Yitzhak Wittenberg (Yiddish: איציק װיטנבערג, Hebrew: יצחק ויטנברג; 1907 – 16 July 1943) was a Jewish resistance fighter[1] in Vilnius during World War II. He was a member of the Communist Party.[2] He was the commander of the Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye (FPO), a resistance group in the Vilna Ghetto which was preparing an uprising should the final moments of the ghetto come. When the Germans learned about the existence of a Communist, Wittenberg, in the ghetto, they made a request to the head of the Jewish council, Jacob Gens, that Wittenberg should be surrendered to them.[3] Gens betrayed Wittenberg to the police who arrested him, but he was freed by young FPO fighters.[4] Subsequently, Gens insisted that Wittenberg surrender. Feeling he did not have the support of the ghetto for an uprising and fearing a massacre, he surrendered.[5][6]

Some accounts say that he was later found dead in his prison cell having swallowed poison; others say that his mutilated body was found the next day.[7][8] It has been speculated that Gens slipped the poison to Wittenberg. The Wittenberg affair was discussed in the Eichmann trial.[9] The story of his death is told in the song Yitzhak Wittenberg.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ Bartrop, Paul R.; Dickerman, Michael (2017-09-15). The Holocaust: An Encyclopedia and Document Collection [4 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781440840845.
  2. ^ "United States Holocaust Memorial Museum".
  3. ^ "Yad Vashem".
  4. ^ Asael Lubotzky, Not My Last Journey, Yedioth Ahronoth, 2017, pages 85-86.
  5. ^ Halik, Kochanski (2013). The eagle unbowed : Poland and the Poles in the Second World War. Penguin. ISBN 9781846143588. OCLC 849065604.
  6. ^ "RESISTANCE IN THE VILNA GHETTO". Archived from the original on 2012-08-16. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  7. ^ Lester, David (2005). Suicide and the Holocaust. Nova Publishers. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-59454-427-9.
  8. ^ Hilberg, Raul (1985). The destruction of the European Jews (Student ed.). New York. ISBN 0841909105. OCLC 12421088.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ^ "Eichmann trial - The District Court Sessions". 2011-07-17. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  10. ^ ""Itsik Vitnberg" | Music of the Holocaust".
  11. ^ "How Did Itzik Wittenberg, Hero of the Vilna Ghetto, Die?". 24 April 2017.

External links

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