By Aish.com—
During the Nazi occupation of the Warsaw Ghetto, despite the hunger, typhus and dysentery, the Jews did their best to celebrate Passover.
But Passover of 1943 was different.
The Nazis started deporting Jews to Treblinka in January, 1943.
The final liquidation of the ghetto was scheduled for the night of Passover.
On April 18th, the eve of Passover, Germans soldiers were ready to empty the ghetto.
Jewish resistance fighters were stationed on rooftops…
While below the last remaining Jews of Warsaw held a Seder, expressing their dignity, pride and hope.
Throughout the night, despite the increasing sounds of enemy fire, many resistance fighters attended the Seder of Rabbi Meisels…
engrossed in the retelling of the Jewish people’s redemption from Egypt.
“The Rabbi’s reading was punctuated by explosions and the rattling of machine-guns; the faces of the family around the table were lit by the red light from the burning buildings nearby.” Tuvia Borzykowsk,i 29 years old at the time
Itzchak Milchberg sat in his uncle’s bunker that night, crammed with 60 people, with the sound of shooting surrounded them.
Itzchak’s uncle whispered in his ear:
“You may die, but if you die, you’ll die as a Jew. If we live, we live as Jews.”
“If you live, you’ll tell your children and grandchildren about this.”
Itzhak remembers that his uncle had matzah at the seder but no bitter herbs.
“There was plenty of bitterness already.”
A large SS unit attempted to deport the remaining Jews to their deaths, but they encountered fierce fighting from the Jewish resistance.
The Warsaw ghetto uprising will be remembered as the greatest physical resistance during the Holocaust.
Spiritually, the Seder that took place below its charred streets that night can continue to inspire generations of Jews
who refused to be broken even at the darkest of times.