Białystok Ghetto uprising
Insurrection in the Jewish Białystok Ghetto / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Białystok Ghetto uprising was an insurrection in the Jewish Białystok Ghetto against the Nazi German occupation authorities during World War II. The uprising was launched on the night of August 16, 1943 and was the second-largest ghetto uprising organized in Nazi-occupied Poland after the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of April–May 1943.[2] It was led by the Anti-Fascist Military Organisation (Antyfaszystowska Organizacja Bojowa), a branch of the Warsaw Anti-Fascist Bloc.[3]
Białystok Ghetto uprising | |||||||
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Part of World War II and the Holocaust | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Odilo Globocnik | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
300 to 500 | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
9 Germans wounded[1] | 11,200 Deported to KZ camps | ||||||
Several dozen to a few hundred reported to have escaped the ghetto to join partisans |
The revolt began upon the German announcement of mass deportations from the ghetto. The main objective was to break the German siege and allow the maximum number of Jews to escape into the neighboring Knyszyn (Knyszyński) Forest. A group of about 300 to 500 insurgents armed with 25 rifles and 100 pistols as well as home-made Molotov cocktails for grenades, attacked the overwhelming German force with a great loss of life. Leaders of the uprising committed suicide. Several dozen combatants managed to break through and run into the Knyszyn Forest where they joined other guerrilla groups.[2][3]