The Three Tragic Heroes of the Vilnius Ghetto: Witenberg, Sheinbaum, Gens

Book Description
Since the Middle Ages, Vilnius, Lithuania, has been a main center of Jewish cultural, religious, social and political activity. At one time, half of the population was Jewish, but everything changed during the Holocaust: the Jewish community was destroyed by the Nazis and their collaborators--but some refused to surrender without a fight. Witenberg and Sheinbaum were the leaders of the Jewish underground resistance in Vilnius; the Germans appointed Gens as Jewish Head of the ghetto. Each of them had the same objectives: personal and communal survival--yet all three perished. This book compares the * different approach of each man to the issues of resistance and survival * illuminates the specific problems of Jewish resistance * considers the larger dilemma of survival during the Nazi era


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Vilnius (Vilna, Wilno), the capital of Lithuania, has been one of the main centres of jewish cultural, religious, social and political activity of the Diaspora since the middle ages. At one time, one half of the city inhabitants were Jewish. Everything changed during the Holocaust. The Jewish community was destroyed by the Nazis and their collaborators. But there were those who refused to surrender without a fight. Witenberg and Sheinbaum were the leaders of the Jewish underground resistance organizations in the Vilnius ghetto. Gens was the Jewish Head of the ghetto, appointed to this position by the German authorities. Each person had the same objective -- personal and communal survival. All three perished during the destruction of the Jewish ghetto. These three figures constitute the Three Tragic Heroes of the Vilnius Ghetto. This book compares the different approaches to the issues of resistance and survival and illuminates the specific problems of Jewish resistance and also the larger dilemma of survival during the Nazi era.


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