Testimony of the commander of the Jewish Fighting Organization (ZOB), Icchok Cukerman (Antek), regarding preparations for the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and battles against the Germans

Initial preparations for the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; digging trenches and laying mines at the gates of the ghetto; attempts by ZOB fighters to inform the ghetto population that the goal of the ghetto's liquidation was the extermination of all Jews; the ghetto inhabitants' refusal to report to German-designated assembly points; beginning of the uprising's during the night of 17–18 April 1943; encirclement of the ghetto by German, Ukrainian, and Lithuanian forces, including the arrival of 2000 SS men; surprise attack on German forces by ZOB fighters hiding on Nalewki Street, leading to heavy German casualties and their retreat; victories by fighters in battles on Miła and Zamenhoffa Streets, including the destruction of a German tank by ZOB fighters; german casualties: 59 soldiers killed on Zamenhoffa Street by grenade explosions, 100 soldiers killed by a mine explosion at a brush factory, and 28 soldiers in another battle; failed German attempts to persuade Jews to agree to voluntary evacuation; additional victories by fighters in battles on Franciszkańska Street and in the Schulz and Toebens factories; arrival of Globocnik, commander of the German police in Lublin, who ordered the ghetto's destruction by fire; arson in German warehouses and factories as a response; transition by ZOB fighters from offensive to defensive tactics; conducting fierce battles on Nowolipie and Leszno Streets; complete encirclement of the ghetto with artillery and air raids; burning of the entire ghetto area, resulting in the death of thousands by fire, jumping out of windows, or shot by the Germans; discovery of the ZOB bunker and the suicide of the organization’s commander, Mordechai Anielewicz, with other fighters, 08 May 1943; ZOB emissary Symche Ratajzen, who had been sent to meet Icchok Cukerman (Antek) on the Aryan side, returned to the ghetto, 08 May 1943, to organize the rescue of fighters, only to discover that Anielewicz and others had committed suicide; he managed to rescue 80 fighters from the ghetto; groups of fighters led by Josef Farba and Zachariasz Arnsztajn (Zacharja Artstein) continued to fight for several weeks in the ghetto.