Marek Edelman

Marek Edelman (b. December 31, 1922) – political and social activist, cardiologist, last living leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Born in 1922 in Homel (now Belarus), he soon moved with his parents to Warsaw. In 1942, Edelman was one of the founders of the Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (Jewish Fighting Organization) and after the death of Mordechai Anielewicz, he became the leader of the Warsaw ghetto uprising in 1943. He survived and managed to escape thanks to the underground activists of the Polska Partia Socjalistyczna (Polish Socialist Party). He joined the Armia Krajowa and in 1944 he participated in the Warsaw Uprising.

After the Second World War he studied at the Medical University in Lodz. Since 1976 activist of the Komitet Obrony Robotników (Workers' Defense Committee) and later of the Solidarity. During the martial law in 1981, he was interned. He took part in the Round Table Talks and was member of the Sejm from 1989 until 1993.

On April 17, 1998, Marek Edelman was awarded with Poland's highest decoration, the Order of the White Eagle.

In Hanna Krall book "Zdążyć przed Panem Bogiem" ("Be faster than our Lord") Edelman tells many surprising details of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

References

• Marek Edelman, Resisting the Holocaust: Fighting Back in the Warsaw Ghetto, Ocean Press, 2004, ISBN 1876175524.
• Hanna Krall, Shielding the Flame, Henry Holt & Co., 1986, ISBN 0030060028.