Mordechai Anielewicz by Rachel Hausfater

Author:Rachel Hausfater
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: kids books ages 9-12;non fiction books for kids age 9 12;books for kids age 9 12;feminism;biography for kids;books for boys age 9 12;books for 10 year old boys;civil rights;books for 10 year old girls;books for 8 year old boys;nonfiction books for ages 9 12;biographies for kids age 9 12;books for 12 year old girls;books for 8 year old girls;activism;books for 11 year old girls;books for 12 year old boys;girls books ages 9-12;history books for kids age 9 12;biographies for kids ages 6-8
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Published: 2022-08-18T13:44:38+00:00

10

“We’ll Exhaust the Enemy”

We’ll exhaust the enemy by

attacking nonstop, day and night, from behind doors, windows, and ruins. Our plan is to take

advantage of the ghetto labyrinth.

Mordechai Anielewicz is happy. Everything went well, he had everything perfectly organized. The Germans suffered heavy losses and withdrew—it’s more than he dared hope for! During the fighting, no house was taken and the fighters, despite their tender age, showed themselves to be valiant and brave. Everyone’s happy that it’s begun, and everyone’s cheerful despite the bloodshed. And though I didn’t kill because I’m not armed, I still feel wonderful for having been such a help, for having transmitted orders, been the connection, the messenger in a war that we won.

Today.

And tomorrow.

And the day after.

On the first night, some of the kids raised a Jewish flag on the roof of a building. Look, look! A star fluttering over the ghetto! Not the star of shame that tarnishes our sleeves, not the star of hatred they engraved on our foreheads. This star is proud, it’s beautiful, it’s our lucky star. It repairs our wounded hearts, soothes our humiliated souls. This flag means we have a country, the country of our pride; it means we’re a living people worthy of respect. That’s what we have won. So we won.

It’s good to wake up on the morning of April 20 and still be alive. We didn’t think there would be a tomorrow! Mordechai smiles, he says he didn’t expect to see this morning, see that sun and that flag, he didn’t think he’d still be here! But he’s alive, we’re all alive, more than ever, if not for long, and proud to continue, to fight till the end.

During these three days of fierce combat, we are the strongest, we whom they called subhuman against those who believed they were superhuman. We have the advantage and we hold on to it, we control the fighting. It is we who decide when, where, how, what, and who, again and again, ever stronger! Mordechai directs operations, giving orders and answering questions from the fighters who flock around him. His technique is simple, it’s the one he applied in the streets of his childhood and adolescence when he fought against the young anti-Semitic Poles. Lure the enemy into an ambush, drive them into a corner, the back of a courtyard, attack by surprise and give them a pounding. Like street kids—but that’s what we are, living and dying on the street!—we stay on the move, mobile, unpredictable, and launch surprise attacks left and right, catching them unawares and making them panic. When he was little, did Mordechai know he was already preparing for this struggle, learning to fight this battle, that he had already started this revolt?

The Nazis are scared, they hide, they hug the walls. The arrogant masters of the cruel world don’t dare show their faces or enter the buildings where we hide. They shout at us to come out, but we don’t. They tell us to give ourselves up, but we don’t.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.