Mordecai Anielewicz

Profession: Leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Nationality:

Biography: Mordecai Anielewicz is best known for leading the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising against the Nazis in 1943. His sacrifice made him a symbol of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust.

Anielewicz was born in 1919 in Wyszków, Poland, and grew up in Warsaw. He was involved in Jewish youth movements from a young age, first with Betar and later with Hashomer Hatzair.

When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Anielewicz fled to the Soviet-controlled city of Wilno, where he tried to organize a resistance. He was caught and jailed by the Soviets while attempting to cross into Romania to reach Palestine. Released in 1940, he returned to Warsaw with his girlfriend, Mira Fuchrer.

In the Warsaw Ghetto, Anielewicz organized defensive groups and an underground newspaper. He made contact with the Polish Home Army and smuggled weapons into the ghetto. In January of 1943, he led the first armed resistance against the Germans during a deportation.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began on April 19, 1943. Under Anielewicz's leadership, the Jewish fighters held off the Germans for nearly a month using guerrilla tactics. In May of 1943 the Germans discovered the command bunker at 18 Miła Street. Anielewicz, his girlfriend, and his advisors are believed to have died there but his body was never found.

After his death, Anielewicz was posthumously awarded the Cross of Valour by the Polish government-in-exile and the Cross of Grunwald by the Polish People's Army. In Israel, a kibbutz and streets in many cities bear his name.

Born: May 8, 1919
Birthplace: Wyszków, Poland

Generation: Greatest Generation
Chinese Zodiac: Goat/Sheep
Star Sign: Taurus

Died: May 8, 1943 (aged 24)
Cause of Death: Suspected to have committed suicide rather than surrender to Nazi troops that had surrounded his command bunker at 18 Miła Street