but Kazik was adamant they had to leave immediately. Zivia relented for fear of putting more people in danger, and the truck sped off. Once they reached a safehouse, they cleaned themselves up as best as they could and dispersed: they would have to live as best they could in hiding. There were many more acts of rebellion throughout Poland in the ghettos: women had been bringing in weapons, information, and fake identifying documents to help as many Jews as they could. Nazis were killed, and there were attempts to stop many of the Aktions throughout the ghettos. However, starvation and disease had taken a great toll on Jewish morale, it was hard to find people to trust. Smugglers often betrayed the Jews to the Nazis and their collaborators. It was only until the Russians and European Allied forces came to liberate Poland that the Jews were freed from the tyranny and suffering they had spent years enduring. Emaciated Jews in death camps cried with their liberators once they both realized what was happening when they saw each other: only 300,000 Polish Jews had survived, a mere 10% of the pre-war population. The Jewish people had fought bravely to live, but the effects of the Holocaust would always be felt through their lingering fear and loneliness— and the pain of those they lost.
(above) Kazik leads Zivia’s group through the sewage canals; the air was stagnant and filled with methane, and the sludge they waded through worsened the fatigue they had been forced to endure for years.
Jewish Sisters
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