My Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Dream

During World War 2, in 1943, in their "Final Solution," the Nazis ordered the many thousands of Jews held captive in the Warsaw Ghetto to be sent to Treblinka for execution.

In the biggest act of Jewish resistance in World War 2, from April 19th to May 16th, the Jews fought back with weapons apparently secreted in.

As a result, the German commander ordered the burning of the Ghetto, block by block, setting aflame or suffocating its victims.

In the end, 13,000 Jewish men, woman and children were killed, as were about 300 German troops. The Jewish survivors were sent to Treblinka.

I'm a strong believer in Gandhi's practice of "peaceful, non-violent, non-cooperation." In my dream of July 4th, 2016, I was in the Warsaw Ghetto as the uprising was to begin and was asked what I would do.

"If you practice peaceful, non-violent, non-cooperation, you will be helping the Nazis annihilate the Jewish people in the Warsaw Ghetto," is what I recall the voice saying

I was told that because of my unwillingness to kill, Jewish men, women and children would be killed by the German troops.

Therefore, my peaceful, non-violent, non-cooperation was really being applied against the Jewish people desperately fighting for their lives.

While wrestling with this dilemma, I awoke with it unresolved, and I continue to ask myself what I would do?

I have no definitive answer, but here some of my thoughts:

The Warsaw Ghetto was created by the Nazis beginning in 1939, and for more than three years leading to The Final Solution, those Jewish men, women and children lived Hellish lives.

They were packed tightly together, had too little food, minimal healthcare and some were shot on the spot.

They froze in winter, could be overwhelmed by the heat in summer, and helplessly watched loved ones die from these terrible conditions.

As intended, the result was many of them losing hope and dying terrible deaths.

If I had been there, for years, I too would have lived this Hellish life and would have been influenced by all that I saw and felt.

Now, with The Final Solution about to take place, would I kill German soldiers in response.

I don't know. But I surely would have helped to protect those Jews I could in any way possible, short of committing murder.

But what if I saw Jews about to be executed and heard their pleas? Would I do nothing? If I had access to a gun, would I try to stop it by shooting to kill? If I could find no other course, probably yes.

What if among those intended victims were my wife and/or my children? Would I shoot to kill if necessary? Probably yes.

What if the victim was a captured German soldier about to be killed by Jewish people? Would I try to stop it? Depending upon the circumstances, probably yes.

Would I surrender my own life, not to kill? Probably yes.

In all this madness, I have no easy answers, but would act as my higher being would guide me.

Dick