The Bravest Battle: The Twenty-eight Days Of The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising [Paperback]

Dan Kurzman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 1993

In October 1940 Nazis forced all the Jews in the Polish city of Warsaw to live in the cramped squalor of a small ghetto. Despite the starvation and disease that claimed 50,000 lives per year, the Jews were not dying swiftly enough to suit Heinrich Himmler, who ordered in 1942 that the Warsaw Ghetto be dismantled and the 450,000 inhabitants be deported to the gas chambers at Treblinka. On April 19, 1943, the first day of Passover, two thousand German troops, singing confidently, marched into the ghetto to round up the remnant of remaining Jews. Suddenly, a fifteen-year-old girl tossed a grenade in their midst. Within minutes the German army had been routed. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising had begin.This is the first full-scale, step-by-step account of the climatic twenty-eight-day struggle of the poorly armed Jews against their Nazi exterminators. The Bravest Battle took more than two years to write and involved interviewing more than 500 people, including most of the surviving fighters. This moving history cannot be matched for its authenticity and drama. The Bravest Battle is a testament to the Warsaw Jews, who fought for survival with dignity and courage.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

LJ 's reviewer stated that this was "the first nonfiction attempt at a daily account of one of the most stirring battles in history" ( LJ 10/1/76). Kurzman reconstructs the events through interviews, documents, and diaries to present a firsthand accounting. The popularity of the film Schindler's List will no doubt generate renewed interest in all aspects of the Holocaust. For most libraries.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Dan Kurzman, former foreign correspondent for the Washington Post, is the award-winning author of sixteen highly acclaimed books, including Fatal Voyage and Bravest Battle. He lives in New Jersey.

Product Details

• Paperback: 386 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (August 22, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306805332
• ISBN-13: 978-0306805332
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #546,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awe-Inspiring, January 3, 1998

By 

Matthew D. Smith "msamtitth" (Robbinsdale, MN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Bravest Battle: The Twenty-eight Days Of The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (Paperback)

This historical account of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising during WWII is absolutely astounding. A must-read, even for those who dislike reading about history. More importantly, it describes an amazing series of events that we, as a society, cannot let be forgotten. The sheer heroism and endurance of the ghetto fighters is a testament to the strength of the human spirit under times of duress such as we cannot imagine.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Goyim Review, March 7, 2002

By 

David Grim (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Bravest Battle: The Twenty-eight Days Of The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (Paperback)

Despite my many years of companionship with Jewish friends, and a few stints working at JCC youth camps, my friend's comment was one that I might have made before reading this excellently written and incisive book. Kurzman tells the story of the Jewish resisters in Warsaw during the "Grossaktion"- the final rounding up and extermination of so many Polish Jews. The stories of individual courage, sacrifice, and heroism moved me in a way I could never have foreseen. Yes this book is one-sided (as another reviewer critiqued), but how could it be otherwise? The mercilessness with which the Germans pursued their quarry will never be matched, and an empathy for their motives would almost by necessity ring false. To view the real heroes (who make difficult and sometimes flawed choices along the way that expose them as the humans they are) of this book is to be enlightened about the Jewish history and character that we so rarely have an opportunity to experience through the mainstream media. If you seek an account of the almost impossible ways that people react to extreme oppression and terror, and the incredible resourcefulness that a people are capable of, then you will do well to read this book

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting, March 28, 2004

By 

Mr. Chips (Columbia, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bravest Battle: The Twenty-eight Days Of The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (Paperback)

I was inspired to pick up this book after seeing Polanski's "The Pianist." This book is an overview of the Warsaw Uprising (the first one occurring in the Jewish Ghetto in 1943).

Through what must have been exhaustive interviews with the survivors, many of whom may no longer be alive, Kurzman meticulously provides the details of the inspiring 28-day uprising, but in such a way as to absolutely captivate the reader. There may be biases or omissions of which I am not aware, but there was enough to give me a broad background on the uprising and its context -- and to keep me riveted on the struggle.

One disappointment was the production values of the 1993 Da Capo Press edition, which is a republication of Putnam's 1976 edition. From the look of the type and photos, it appears they may have actually shot the plates for the present edition from a printed copy of the original edition! -- the photos especially are of unforgivably poor quality.

But this doesn't detract from the tale of the uprising, which is told with compassion, and absorbed me totally for the better part of the 2 days it took to finish.