Review of "We Fought Back: Teen Resisters of the Holocaust," by Allan Zullo

Review of

We Fought Back: Teen Resisters of the Holocaust, by Allan Zullo ISBN 9780545531795

Five out of five stars

 Many commentators have noted that had the approximately six million Jews killed by the Nazis managed to kill the Germans and their allies in the Holocaust at the ratio of one for every hundred Jews killed, the Germans would have had to stop or dramatically reduce the killing. The approximately 60,000 additional deaths in the Wehrmacht would have significantly reduced their fighting ability and shortened the war.

 Far less reported in the history books is that there were partisan groups with Jewish members that fought hard and well against the Germans, forcing the Wehrmacht to expend considerable resources in fighting back and guarding their supply lines. This is the story of seven Jews that joined the armed resistance and by so doing, managed to survive the war when so many of their ethnic brethren did not.

 The stories are of fighting, struggling for survival and experiencing extreme deprivation from lack of food and shelter. Forced to always be prepared to fight or flight at a moment’s notice, even if it meant leaving nearly all of their possessions behind. Chronically short of arms and ammunition, these people define the term “survivor.”