likewise a Warsaw Ghetto survivor, died in 2008. They were survived by their son and daughter.[9]
Death
Edelman died on October 2, 2009.
Former head of Israel's parliament and former Israeli ambassador to Poland Shevah Weiss said: "I'd like to offer my condolences to Marek Edelman's family, to the Polish nation and to the Jewish nation. He was a hero to all of us."[38] Ian Kelly, official spokesperson for the United States, expressed sympathies and affirmed that the United States "stands with Poland as it mourns the loss of a great man."[42]
In popular culture
In the 2001 television film Uprising, he was portrayed by American actor John Ales.
The documentary Marek Edelman... And There Was Love in the Ghetto, directed by Andrzej Wajda and Jolanta Dylewska, was released in 2019.
See also
- Victor Alter
- Henryk Ehrlich
- Izrael Kanal
- Yitzhak Zuckerman
- List of Polish Holocaust resisters
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Scislowska, Monika, "Warsaw ghetto uprising leader Edelman dies at 90", News, Associated Press, retrieved 1 November 2015
- ^ a b c d e "Warsaw Ghetto uprising leader Marek Edelman dies at 90". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. 3 October 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
- Lucy S. Dawidowicz, "The Curious Case of Marek Edelman", Commentary Magazine, March 1, 1987
- ISBN 9781466848474.
- ^ Zychowicz, Piotr (2 October 2009). "Marek Edelman nie zyje". Rzeczpospolita (in Polish). Retrieved 3 November 2009.
- ISBN 9781909026391. See the External Links, below, for the full text.
- ^ a b c "Marek Edelman - biografia"[permanent dead link]; accessed November 1, 2015.
- ^ Jerzy B. Warman, In Memoriam Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine, American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants; accessed November 1, 2015.
- ^ Daily Telegraphobituary.
- ^ Izabela Leszczyńska, Maciej Stańczyk, "Zmarł Marek Edelman" Archived 2009-10-04 at the Wayback Machine, kurierlubelski.pl, March 10, 2009. (in Polish)
- ISBN 978-0-19-538291-4.
- ^ Yitzhak Zuckerman, Barbara Harshav, "A surplus of memory: chronicle of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising", University of California Press, 1993, pg. 434.
- ^ a b c d e "Warsaw ghetto uprising head dies". BBC. 2 October 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
- ^ Israel Gutman, Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, New York, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1998, p. 214.
- ^ "Marek Edelman - charakterystyka - Hanna Krall". poezja.org. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
- ^ a b c Kaufman, Michael T. (3 October 2009). "Marek Edelman, Commander in Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Dies at 90". The New York Times. p. A21. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- ISBN 978-83-926831-1-7.
- S2CID 220116107.
- ^ ""Marek Edelman 1919-2009", Żydowski Instytut Historyczny". Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
- ^ "Rz" Online, "Pożegnanie Marka Edelmana" (Farewell to Marek Edelman), Rzeczpospolita; accessed November 1, 2015, rp.pl Archived 2015-06-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Marek Edelman nie żyje" (in Polish). Dziennik. 2 October 2009. Archived from the original on 4 October 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- ISBN 0-03-006002-8.
- ^ Andrzej STYLINSKI, "Marek Edelman; Wartime Jewish hero of Warsaw ghetto uprising", eilatgordinlevitan.com; accessed November 1, 2015.
- ^ "Every war with fascism is our business". Interview by Polish Channel TVN24, re-published in a Polish weekly Przekroj (translated by Arthur Chrenkoff), May 30, 2004; accessed November 1, 2015.
- ^ Letter to the Editor, nytimes.com; accessed November 1, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-19-538291-4.
- ^ "A delayed victory by Hitler...", independent.co.uk, August 18, 1993.
- ^ Tilman Zülch, "A disgrace for Europe!' Archived 2014-04-25 at the Wayback Machine, gfbv.de, March 2, 2011.
- ^ Official website of the President of Poland, Archives Archived 1 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine, accessed November 1, 2015,
- ISBN 0-8166-3596-X.
- ISBN 978-0-253-34902-6.
- ISBN 0-521-85096-7.
- ^ Grupinska, Anna (1985). "Talk with Marek Edelman". CZAS.
- ^ a b c Yossi Melman (2 October 2009). "Hero of Warsaw Ghetto uprising, Marek Edelman, dies at 86". Haaretz. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
- ^ "Marek Edelman: death of a great man". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. 5 October 2009. Archived from the original on 8 October 2009.
- ^ Paul Foot (21 August 2002). "Palestine's partisans". The Guardian. London, UK.
- ^ "Anti-Zionist Legacy of Warsaw Ghetto Resistance Fighter Marek Edelman". Daily Kos. 15 October 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
- ^ a b c d "Marek Edelman of Warsaw Ghetto Uprising dies". The Australian. 3 October 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
- ^ Moshe Arens, "Requiem for the Bund", Haaretz, [1]
- ^ Bund Israeli branch). September–October 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
- ^ Gabriela Baczynska (3 October 2009). "Last leader of Warsaw Jewish Ghetto Uprising dies at 87". Reuters India. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
- ^ "Poland: Death of Marek Edelman". United States Department of State. 3 October 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
Further reading
- Witold Bereś, Krzysztof Burnetko, Marek Edelman. Życie. Po prostu,Świat Książki 2008, ISBN 978-83-247-0892-5
- Marek Edelman, Resisting the Holocaust: Fighting Back in the Warsaw Ghetto, Ocean Press, 2004; ISBN 1-876175-52-4, (Excerpt online)
- Marek Edelman, I była miłość w getcie (spisała Paula Sawicka; Świat Książki 2009, ISBN 978-83-247-1416-2)
- OCLC 1285856049. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
- Krzysztof Lesiakowski, Marek Edelman, [In:]: Opozycja w PRL. Słownik biograficzny 1956-89, Vol. 1, Ośrodek Karta, Warsaw 2000 ISBN 83-88288-65-2.
- Katarzyna Zechenter, Marek Edelman, [In:] Holocaust Literature. An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work. Vol. 1, Routledge 2003, pp. 288–90;
External links
- The Ghetto Fights by Marek Edelman
- Edelman Biography
- Marek Edelman's Life Story on Web of Stories (video interview in Polish with English subtitles)
- A True Mensch - Obituary to Marek Edelman
- John Rose. “Marek Edelman — star of resistance among Nazi horror” Archived 26 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine Socialist Worker (UK), January, 2006
- Last Warsaw ghetto revolt commander honours fallen comrades
- A Life of Resistance: Marek Edelman, 90, Last Ghetto Uprising Commander, Michael Berenbaum and Jon Avnet, The Forward, October 7, 2009
- , Lebns Fragen, September–October 2009
- Marci Shore, "The Jewish Hero History Forgot", New York Times, April 19, 2013.