Ester (Estusia/Esterka) Wajcblum (1924–1945) was a Jewish resistance fighter in the

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

underground and one of four women hanged in the Auschwitz concentration camp for her role in the ''Sonderkommando'' revolt of October 7, 1944.

Life

Family

Ester was born to Jakub and Rebeka (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Jaglom) Wajcblum in

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

. She had an older sister, Sabina, and a younger sister, Hanka Wajcblum (Anna Heilman).

Warsaw Ghetto

The family, with the exception of Sabina who had married and left Poland, was forced into 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 ...

and in May 1943 were deported to

Majdanek Majdanek (or Lublin) was a Nazi concentration and extermination camp built and operated by the SS on the outskirts of the city of Lublin during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. It had seven gas chambers, two wooden gallows, a ...

where Ester and Hanka's parents were killed.

Auschwitz Uprising

Ester and Hanka were transferred to

Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

in September 1943. Upon arrival, they were assigned to

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

in the Weichsel-Union-Metalwerke (Union Munitions Plant)

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...

room. The sisters joined the resistance while working in the munitions plant. Ester, along with Hanka and fellow prisoners including

Ala Gertner Ala Gertner (March 12, 1912 – January 5, 1945), referred to in other sources as Alla, Alina, Ella, and Ela Gertner, was one of four women hanged in the Auschwitz concentration camp for her role in the ''Sonderkommando'' revolt of October 7, 1944 ...

Regina Safirsztajn Regina Safirsztajn (1915-1945) was a Jewish resistance fighter in the Auschwitz underground and one of four women hanged in the Auschwitz concentration camp for her role in the ''Sonderkommando'' revolt of 7 October 1944. Life Family Regina ...

, and Rose Grunapfel Meth smuggled gunpowder out of the factory and gave it to resistance fighter,

Roza Robota Roza Robota (1921 – 6 January 1945) or Róża Robota in Polish language, Polish, referred to in other sources as Rojza, Rózia or Rosa, was the leader of a group of four women Holocaust resistors hanged in the Auschwitz concentration camp for t ...

. Roza, a prisoner who worked clothing-detail in Birkenau, then gave the gunpowder to the

Sonderkommando ''Sonderkommandos'' (, ''special unit'') were work units made up of German Nazi death camp prisoners. They were composed of prisoners, usually Jews, who were forced, on threat of their own deaths, to aid with the disposal of gas chamber vict ...

, a group of death camp prisoners who were forced to dispose of the bodies of people murdered in the

gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or other animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. Histor ...

in the

crematorium A crematorium or crematory is a venue for the cremation of the dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator (also known as a crematory, retort or cremation chamber), a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a crematorium can also be ...

s. On October 7, 1944, the Sonderkommandos used the gunpowder to blow up Crematorium IV in

Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. Ala, Roza, Ester, and Regina were detained and tortured for their role in the plot. The women were publicly hanged in Birkenau on January 5, 1945. Hanka survived and was transferred to a sub-camp of Ravensbrück called Neustadt Glewe. The camp was liberated in May 1945 when Hanka was sixteen years old.

References

External links

Oral history interview with Anna (Hanka) Wajcblum Heilman
member of the resistance, revolt participant, and Holocaust survivor {{DEFAULTSORT:Wajcblum, Ester Polish people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp Polish people of World War II Polish women in World War II resistance People from Warsaw 1920s births 1945 deaths Warsaw Ghetto inmates Jewish resistance members during the Holocaust Polish Jews who died in the Holocaust People executed by Nazi Germany by hanging Polish torture victims Polish people executed in Nazi concentration camps Jewish women