We found their corpses with clenched fists, with rolled up sleeves, still grasping pliers to cut the ghetto fences. These were our sons and daughters, and they died for our honor. Near the garbage dump where we found the sev- enty ghetto heroes, we came upon a second pit in which lay the remains of the women and infants the Nazis removed from the hospital and shot. One woman was killed while she was in labor. One half of the child had already emerged and the second half was still inside the birth canal. Later on, Polish pathologists established that a number of these women and children had been buried alive. We interred them in one mass grave together with the ghetto heroes. Furthermore, we erected a monu- ment over their grave that pays tribute to their heroism and to their eternal sacredness. Alas, their grave and monument remain unvisited, for there are no more Jews to be found in Bialystok. Moreover, the white granite stone with the golden menorah engraved on it also stands alone, on which are inscribed the following words: “These 60,000 Jews of Bialystok, the 200,000 Jews of its provinces, the nationalistic city, the mother city of Israel, the citadel of Jewish culture, a city famed for its national, religious, social, economic and health care institutions, the city with its network of schools, talmud torahs and yeshivas, the Sholem Aleichem library, Jew- ish newspapers and theaters, the city of the aggressive Jewish proletariat, prominent writers, scientists and entertainers. Bialystok, with its courageous ghetto uprising against the Hitler murderers, followed the example of Jewish heroism throughout its generations of existence. May the horrible murders forever remain a stain on the German people and may the sacred memory of our Jewish martyrs serve as a beacon of light for us and for succeeding generations. We, the remnants of Bialystok, will always cherish their memory and continue the revered traditions of our beloved hometown.” The echo of the battle in the Bialystok ghetto reached the mountains of Israel 240 44 throughout the world: No more murders of our people. Never again will we ascend to the heavens in smoke! * * * (Editor's note: In a book titled Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust, published in 1971 by Yad Vashem in Jeru- salem, the following interesting glimpse is given of how Efrajim Barasz viewed the Jewish resistance.) When Chajke Grosman (today a member of the Israeli Knesset) was active as a representative of Hashomer Hatzair in the underground resis- tance movement in Bialystok, we met several times with the Chairman of the Judenrat, Efrajim Barasz. In one of their discussions, Ms. Grosman 110 told him about the terrible slaughter the Nazis had carried out at Ponary, a desolate village ten kilometers from Wilno. Barasz answered her: “I can’t believe that what occurred in Wilno will also happen in Bialystok. I know the Germans. They won't dare conduct themselves in the same way here. They are only carrying out orders issued from Berlin — and should they receive such orders, surely they will let me know beforehand. ‘They will not use the methods at Wilno here because they need us. In any event, we can enjoy peace of mind for the time being. I am afraid that our own youth will do something foolish. Will you accept the responsibility for their actions? I will always know in advance if anything is going to happen.” Barasz several times warned the Jewish youth not to organize and carry out resistance against the Nazis because this could threaten the lives, not only of the fighters but also of the tens of thou- sands of Jews in the Bialystok ghetto. Neverthe- less, Barasz did assist the resistance groups in their activities, as is revealed in numerous docu- ments found after the ghettos’s destruction. * * * It should be pointed out that the conditions in the Bialystok ghetto were very different from those in the Warsaw ghetto. Bialystok was not surrounded by a brick wall, but with wooden par- titions. Its buildings were small and constructed of wood. All this made it more difficult for the Jewish resistance fighters to defend themselves, for they were afforded no protection from Nazi firepower. Nevertheless, the battles lasted several days. On the fourth day, German armored tanks and field artillery entered the ghetto, reinforced by about a thousand SS soldiers and Ukrainians. The Jews attempted to repulse them mainly with grenades and Molotov cocktails. They also had a few machine guns. Several hundred Germans and Ukrainians were killed. The Jewish fighters were captured and deported to Treblinka, Majdanek and Auschwitz. A small group succeeded in reach- ing the forests, where they united with the Partisans. TELL THE NEW GENERATIONS OF THE HOLOCAUST AND RESISTANCE The Bialystoker Memorial Book