Jewish Combat Organisation

Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa ייִדישע קאַמף אָרגאַניזאַציע
Jewish Combat Organization
Active	28 July 1942
Country	Nazi occupied Poland
Engagements	World War II Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Commanders
Notable commanders	Mordechai Anielewicz

The Jewish Combat Organization (Polish: Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa, ŻOB; Yiddish: ייִדישע קאַמף אָרגאַניזאַציע‎ Yidishe Kamf Organizatsie ; often translated to English as the Jewish Fighting Organization) was a World War II resistance movement in occupied Poland, which was instrumental in engineering the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. ŻOB took part in a number of other resistance activities as well.

The seeds of the ŻOB were planted on 22 July 1942, when the German Nazis under SS General Jurgen Stroop began the Gross Aktion Warschau sealing the fate of the Jews confined in the Warsaw Ghetto: "All Jewish persons living in Warsaw, regardless of age and gender, [would] be resettled in the East." Thus began massive "deportations" of about 254,000 Jews, all of whom were sent to the Treblinka extermination camp. The Gross Aktion lasted until 12 September 1942. Overall it reduced the once thriving Warsaw Jewish community of some 400,000 to a mere 55,000 to 60,000 inhabitants.

The youth groups that were instrumental in forming the ŻOB had anticipated German intentions to annihilate Warsaw Jewry and began to shift from an educational and cultural focus to self-defense and eventual armed struggle.

Unlike the older generation, the youth groups took these reports seriously and had no illusions about the true intentions of the Germans. A document published three months before the start of the deportations by Hashomer Hatzair declared: "We know that Hitler's system of murder, slaughter and robbery leads steadily to a dead end and the destruction of the Jews."

...
Wikipedia