A Time Such as This

From April 19, 1943, to May 16, 1943, an event known as the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was fought. In November 1940, when the invading German forces built a wall around a Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, Poland, 400,000 Jews were trapped inside. Because the Germans cruelly limited the amount of food that was allowed into the ghetto, starvation and illness claimed the lives of thousands each month. But the Jews weren’t dying fast enough to satisfy Adolph Hitler, who ordered the Nazis to deport roughly 265,000 of those snared in the ghetto to the Treblinka Killing Center. The German soldiers shot tens of thousands of other Jews during the deportation process. After watching the Germans kill their loved ones daily for nearly two months, the estimated 60,000 Jews who remained were terrified. They were living a never ending nightmare from which they would never awaken. On April 19, 1943, thousands of Nazis armed with machine guns, flamethrowers, and tanks gathered outside the gates of the ghetto ready to exterminate those Jews remaining inside.

Upon storming the ghetto’s gates, the Germans were stunned when they were met by an armed Jewish resistance led by Mordecai Anielwascz. Mordecai had prepared for a time such as the one he faced. He had spent months smuggling guns and bullets into the ghetto. Even so, he was only able to obtain a small number of firearms, most of which were pistols.

Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, Mordecai and those fighting desperately beside him celebrated their victory on the first day as the Nazis fled the ghetto. Although the Germans had conquered the rest of Poland in only 18 days, amazingly, roughly 750 Jews with little to no firearm training were able to effectively use the few guns and little ammunition they had to keep the powerful German forces at bay for 28 days! Mordecai’s wise decision to get all the guns he could kept him, his fellow fighters, and the other Jews alive until the last bullet was fired.

In light of historical events like the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, it is un-believable that liberals today still argue that we should disarm our citizens by enacting and enforcing laws that will prevent law-abiding people from owning and possessing guns. The Second Amendment doesn’t just protect our right to defend ourselves from criminals living among us; it protects our right to defend ourselves from anyone who may seek to do us harm. Years ago we would not have imagined that an invading force could wreak havoc on Americans. 9/11 changed that. Today we know that organized forces can enter our country and target us. If that happens, like the Jews in Warsaw, we may need guns to defend ourselves, our families, and our homes. It may be that we have been born for a time such as that. As a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association and strong supporter of gun rights, I urge you to stay armed and to stay vigilant!