In Nazi Occupied Eastern Europe, the Jewish Reaction to the Final Solution Varied :: Papers

In Nazi Occupied Eastern Europe, the Jewish Reaction to the Final Solution Varied The common belief of the reaction of the Jews to the final solution is that they did nothing. Many believed that they went like 'sheep to the slaughter'. However only recently has evidence come to light through documents hidden, found then translated from Russian, Polish and other languages. Also only recently survivors are coming forward and recollecting their experiences. Now it is therefore coming to light that many resisted in many different ways. The Jews resisted in various ways, one of which was passive resistance. One forms of passive resistance was survival. Survival was a form of resistance because it went against the Nazis aim, which was to exterminate the Jews. Examples of the effort of survival were seen in ghettos where food smuggling operations were carried out and also various activities, which supported the will to live and try to add some 'normality' to life. Also another example of the will to preserve life was the Jewish Self Help association, which organised street collections and soup kitchens. The reason for the will to survive is that they believed that they were going to be resettled in the East rather than sent to their death. However if the Jews knew that they were going to be executed many would have lost the will to live, but some it would of given them more determination to resist the Nazis by force, which became apparent around 1942. However the passive resistance and defiance through survival raised morale, due to the fact that they were snubbing and defying the third Reich, which was one of the strongest armies the world has ever seen. Examples of surviving were also seen in the actual death camps where tact and initiative were used to avoid the gas chambers in which Samuel Pisar who was a prisoner a Auschwitz was in the line for entering the gas chambers at which point he saw a pail of water & a brush, he then got them & started scrubbing the floor, until he got out the door he then