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Lucas Peach
Mr. Hawkins
Modern World History 10, Period 3
10 April 2016
Rescue Stories of Jews
The Jews have been tormented throughout history, but by far the worst struggle theyve
faced has been the holocaust. The Jews throughout this time were captured and forcefully put in
many types of camps by Germans, and in these camps they were tortured and killed. After many
others heard of the cruelty of the Germans, many helped Jews escape from or hide from the
Germans. Although their attempts werent always successful, the sacrifices of people to save the
Jews was forever appreciated. These rescue groups could consist of an entire organization of
people or just individuals and families.
A very important group during the Holocaust that was very effective was the Zegota. The
Zegota was a Polish underground organization that provided for the social welfare needs
of Jews, began operations in September 1942 (Evidence #1) The group helped by giving
money, food, medical care, and fake identity papers for the Jews that were still in hiding. But the
Germans made hiding Jews illegal, and the punishment would be death, causing the death of
many members of the Zegota. The Zegota assisted Jewish fighters by attacking German
positions during the Warsaw ghetto uprising in April 1943 (Evidence #1) Many Jews were
living in the ghettos, they could not buy much to live off of because of the Germans and nearly
everything required to live comfortably was scarce. This is why the German positions were
targeted and why the Polish and Jewish attempted to rise up together to fight back against
Germanys iron fist. Medical attention for the Jews in hiding was also made available
through the Committee of Democratic and Socialist Physicians (Evidence #1) because the

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Zegota had ties with many ghettos and camps. (Evidence #1) Medical care was definitely a
luxury to the Jews and without it many more would have died. The sacrifices of all these medical
providers helped cushion the horrible events taking place. It didnt always require organizations
to help out though.
There is a special account of the friends of a Jewish family, and their viewpoint on the
whole situation, and the struggles they face throughout. When deportations from the
Netherlands to extermination camps in Poland began in 1942, Anne Frank, her family, and
four other people went into hiding in a secret attic apartment in Amsterdam. (Evidence
#2) During this Anne Frank wrote a diary, and used it to record her experiences, hopes, and fears.
This diary was Annes best friend for a very long time and it gives people in the future an idea of
how life was for Jews during these hardships. Anne Frank began attending Amsterdam's
Sixth Montessori School in 1934, and throughout the rest of the 1930s, she lived a relatively
happy and normal childhood. (Evidence #2) Although her and her family was safe for a time,
it was not to last. Eventually the family and the four other people are found and arrested in
1944, August 4th. The Frank family is sent to the Westerbork transit camp and later
deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. As the war nears an end, Anne and her sister are
evacuated and sent to Bergen-Belsen (Evidence #2) While at Bergen-Belsen, Anne and her
sister contract typhus which kills them both on the spring of 1945, leaving their father to be the
only survivor. While their story may be sad, it really makes us understand by the ones who
experienced the holocaust, how much of a tragedy it was. However, not all Jews were given the
same fate.
One women, was responsible for the rescue an extreme amount of Jews. The young
woman was 29-year-old Irena Sendler, a Polish Catholic social worker who saved 2,500

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Jewish children from the Nazis. (Evidence #3) Irena did this by pretending to be a Nurse to
get entrance into the ghetto. She pretended to be examining Jews for signs of contagious
diseases, but actually she was looking for Children to save. At first, Irena and her helpers
took orphans living on the streets out of the Ghetto. Later, she would meet with parents and
ask them to let her take their children out. (Evidence #3) She did this to assure the parents
that their children would be returned to them once the war was done with. She made many
detailed lists that included the families of these children, so she could keep her promise. There
were two common routes used to smuggle the children out, through two buildings that
straddled the border between the Ghetto and the rest of Warsaw. One building was an old
courthouse, the other was a church. (Evidence #3) They used the church to smuggle older
children out of the ghetto, and taught them Catholic prayers to be sneaked into the church from
the Jewish part. After entering, they would take off their stars of David and take on a new
identity as Catholic Polish kids. Younger children could not be rescued through the
buildings. Instead, Irena would place them in gunny sacks or toolboxes and carry them out
of the Ghetto, or she would hide them under potatoes in a cart. (Evidence #3) Her efforts to
keep children from the hardships of the Ghettos of the holocaust were never forgotten. Without
her help, many children could have possibly died or been killed. Non-Jews sacrificed much to
keep these refugees away from harm, and although they couldnt stop the Nazi forces, they
surely helped make life better for those affected by the Nazis.
The people who saved these Jews were truly legendary and kind people. They were
willing to give up their life and reputation to help the helpless. Multitudes of people saved Jews
and escaped the Nazis, other than the ones mentioned, and their bravery has been respected
throughout generations. However they couldnt halt this horrible genocide, and millions of

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innocent people were killed, they still stopped the Nazis from completing their goal. The heroism
of these determined and caring people is certainly a feat that surpasses any normal humans
abilities.