Jewish Combat Organization - Offshoot of Jewish Youth Groups

Offshoot of Jewish Youth Groups

The seeds of the ŻOB were planted on 22 July 1942, when the German Nazis under SS General Jurgen Stroop began the Gross Aktion Warschau sealing the fate of the Jews confined in the Warsaw Ghetto. "All Jewish persons living in Warsaw, regardless of age and gender, be resettled in the East." Thus began massive "deportations" of about 254,000 Jews, all of whom were sent to the Treblinka extermination camp. The Gross Aktion lasted until 12 September 1942. Overall it reduced the once thriving Warsaw Jewish community of some 400,000 to a mere 55,000 to 60,000 inhabitants.

The youth groups that were instrumental in forming the ŻOB had anticipated German intentions to annihilate Warsaw Jewry and began to shift from an educational and cultural focus to self-defense and eventual armed struggle.

Unlike the older generation, the youth groups took these reports seriously and had no illusions about the true intentions of the Germans. A document published three months before the start of the deportations by Hashomer Hatzair declared: "We know that Hitler's system of murder, slaughter and robbery leads steadily to a dead end and the destruction of the Jews."

A number of the left Zionist youth groups, such as Hashomer Hatzair and Dror, proposed the creation of a self-defense organization at a meeting of Warsaw Jewish leaders in March 1942. The proposal was rejected by the Jewish Labour Bund who believed that a fighting organization would fail without the help of the Polish resistance. Others rejected the notion of armed insurgency saying that there was no evidence of a threat of deportation. Moreover, they argued any armed resistance would provoke the Germans to retaliate against the whole Jewish community.

In November 1942, ŻOB officially became part of and subordinated its activities to the High Command of the Armia Krajowa. In return the AK began providing ŻOB with weapons and training, with the first shipment of guns and ammunition being provided in December 1942.