Resistance through Documentation

Resistance to the Nazi regime is a recurring topic when speaking about World War II and the Shoah. The question of whether the Jewish people fought back has appeared several times throughout this course. The answer to this question is yes, the Jewish people resisted. They were not docile lambs led to slaughter. Jewish resistance is evident not only in the texts I’ve read, but also through Jewish people’s actions to their situation under the Nazi regime.

List of Prisoners Found in KL Auschwitz.

This list was found after the liberation of KL Auschwitz. It holds the names and numbers of seven prisoners, and serves as a reminder that they existed. As mentioned in The Holocaust Kingdom, existence in itself was resistance. The Nazis wanted to exterminate the entire Jewish population. By leaving their name behind, the Jewish people were fighting this goal.

There are many different types of resistance that are significant. Besides the obvious opposition through fighting with weapons, the is also forming groups, maintaining culture and religious practices, and the recording of the harsh experiences one suffered. Whether Jewish, another victimized group of people, or an ally, it was so important to preserve the atrocities occurred in the Holocaust.

Alexander Donat also practices this form of resistance in The Holocaust Kingdom. Donat felt a responsibility to survive not only for his family, but also to share all he endured. He kept a detailed account in his notebook of the events as they unfolded. His first-person accounts were crucial to the cultivation of his memoir.

Resistance though the preservation of information was also a prominent theme in The Portraitist. This documentary sheds light on the life of Wilhelm Brasse. A photographer by trade, Brasse was selected to photograph the prisoners in Auschwitz I when he was taken and sent there himself. His photos served as evidence for the sheer amount of people held in the camp as well as the cruel experiences taking place When the Nazis knew they would lose, they began to destroy all proof of the horrors conducted at their hands. Although ordered to destroy the photo documentation, Brasse ensured the preservation of all he had recorded through his camera’s eye. The Nazis could not succeed in covering up their injustices.

The Jewish people were in a threatening situation under the Nazi regime, making it difficult for a mass uprising to physically counterattack their oppressors. These men are three examples of many that found their own ways of resisting those persecuting them from their vulnerable positions. The documentation and preservation of the events that comprise the Shoah creates evidence of its horrors.

The list found of prisoners’ names and numbers instilled in me that not all resistance had to be obvious in order to be effective. This discrete form of fighting back maintained valuable evidence that later held the Nazis accountable. Accountability is vital in the reconciliation of a disastrous tragedy such as the Shoah, making the resistances seen by the prisoners, Donat, and Brasse a key factor in overthrowing the Nazi regime.