World
Rivlin leads tributes to last surviving fighter of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising
Simcha 'Kazik' Rotem died aged 94, leaving behind one remaining survivor in Israel
December 24, 2018 08:52
Simcha 'Kazik' Rotem died aged 94, leaving behind one remaining survivor in Israel
December 24, 2018 08:52Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has led tributes to the last surviving fighter from the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto uprising, who died in Jerusalem on Saturday at the age of 94.
Simcha Rotem - who was also known as Kazik – was among those who part in what has been called the single greatest act of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust by resisting the deportation to concentration camps.
The uprising had no prospect of success, but still resisted Nazi forces for nearly a month, killing 16 of them and wounding nearly 100.
Kazik, a native of Warsaw who was just 13 when the Second World War broke out, helped save the last survivors by smuggling them out of the burning ghetto through sewage tunnels.
He later emigrated to Mandatory Palestine and fought in Israel’s war of independence, and then became a member of the Yad Vashem committee responsible for selecting non-Jews who were Righteous Among the Nations.
His death after a short illness leaves a single remaining survivor of the Warsaw ghetto uprising alive in Israel: Aliza Vitis-Shomron, 90, who distributed leaflets and smuggle weapons before being ordered to escape and spread the word of the uprising.
“It's a difficult day because this really means that this is it,” she told AP.
“I'm the only one left and there is no one else to keep the story alive.
“He was the last fighter. I'll keep speaking till my last day, but no one lives forever. After me, who will keep telling?”
In 2013, the 70th anniversary of the revolt, Kazik’s native Poland honoured him with the Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta for his role in the war.
In a message released on Saturday, President Rivlin said: “Kazik was not the last Jew in the Warsaw Ghetto. He joined the uprising and helped save dozens of fighters, including two of its leaders, Antek Zukerman and Zvia Lubetkin.
“When asked about the message he would want to pass on to Israeli youth, he answered: ‘To be a human being. We are animals on two legs. No more than that – that’s what I think, that’s what I feel. But amongst us animals, the two-legged ones, there are some who are also human beings, and who deserve the name.’
“Thank you for everything, Kazik. We promise to try, every day, to be worth of the name ‘human being’.”
