In Defense of the Natural Response
When macabre reality gnaws at a person’s soul, it is hard to devote oneself to psychological investigation, even of very pressing subjects. The event also seemed cut off from life, entirely academic, a theoretical discussion in abstract terms, after the ground was swept from under our feet, and one had to cling with a grimace to the last…
Szymon Draenger’s essay, “In Defense of the Natural Response,” emerged from the underground of the Kraków ghetto during World War II; in it, he provides philosophical and psychological justifications for armed resistance against the Nazis. Before the war, Draenger had been an editor for Zionist youth publications, but as the Holocaust unfolded, his focus shifted from preparation for life in Palestine to the immediate need to fight back against annihilation. The text was originally published in the underground newspaper He-ḥalutz ha-loḥem (The Fighting Pioneer), which Draenger edited while in hiding. His work is often studied alongside the diary of his wife, Gustawa Jarecka, as records of life in Kraków.
Related Guide
Destruction, Rebirth, and Cultural Thought
The years between 1939 and 1973 witnessed unprecedented tragedy and transformation for the Jewish people.
You may also like
The Israelite Epic
This work argues for the existence of an oral national epic in ancient Israel that predates the written text of the Torah.
The Working Problems of the Writer in Exile
This keynote speech explores the challenges of writing in a new language and reaching a foreign audience after fleeing Nazism.
Retribution Is Not Enough
This article rejects the focus on postwar justice, arguing instead for urgent nationwide awareness and immediate rescue of European Jews.
Letter to the Art Editor of the New York Times
This rebuttal to an art critic distances modern painters from Social Realism and aligns them with the emerging New York School.
The Report of the Directorate of the Hungarian National Jewish Museum
This document details how museum staff continued their work in Budapest despite anti-Jewish laws and regional destruction.
Toward Peace in Palestine
This article advocates for a binational territory and criticizes the mainstream Zionist leadership's push for partition.