The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising - Postal stamps and FDC (First Day Cover).

The philatelist wrote: "The yellow, daffodil Star of David cheers up and gives hope". Caught by Germans, Ghetto fighters have been marked by Polish Post with yellow stars and do not seem to be happier by Star of David, they were just humiliated!

Thanks to my intervention, Polish Post removed the signs used to humiliate, and isolate Jews from the photo of woman fighters. 

The yellow color and the yellow star of David seems to appear on the Polish stamps year 1988. 19 years after 1969 emigration. 

 
To cheer up?
Someone wrote on internet: "With the eyes of the "old" philatelist, I look at the new collection of anniversary stamps and observed with hope the radical rejection of martyrdom design, heavy colors and serious typography. The subject matter, is obviously dramatic, difficult, and yet it possible to overcame it. The yellow, daffodil Star of David cheers up and gives hope".

It is likely that we have to forget the martyrdom and concentrate on daffodil without any real connection beside the fake story about one of the fighters that survived and his story that he was receiving.

We have to remember that the Nazis implemented the yellow star as a means to publicly identify, humiliate, and isolate Jews. In reality, the Jews were excluded from the society. Several laws concerning Jews were approved by Nazis. Jews throughout Nazi-occupied Europe were forced to wear Yellow Star badge. This public identification and stigmatization preceded the mass deportations of Jews to ghettos and killing sites. Yellow colour was used for hudred sof year to mark the Jews as a badge or yellow hats (in Iatly): Also in Sweden a yellow ribbon was suggested by City council when Jews were allowed to legally stay in Sweden. yellow badge, which meant they were excluded from society..

However, in the Warsaw ghetto, Jews wore a white armband with a blue Star of David on their left arm. In some ghettos, even babies in prams had to wear the armbands or stars. Jewish shops were also marked with the Star of David.

The star was intended not only to humiliate Jews and to mark them out for segregation and discrimination. The David Star marking made it easier to identify Jews for deportation to death camps.

Okiem „starego” filatelisty przyglądam się na nowej kolekcji rocznicowych znaczków i z nadzieją obserwuję radykalne odrzucenie martyrologicznego designu, ciężkiej kolorystyki i poważnej typografii. Tematyka, wiadomo dramatyczna, trudna a jednak można. Żółta, żonkilowa Gwiazda Dawida² rozwesela i daje nadzieje.

23 kwietnia 1943 roku, w czasie walk w warszawskim getcie, Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa wydała odezwę do Polaków

23 kwietnia 1943 roku, w czasie walk w warszawskim getcie, Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa wydała odezwę do Polaków.

23 kwietnia 1943 roku, w czasie walk w warszawskim getcie, Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa wydała odezwę do Polaków.

Polacy! Obywatele! Żołnierze Wolności!

Wśród huku armat, z których armia niemiecka wali do naszych domów, do mieszkań, do naszych matek, dzieci i żon;
Wśród terkotu karabinów maszynowych, które zdobywamy w walce na tchórzliwych żandarmach i SS-owcach; Wśród dymu pożarów i kurzu krwi mordowanego ghetta Warszawy – my, więźniowie ghetta – ślemy Wam bratnie, serdeczne pozdrowienia.
Wiemy, że w serdecznym bólu i łzach współczucia, że z podziwem i trwogą o wynik tej walki przyglądacie się wojnie, jaką od wielu dni toczymy z okrutnym okupantem.
Lecz wiedzcie, że każdy próg ghetta jak dotychczas, tak i nadal będzie twierdzą; że może wszyscy zginiemy w walce, lecz nie poddamy się; że dyszymy jak i Wy, żądzą odwetu i kary za wszystkie zbrodnie wspólnego wroga.
Toczy się walka o Waszą i naszą Wolność!
O Wasz i nasz – ludzki, społeczny, narodowy – honor i godność.
Pomścimy zbrodnie Oświęcimia, Treblinki, Bełżca, Majdanka!
Niech żyje braterstwo broni i krwi walczącej Polski!
Niech żyje Wolność!
Śmierć katom i oprawcom!
Niech żyje walka na śmierć i życie z okupantem!

 
Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa

Polish selectivity among the Heros of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprise

 

Selectivity in Poland.
"They" were trying for years to forget the Ghetto Uprise leader Anielewicz and invented a new one.
This year they are trying to forget another hero Cywia (Zivia) Lubetkin.
Why?
Both Mordechaj Anielewicz and Cywia (Zivia) Lubetkin wanted to build their future in Israel.
Actually Cywia survived, moved to Israel and her granddaughter Roni Zuckerman, the first female F-16 jet fighter pilot for the Israeli Air Force, received her wings in 2001.

Already during the war and also after WWII the influence and the importance of the Żydowski Związek Wojskowy - ŻZW in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprise was downgraded. Partly due to the fact that there were almost no survivors from ŻZW. ŻOB and ŻZW fighters were approx. 1200 - 1300 (my estimation). If so the number of Bund fighters will be below 8-9%. Now in Poland one is trying to force the false idea that Bund was the leader of the Uprise and not the Zionist-groups and ŻZW.

Today dr. Dreifuss from Israel and dr. Stola from Poland are going to discuss this particular problem. Therefore, I wrote a open letter to dr. Dreifuss, see below.

Dear Dr. Dreifuss,

I saw that You are going to discuss with dr. Stola "the second battle" in Warsaw Ghetto on another forum.

As You already know, during the Summer 1943 Bund was ascribing to themselves the predominant, almost an exclusive role in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprise.

In the name of historical truth You should correct this false legend and undeserved merit. The battles in the Ghetto of Warsaw, like those in the other ghettos and concentration camps, were initiated, organised and conducted by zionist organisations like "Hechalutz”, "Dror”, "Freiheit”, '"Hehalutz Hazair”, "Hashomer Hazair”, "Poale Zion-Z.S." and "Left Poale Zion". These organisations took the initiative to form Anti-fascist block in May 1942 and took the leading part in the battles in January 1943 and in April 1943. They also supplied the largest number of fighting groups and the fighters. They also offered the greatest sacrifice of blood. There were 22 fighting units in the Uprise of them Bund had just 4.

Another false legend and undeserved merit concerns Marek Edelman. After the last big group of Jews left Poland in 1968-1969, he was created as a leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprise. At the same time all the real leaders of the Ghetto Uprise were "actively forgotten"!

Historian, Dr. Stola, during his time at Museum Polin, actively supported the false Bund story. It would be meaningful if You could ask him about it.

Roman Romuald Wasserman Wroblewski, Ph.D.

Chairman Swedish Holocaust Memorial Association.

Alexander Lazer

Wiem że wielu moich drogich przyjaciół popiera symbolizm żonkili i w dobrej woli, ale dla mnie to jest w pewnym stopniu jak zgrzyt gwoździa po szkle. Żółty kolor nigdy nie był symbolem Żydów - był narzucony przez ich oprawców. Kwiaty nie są w tradycji żydowskiej ofiarowane w żałobie lub na grobach. Dlaczego nie używać historycznie tradycyjnych symboli żydowskich tak jak tarcza Dawida ("gwiazda Dawida") lub menora? Rozumiem że żonkil jest bardziej dyskretny chodząc po ulicy i bliższy tradycji otaczającej większości - ale jaka jest cena tego kompromisu jeśli chodzi o dumę (nie zwycięstwo) o którą powstańcy walczyli w tej drugiej (lub kolejnej) Masadzie - getcie Warszawskim?