Nitzotz: The Spark of Resistance in Kovno Ghetto and Dachau-Kaufering Concentration Camp

9. Nitzotz, Issue 7 (42) (1945)

144 9 Nitzotz, Issue7(42)(1945) Nr 7 (42) Nitzotz Mouthpiece of IBZ Fifth Year (Association of National April 25, 1945 Youth) in Kaufering Concentration Camp Our hope is not yet lost . . . Last Generation of Enslavement, First to Redemption If now, after five years of consistent Zionist work, we were to account for our most recent years, could we say that allowing for our extraordinary working conditions we have really done everything possible for the nation? We know that such a reckoning is no longer hypothetical; in the near future we will have to present it to the Zionist movement. Not in vain have we raised the banner of Zion for five years in the underground—not in vain have we immersed ourselves in it—but, rather, convinced of the truth of the Zionist idea and faithful that Zionism is the only way to guarantee the existence of the nation of Israel. After the disintegration of the official Zionist organizations in the first summer days of 1940, when the Red Army entered Lithuania, we raised the flag of our clandestine activity. Later on, we forged in IBZ the organizational apparatus for continuing our Zionist work under all conditions, despite everything and nevertheless. And we have done all this because our national conscience forced us down that road. We endangered our lives and continued to hold gatherings, to stay in touch, to send friends abroad with the aliyah of refugees, to maintain the Hebrew culture and Hebrew language. Nitzotz, Issue 7 (42) (1945) . 145 Already then we ignited for the first time the Nitzotz that has served to guide our movement for five years of activity. Already then, in the dark Soviet days, we sensed that it was not enough to continue the old tasks— that we would need to search for new ones. We witnessed the spectacular crumbling of the prewar Zionist organization. We declared war on excessive factionalization and on the mechanization of the movement, the depletion of its content, and the indifference toward the social question, which became one of the central problems in the middle of the twentieth century. On the basis of these demands we persevered in the ghetto and in the concentration camp. We recognized that we were the desert generation, that our time of wandering had been extended, and that we still needed to meet various conditions in our life and work. But we were confident in the merit of our ideas and never doubted the necessity of upholding our commitments whatever the circumstances. We were hopeful that in the end we would achieve the liberation of the nation and the state, and as the first generation to liberation we sought out new avenues for the Zionist movement. We revived old principles and redressed old conflicts. We united national forces that had formerly been separate . We did everything necessary to eliminate any factor that might have interfered with the cause of liberation. We halted harmful forces within our community and protected the spiritual and physical integrity of the executors of Zionism. We did everything within our means to achieve these goals. And even as we were flung about from place to place, from the ghetto to the interior of Nazi Germany, we did not stop working. Toward the liberation of the nation and the state—always, in every hour and in every place! That motto compelled us, even under the worst conditions, to raise the banner of national work and to preserve the spiritual and physical integrity of the survivors. Thus we stand before you and present our account with a clean and clear conscience. And with sunrise in Europe and in the rest of the world we, the She’erit Hapletah of the Jews of Europe, repeat the call: the last generation of enslavement! The time has come to abolish the Diaspora. We have had enough of being slaves, slaves in the body and in the mind. The blood of our children, wives, and husbands has been poured in vain. And only in Eretz Israel will we liberate ourselves! 146 . Nitzotz And the first generation to redemption! Political revolution: the unification of all forces in order to build the homeland! Spiritual revolution: broadening the concept of Zionism to encompass the rebirth of the nation and its culture and the creation of a new Zionist doctrine of life! Social 36. Nitzotz 7 (42), April 25, 1945. Reproduction of original. Courtesy of Yad...