By: Gabo Degen, Mazkal Hanoar Hatzioni
History, as with all the social sciences, is complex and vulnerable, but at the same time, it
can be dynamic and acknowledge its errors, correcting itself to the extent that reveals
new sources. The historical mistake of defining the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising with the
name and number of a single street must be corrected. There were many other streets of
dreams and fighters whose stories should be shared with the future generations.
On Leszno 27 Street, the Hanhaga Rashit of Hanoar Hatzioni created a Brush Workshop
to provide work for its members, using as an advantage the experience that chaver haTnua
Rozner (z”l) had in the field. The workshop became the main source of sustenance for the
chaverim of the Tnua, both economically and emotionally. It became our chaverim’s
meeting place, where nostalgia and reminiscences revived the collective memory of the
ken. This collective memory was the engine behind the constant struggle for survival as a
people in the time of the Shoah. The strength and spirit of Hanoar Hatzioni’s members,
led by Yaakov Preshker, was reflected in the battle in the Brush Workshop on Leszno
Street during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Our chaverim fought with courage and
bravery, turning thought into action and idealism into reality. With pride and with the
last cry of Chazak VeEmatz, our chaverim fell in the known Brushes Battle without
leaving any witnesses that could tell what occurred.
As we commemorate Yom Hazikaron LaShoah ve la Gvura, it is very difficult to escape
the quantitative and qualitative nature of the selective assassination of a third of our
people. The horror of the black and white images crosses our mind again and again,
without being able to avoid the automatic motto of “remember, not forget and never
forgive”. However, the madrich of Hanoar Hatzioni has the right and the obligation to tell
the story of our chaverim, who in the darkest moments managed to make decisions with
the commitment and responsibility that characterize us as a movement.
They were exemplary educators and combatants who assumed their approaching death
with dignity, bravery, courage and sublime generosity. They fought for the most intrinsic
values of our culture, raising high the right to life and liberty, always with eyes towards
Eretz Zion and Jerusalem.
Our example has a number and an address: Leszno 27.
Our commitment is the memory.
Our means is education.
Our objective is continuity.
Chazak Ve’ematz!
