The Bravest Battle: The Twenty-eight Days Of The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The young man's thin..." (more)
Key Phrases: sewer employees, hospital bunker, other manholes, Home Army, Central Ghetto, Productive Ghetto (more...)

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.

Product Description

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.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 386 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (August 21, 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: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #135,817 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #67 in

  Books > History > Europe > Poland

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 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 (REAL NAME)

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.

23 of 25 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 (REAL NAME)

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 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Up In Arms, August 28, 2000

By	CasiFamoso (NY United States) - See all my reviews

This is a marvelous account of the proudest moment in Jewish history. Kurzman's meticulous research and attention to detail add rich layers of atmosphere to his re-telling of the Uprising. Hundreds of participants are named, and the day-to-day account of the fighting is positively harrowing. The actions of Jewish fighters in the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto rival those of any other armed uprising in the history of the world in terms of pure heroics in the face of utter destruction. Anyone who reads Kurzman's "Bravest Battle" is likely to agree.