Mordechai Anielewicz: Commander of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Youth movement

Anielewicz was active in Hashomer Hatzair and developed political and organizational experience before the ghetto’s destruction.

He returned to Warsaw after the summer 1942 deportations and became commander of the reorganized ŻOB.

ŻOB resisted a renewed deportation in January 1943 while many residents hid.

When German forces entered on April 19, Anielewicz commanded ŻOB forces.

His April 23 letter to Yitzhak Zuckerman describes the first days of combat and the shortage of weapons.

Anielewicz died at the ŻOB command bunker at Miła 18 on May 8; exact individual circumstances remain uncertain.

This page draws on the institutional sources listed below.