Monday, October 05, 2009

Ave atque Vale: Marek Edelman (1919?-2009)

The last surviving leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising has died in Poland. This obituary quotes Vaclav Havel's praise of Edelman as "an example of a true Pole, the authentic personification of all that is best in Poland."

The 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in occupied Poland was the largest act of resistance by European Jews against the Nazis during the Holocaust. (Don't confuse it with the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.)

Here's a quote from Edelman reflecting on his participation: "It was easier to die fighting than in a gas chamber."

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