To Live with Hope, to Die with Dignity : Spiritual Resistance in the Ghettos and Camps

Jewish armed resistance during the Holocaust has been amply documented, debunking the stereotypical view of the Jews as passive victims of Hitler and the Nazis. The stories of the revolts in a number of ghettos and camps have been told and retold. Jewish participation in partisan activities has been fully recorded. There is another form of resistance, spiritual in nature, which has yet to be fully documented. Spiritual resistance was expressed on an organized communal level, maintained to thwart the Nazi intention of dehumanizing their Jewish victims. The victims responded by initiating religious, educational, and cultural activities in an organized manner. These activities were both open and clandestine. In addition, many individuals expressed themselves through their writings. To Live with Hope, To Die with Dignity , based principally on materials created and activities conducted in the ghettos of Warsaw, Vilna, Lodz, Kovno, during the Holocaust, concerns itself with this particular aspect of the Holocaust tragedy. Dedication Contents Introduction Part I: The Genesis of the Jewish Concept of Kiddush Hahayyim 1 Kiddush Hahayyim: The Genesis of a Jewish Concept Part II: The Ghetto as a Tool for Extermination 2 The Ghetto as a Tool for Extermination Part III: Kiddush Hahayyim and The Ghetto Community Introduction: Towards a Definition of the Jewish Community 3 Educational Activities 4 Cultural Activities 5 Religious Activities 6 Zionist Activities 7 Underground Press Part IV: Kiddush Hahayyim in Ghetto Literature and Art 8 Individual Creativity 9 Poetry and Song 10 Short Stories and Essays 11 Eyewitness Accounts 12 Art in the Ghetto 13 Kiddush Hahayyim in the Concentration Camps and Death Camps Part V Epilogue Appendices Bibliography Credits About the Author To Live with Hope, To Die with Dignity, based principally on materials created and activities conducted in the ghettos of Warsaw, Vilna, Lodz, Kovno, during the Holocaust, concerns itself with the stories of spiritual resistance during the Holocaust. Side by side with unspeakable persecution, suffering, and death were those who sought to rise above their calamitous situation.