FB Winners + RESISTANCE Background
Thanks to those who commented on my Facebook author page. For those who are curious, the question I asked was, “I’m still hard at work on THE TRAITOR’S GAME series and other projects, but after that, what would you hope I write next?” The vote tally worked out like this:
That gives me a lot to think about. We also have three winners from the week! They are:
K Camp A Jenkins M Hoskins
Now…about RESISTANCE…
A month ago, I described HERE how I happened to stumble upon the story of the Jewish resistance in Krakow, but now it’s time to tell you more about it. This week, I’ll give you some background.
World War 2 began on September 1, 1939 when the Nazi armies rolled into Poland with a Blitzkrieg, a massive ground and air assault. By September 27, the country surrendered. Germany chose Krakow as the new capital of its conquered territory and immediately began to institute restrictions on the Jewish population.
Part of that was to create a ghetto in the Podgorze district of Krakow where fifteen thousand Jews would be allowed to settle, roughly three families to each apartment. All others had to leave the city.
Many of those who were expelled were teenagers – those who were old enough to take care of themselves but not as old as the adults who needed the few available jobs. On their own for the first time in the countryside, many of these teenagers ended up on a farm near the village of Kopaliny run by their former Jewish Scout leaders, Shimshon and Gusta Draenger.
Soon after, the Podgorze Ghetto was sealed – no Jewish person allowed in or out except for on work duties. That’s when the aktionsbegan – random line-ups of civilians to be targets of demonstrations of the Nazi power, often by firing squads. There were deportations, disappearances, and a rapid spread of hunger and disease, nearly unavoidable in such tight quarters.
From their perspective outside the ghetto, and reports coming in from friends elsewhere in the country, it became obvious that the ghettos were not about isolation, but preparing the race for extermination.
One evening, the Draengers gathered the teenagers together and told them how serious the situation was, then gave them a choice. They could wait where they were, and it was only a matter of time before the Nazis would come for them too.
Or they could fight back.
You already know what they chose.
RESISTANCE will be released on August 28, 2018. Pre-order your copy now!
