Dan Kurzman - The Bravest Battle: The Twenty-eight Days of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

To Stephen and Joel

whose generation, hopefully, will not forget

I am deeply indebted to Florence Knopf for lending her exceptional talent to the refinement of this work. Miss Knopf is an editor with an eye for the smallest literary defect, and her suggestions invariably proved sound and wise. Confronted with a mountain of information that had to be compressed into a book of reasonable length, I might never have completed this task without her help.

Yehiel Kirshbaum skillfully translated sections of scores of books published in Polish, Hebrew, Yiddish, Spanish, and German, and also conducted research for me. Each translation came with enlightening comments and observations, since Yehiel, who was himself trapped in a Warsaw Ghetto bunker when the uprising broke out, saw at first hand what was happening. During the revolt he managed to escape with his parents, who bribed their way to safety.

I am also especially grateful to Miriam Rimer, who interpreted Hebrew for hours at a time during many exhausting interviews; to William Targ, my editor at Putnam's, for his sensitive editorial advice; and to Berenice Hoffman for her valuable counsel.

I wish to express my appreciation as well to Maty Grunberg for her fine translations from Hebrew; to Ulrike Burger, who interpreted for me in Germany; and to Alfred Chlapowski, who interpreted in Poland; to Dr. Joseph Kermish and Shmuel Krakowski, of Yad Vashem, and Yitzhak Zuckerman, Zivia Lubetkin, and Simcha Rotem (Rathajzer), for checking the final manuscript for inaccuracies; to Miriam Novitch, of Beit Lohamei Haghetaot, for helping ne to understand; to Ruth Aley, my agent, for her boundless work on nay behalf; to Frank Kurtz, for copy editing the manuscript with dedication and skill; and to Denise Philip, for typing the manuscript swiftly and virtually without error.

Among those who furnished me background information or in other ways facilitated my research were:

Ora Alcalay-head librarian, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem

Yitzhak Arad-board chairman, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem

Shaul Bar-Schlomo---interpreter, Hebrew

Wladyslaw Bartoszewski-Polish writer

David Bass-librarian, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem

Perla Bauman-librarian, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem

Wieslaw A. Bednarozuk-press secretary, Polish Embassy, Washington, D.C.

Petra Borrock-interpreter, German

Gerhard Buck-archivist, Bibliothek Mr Zeitgeschichte, Stuttgart

Erni Deicher-archivist, Bibliothek fur Zeitgeschichte, Stuttgart

Reinhard Dietrich-judge, Hamburg

Gabriele Franz-archivist, Bibliothek fur Zeitgeschichte, Stuttgart

Elmar Frischeisen-state prosecutor, Ludwigsburg

Marian Fuks-deputy director, Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw

Helge Grabitz-state prosecutor, Hamburg

Erwin Grosse-state prosecutor, Hamburg

Clara Guini-librarian, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem

Werner Haupt-vice-director, Bibliothek fur Zeitgeschichte, Stuttgart

Anton Hock-vice-director, Institut fur Zeitgeschichte, Munich

Zymunt Hoffman-deputy director, Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw

Maurycy Horn-director, Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw

Kazimierz Iranek-Osmecki-Polish writer

Bronya Klibanski-archivist, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem

Andre Klos-press attache, Polish Embassy, Cologne

Christopher Kornornicki-executive editor, Interpress, Warsaw

Andrzej Konopacki-deputy director, Polish Foreign Ministry, Warsaw

M. Kuhlmann-state prosecutor, Hamburg

Tadeusz Kur-Polish journalist

Chaim Lazar-Israeli writer

Yitzhak Len-librarian, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem

M. Liczmanski--official, Polish Foreign Ministry, Warsaw

Czeslaw Lisowski-official, Interpress, Warsaw

Eugene Lubomirski-official, Sikorski Museum, London

Ludwik Lubomirski--official, Radio Free Europe, Munich

Czeslaw Madajczyp-professor, Institut d'Histoire de l'Academie Polonaise des Sciences, Warsaw

James J. Mandros-press attache, U.S. Embassy, Warsaw

Irene Marchewicz-executive editor, Interpress, Warsaw

Leon Penner-lawyer who prosecuted General Jurgen Stroop

Czeslaw Pilichowski-director, Main Commission for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes in Poland, Warsaw

Dr. Ruckerl-chief prosecutor, Central Agency for Prosecution of Crimes Stemming from Nazi Times, Ludwigsburg

losi Rufeisen-interpreter, Hebrew

Ruta Sakowska-researcher, Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw

Karl-Heinz Schaper-librarian, Der Spiegel, Hamburg

Rolf Sichting-state prosecutor, Stuttgart

Franz Stroop-brother of General Jurgen Stroop

Janusz Tazbir-professor, Institut d'Histoire de I'Academie Polonaise des Sciences, Warsaw

Ludwig Tiibbens-nephew of Walther Caspar Tobbens

Vered Wahllen-librarian, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem

Henryk Walenda-editor in chief, Dziennik Lodzki, Lodz

Helena Walewski-wife of Richard Walewski, ZZW fighter

Wolfram Weber-state prosecutor, Ludwigsburg

Simon Wiesenthal-Nazi hunter

Hermann Weiss-archivist, Institut fur Zeitgeschichte, Munich

Christa Wichman-librarian, Wiener Library, London

Eli Zborowski-president, American Federation of Jewish Fighters, Camp Inmates, and Nazi Victims

Anton Zirngibl-official, Institut fur Zeitgeschichte, Munich

Kazimierz Zygulski-Polish professor of sociology

Characters in the drama of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising who kindly agreed to let me interview them include the following (identified by the positions they held at the time):

Gustaw Alef-Balkowiak-People's Guard officer

Marek Arczynski-Polish official of Zegota

Rachel Auerbach-Jewish writer on the Aryan side of Warsaw

Josef Barski-director of CENTOS, Jewish children's institute

Adolf Berman-Jewish leader on the Aryan side of Warsaw

Meir Bieliscki-ghetto resident

Adolf Josef Cedro-ghetto resident

Aharon Chmielnicki (Karmi)-ZOB fighter

Adam Ciolkosz-Polish Socialist Party official

Alphons Czapp-German policeman

Antoni Czarnecki-vicar of All-Saints Church in the ghetto