Zivia Lubetkin ( pl, Cywia Lubetkin, , he, צביה לובטקין, nom de guerre: Celina; 9 November 1914 – 11 July 1978) was one of the leaders of the

Jewish underground The Jewish Underground ( he, המחתרת היהודית ''HaMakhteret HaYehudit''), or in abbreviated form, simply ''makhteret'',David S. New''Holy War: The Rise of Militant Christian, Jewish and Islamic Fundamentalism,''McFarland, 2001, p. 143. w ...

in Nazi-occupied

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

and the only woman on the High Command of the resistance group

Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa The Jewish Combat Organization ( pl, Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa, ŻOB; yi, ''Yidishe Kamf Organizatsie''; often translated to English as the Jewish Fighting Organization) was a World War II resistance movement in occupied Poland, which wa ...

(ŻOB). She survived the Holocaust in German-occupied Poland and immigrated to

Mandate Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...

in 1946, at the age of 32.

Biography

Pre-World War II

Zivia Lubetkin was born in Byteń in the

Grodno Governorate The Grodno Governorate, (russian: Гро́дненская губе́рнiя, translit=Grodnenskaya guberniya, pl, Gubernia grodzieńska, be, Гродзенская губерня, translit=Hrodzenskaya gubernya, lt, Gardino gubernija, u ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(present-day

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

). She joined the Labor Zionist Movement at an early age. During her school years, Lubetkin was educated in Hebrew by private tutors. In her late teens she joined the

Zionist youth movement A Zionist youth movement ( he, תנועות הנוער היהודיות הציוניות ''tnuot hanoar hayehudiot hatsioniot'') is an organization formed for Jewish children and adolescents for educational, social, and ideological development, i ...

Dror, and in 1938 became a member of its Executive Council. After

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and later the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

invaded Poland in September 1939 she made a perilous journey from the Soviet occupied part of the country to

to join the underground there. Also in 1939, she attended the twenty-first

Zionist Congress The Zionist Congress was established in 1897 by Theodor Herzl as the supreme organ of the Zionist Organization (ZO) and its legislative authority. In 1960 the names were changed to World Zionist Congress ( he, הקונגרס הציוני העו ...

as a delegate of the Eretz Israel Labor bloc.

World War II

In 1942, Lubetkin helped found the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

Zionist Anti-Fascist Bloc. This would be the first resistance organization in the Warsaw Ghetto to confront the German forces in combat. She also, as one of the founders of the ŻOB, served on the Warsaw Jewish community's political council, the Jewish National Committee (Żydowski Komitet Narodowy; ŻKN), and also served on the Coordinating Committee, an umbrella organization comprising the ŻKN and the non-Zionist General Jewish Labour Bund (Bund), that sponsored the ŻOB. During her years of underground activities, the name ''"Cywia"'' became the code word for Poland in letters sent by various resistance groups both within and outside of the

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...

. She was one of the leaders of the

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising; pl, powstanie w getcie warszawskim; german: link=no, Aufstand im Warschauer Ghetto was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany' ...

and one of only 34 fighters to survive the war. After leading her group of surviving fighters through the sewers of Warsaw with the aid of Simcha'' "Kazik"'' Rotem in the final days of the ghetto uprising (on 10 May 1943) she continued her resistance activities in the rest of Warsaw outside the ghetto. She took part in the Polish

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

in 1944, fought in the units of the

Armia Ludowa People's Army ( Polish: ''Armia Ludowa'' , abbriv.: AL) was a communist Soviet-backed partisan force set up by the communist Polish Workers' Party ('PR) during World War II. It was created on the order of the Polish State National Council on 1 ...

. Though the Jewish forces would be devastated by the Germans, Lubetkin and several other survivors would survive by taking refuge in a hospital that was willing to hide them. On 1 March 1945 she attempted to immigrate to Palestine with partisan leader

Abba Kovner Abba Kovner ( he, אבא קובנר; 14 March 1918 – 25 September 1987) was a Polish Israeli poet, writer and partisan leader. In the Vilna Ghetto, his manifesto was the first time that a target of the Holocaust identified the German plan to ...

. This move would be unsuccessful as the only available route was blocked, causing Lubetkin to return to Warsaw. Lubetkin was issued a

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

an passport by the Ładoś Group.

Postwar life

Following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Lubetkin was active in the Holocaust survivors community in Europe, and helped organize the ''

Bricha Bricha ( he, בריחה, translit. ''Briẖa'', "escape" or "flight"), also called the Bericha Movement, was the underground organized effort that helped Jewish Holocaust survivors escape post– World War II Europe to the British Mandate ...

'', an organization staffed by operatives who helped Eastern and Central European Jews cross borders en route to

by illegal immigration channels. She herself immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1946. She married

Yitzhak Zuckerman Yitzhak Zuckerman ( pl, Icchak Cukierman; he, יצחק צוקרמן; 13 December 1915 – 17 June 1981), also known by his nom de guerre "Antek", was one of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943 against Nazi Germany during World Wa ...

, the ŻOB commander, and they, along with other surviving ghetto fighters and partisans founded Kibbutz Lohamei HaGeta'ot and the Ghetto Fighters' House museum located on its grounds. In 1961, she testified at the trial of captured Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. Her two children, Shimon (b. 1947) and Yael (b. 1949), were born in Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetta’ot, where she lived for the remainder of her life and died on 11 July 1978. Her granddaughter, Roni Zuckerman, became the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defens ...

's first female fighter pilot in 2001.

Writings

* Lubetkin, Ziviah. (sic) ''Die letzten Tage des Warschauer Gettos''. pp. 47, illus. Berlin: VVN-Verlag, 1949 (from:

Commentary (magazine) ''Commentary'' is a monthly American magazine on religion, Judaism, and politics, as well as social and cultural issues. Founded by the American Jewish Committee in 1945 under Elliot E. Cohen, editor from 1945 to 1959, ''Commentary'' magazine dev ...

, New York). Also in: ''Neue Auslese.'' ed. Alliierter Informationsdienst, Berlin, no. 1, 1948, pp. 1–13 * Lubetkin, Zivia. ''Aharonim `al ha-homah''. (Ein Harod, 1946/47) * Lubetkin, Zivia.
Bi-yemei kilayon va-mered
' (In the Days of Destruction and Revolt). Pp. 127. Tel Aviv: HaKibbutz HaMeuchad, 1953. ** -------------
In the days of destruction and revolt
' translated from Hebrew by Ishai Tubbin; revised by Yehiel Yanay; biographical index by Yitzhak Zuckerman; biographical index translated by Debby Garber. Pp. 338, illus. Tel Aviv: ''Hakibbutz Hameuchad'' Pub. House: ''Am Oved'' Pub. House, 1981

Notes

References

Gutman, Israel Israel Gutman ( he, ישראל גוטמן; 20 May 1923 – 1 October 2013) was a Polish-born Israeli historian and a survivor of the Holocaust. Biography Israel (Yisrael) Gutman was born in Warsaw, Second Polish Republic. After participati ...

, Zivia Lubetkin, in the ''

Encyclopedia of the Holocaust The ''Encyclopedia of the Holocaust'' (1990) has been called "the most recognized reference book on the Holocaust". It was published in an English-language translated edition by Macmillan in tandem with the Hebrew language original edition pu ...

'', New York: Macmillan (1990), vol.3, pp. 914–915
Transcript: Zivia Lubetkin's testimony at the war crimes trial of Adolf Eichmann
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lubetkin, Zivia 1914 births 1976 deaths People from Ivatsevichy District People from Slonimsky Uyezd Belarusian Jews Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Jews in Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Polish women in World War II resistance Polish socialists Jewish socialists Polish Zionists Warsaw Uprising insurgents Kibbutzniks Polish female soldiers Jewish Combat Organization members Ładoś List Jewish women writers Labor Zionists Warsaw Ghetto Uprising insurgents