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| Mordecai Anielewicz when signing the letters or orders was often using two Hebrew letters m and i (reading from the right. It was his the first and the last letters of his Hebrew nickname "Malachi", "Little Angel" (in Polish "Aniołek"). Drawing by Bamba 2018. |
MORDECHAJ ANIELEWICZ'S LAST LETTER TO YITZHAK ZUCKERMAN
April 23, 1943
Shalom, Yitzhak!
I don't know what to write you about. Permit me a few personal moments. I wish to express my own feelings and the feelings of my comrades. What we have lived through here is beyond description. All we know is that what has happened has surpassed our most daring expectations. Twice the Germans fled from the Ghetto. One of our groups held onto its position for 40 minutes; another fighting group for six hours. The mine we laid in the brushmakers' area exploded. Our losses of people are very small. This is also a victory. Yechiel met a hero's death, a soldier killed at his machine gun. I have a feeling that great things are happening, that what we have undertaken is of tremendous significance.
As for the general situation:
Beginning with tonight we are adopting the tactic of partisan warfare. Tonight three fighting units will go out into the combat area.
They will have two tasks: armed reconnaissance and the capture of weapons. Bear in mind that small arms have absolutely no value for us today. We rarely use them. What we are terribly in need of are: grenades, rifles, machine guns, and explosives.
It is impossible to describe the conditions under which the Jews in the Ghetto are living today. Only a few will survive. All others will perish sooner or later. Their fate is sealed. in practically all the bunkers where thousands of Jews are hiding it is impossible to light a candle for the lack of air!
The news that reached us yesterday that the comrades of the P.P.R. [Polska Partia Robotnicza - Polish Workers Party] have attacked the Germans, and the very fine broadcast of radio Świt [*Polish underground radio] about our struggle, which we picked up on our receiving set, gave us much satisfaction. The fact that we are remembered on the other side of the Ghetto wall encourages us in our struggle.
Be well, dear friend. Maybe we will see each other someday. The main thing: the dream of my life was realized. The Jewish Self-Defense in the Warsaw Ghetto became a fact. The armed Jewish struggle and the revenge became a reality. I am a witness to this grand, heroic battle of the Jewish fighters.
Where will rescue come from?
M [Mordecai]
I don't know what to write you about. Permit me a few personal moments. I wish to express my own feelings and the feelings of my comrades. What we have lived through here is beyond description. All we know is that what has happened has surpassed our most daring expectations. Twice the Germans fled from the Ghetto. One of our groups held onto its position for 40 minutes; another fighting group for six hours. The mine we laid in the brushmakers' area exploded. Our losses of people are very small. This is also a victory. Yechiel met a hero's death, a soldier killed at his machine gun. I have a feeling that great things are happening, that what we have undertaken is of tremendous significance.
As for the general situation:
Beginning with tonight we are adopting the tactic of partisan warfare. Tonight three fighting units will go out into the combat area.
They will have two tasks: armed reconnaissance and the capture of weapons. Bear in mind that small arms have absolutely no value for us today. We rarely use them. What we are terribly in need of are: grenades, rifles, machine guns, and explosives.
It is impossible to describe the conditions under which the Jews in the Ghetto are living today. Only a few will survive. All others will perish sooner or later. Their fate is sealed. in practically all the bunkers where thousands of Jews are hiding it is impossible to light a candle for the lack of air!
The news that reached us yesterday that the comrades of the P.P.R. [Polska Partia Robotnicza - Polish Workers Party] have attacked the Germans, and the very fine broadcast of radio Świt [*Polish underground radio] about our struggle, which we picked up on our receiving set, gave us much satisfaction. The fact that we are remembered on the other side of the Ghetto wall encourages us in our struggle.
Be well, dear friend. Maybe we will see each other someday. The main thing: the dream of my life was realized. The Jewish Self-Defense in the Warsaw Ghetto became a fact. The armed Jewish struggle and the revenge became a reality. I am a witness to this grand, heroic battle of the Jewish fighters.
Where will rescue come from?
M [Mordecai]
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| M (Mordecai or Malach) so is the last letter sign by Mordecai Anielewicz, the Commander of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprise that started in April 1943. |
