Sometimes people present a false image of themselves in attempt to be accepted by others. But it can always be sensed when a person is not delivering their true personality, and they are usually looked down upon rather than admired. As described in Defiance In The Ghetto, the city of Warsaw fits perfectly into this category. "It is a modern city, made cheerful by greenery, with decorous, functional houses, clean and orderly, with beautiful avenues traveled by efficient public transport and few automobiles…But it is an artificial city." (Defiance In The Ghetto). Terrible things have happened there, especially to Jews, yet the uplifting appearance of the city helps one to momentarily forget about all the horrible events that have taken place in Warsaw.
In Europe during and before World War II, Jews who lived in cities were forced to live in ghettos, separated from everyone else. Muranow, the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, inhabited half a million Jews. It was an enclosed area, and the Jews were not allowed to leave the ghetto walls for any reason, even though they constantly had a desperate need for more food. The only reason that they were able to survive with such small food rations was because they illegally bought food from outsiders who did not live in the ghetto. One might wonder what kind of a human being would force another to live such a horrible life. After all they had gone through in the ghettos, most Jews were then forced to go to concentration camps. It is extremely unfair, and caused the victims to be very resentful of the Nazis who tormented them. This passionate anger is what motivated the Jews in the Muranow ghetto to fight the Nazis for equality.
On the first day of Passover in 1943, the first battle between the Jews and the Nazis took place. The Jews knew that they would soon be taken to what the Nazis called a "labor camp". They figured they would be killed there, so they decided that they might as well fight the Germans. "But the defenders of the ghetto had no possibility of saving themselves, and they knew it: they could only decide between two ways of dying." (Defiance In The Ghetto). The Jews could either die in the concentration camps, or they could die heroically. They chose to keep their dignity.
The motivation that drove the Jews to fight so passionately was truly amazing. A German official commented that he was awed at the spirit of the Jews as compared to the German army, whose soldiers numbly performed every order they were given.
I believe that the Jews' fighting was so dynamic because they were finally able to rebel. Over the course of history, Jews have been persecuted. This was one of the times that Jews were able to fight back with all their hearts, not having to worry about what might happen to them for rebelling. The events that happened at Muranow show how crisis really does bring out the best and worst in people. The Jews knew that they were going to die no matter what they did, so they took that opportunity to do something that they and their ancestors had wanted to do for a very long time: fight for their rights. During World War II, the Germans took many things away from the Jews, and this changed the Jewish religion. Even though the Jews in the ghetto were probably disappointed and sad, knowing that their lives would soon be over, perhaps even the entire Jewish population would be terminated, but these Jews found it in them to be defeated, but with respect. "They have demonstrated that even when everything is lost, it is granted to man to save, together with his own dignity, the dignity of future generations." (Defiance In The Ghetto). They were given a chance to be respected, and they took advantage of it because they had never been given that chance before, and they thought that they might not get another chance.