Warsaw ghetto uprising remembered at City Hall with flag-raising ceremony

Veer Mudambi, Worcester Telegram & Gazette
·2 min read

WORCESTER — City officials and residents gathered at City Hall Friday for the flag-raising commemorating the 1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising.

People gather at City Hall Friday to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day and to raise a flag for the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
People gather at City Hall Friday to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day and to raise a flag for the Warsaw ghetto uprising.

“To have the flag of the Warsaw ghetto uprising flying above Worcester City Hall is an important reminder of the inspirational story of the fighters who fought both in the uprising and the ultimate battle to defeat Nazism,” said Steven Schimmel, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Central Massachusetts, when speaking with the T&G.

The Warsaw ghetto uprising was an act of resistance by the Jewish population in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II in an effort to stop transportation of their people to the extermination camps in Majdanek and Treblinka.

“The myth is that Jews went to their slaughter like sheep and that’s not true. In many places, people fought back,” said City Councilor-at-Large Morris Bergman, who spoke at the event. “This day is not necessarily to mourn those who died, although it’s part of it, it’s also to celebrate those who fought back through the uprisings like at the Warsaw ghetto.”

Schimmel reminded attendees that antisemitism was far from a thing of the past, referring to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on southern Israel. The attack had a reported death toll of 1,269, with another 240 people taken as hostages, making it the worst instance of antisemitism since World War II and against the state of Israel since its formation.

"Violence and murderous attacks against Jews were on the rise long before Oct. 7," said Mary Jane Rein, executive director of Clark University's Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. She called for the Jewish community to unite, as the fighters from the Warsaw uprising did.

Guest speaker Mary Jane Rein, executive director of the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University, looks up at the flag as people gather at City Hall Friday to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day and to raise a flag for the Warsaw ghetto uprising.
Guest speaker Mary Jane Rein, executive director of the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University, looks up at the flag as people gather at City Hall Friday to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day and to raise a flag for the Warsaw ghetto uprising.

"In the face of a genocidal regime seeking their annihilation, they raised a flag and fought back. We must do the same in our own way. Learn the facts about history, respond to indifference with passion, correct lies, and demand the return of hostages," she said. "And remember, always remember, the victims of the Nazis and Oct. 7."

"It's important that when we say never forget, that we never forget, and part of that is showing up and listening to the voices of those who experienced the Holocaust and their families," said state Sen. Robyn Kennedy, D-Worcester.

Saturday was Holocaust Remembrance Day, and local museums will be showing exhibitions to raise awareness. The American Heritage Museum in Hudson unveiled a restored German rail car on Jan. 19 as the first phase of its permanent Holocaust exhibition. "It's great to see that regionally we have these resources, so all people, especially students, can learn from this," said Schimmel.

The traveling Auschwitz exhibit will be opening in Boston on March 15, and a group from the Jewish Federation of Central Massachusetts will be attending.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising remembered at Worcester City Hall