When studying the events of WWII there is often a sense of bewilderment as to how this could happen and how, in particular, so many people could so passively allow the atrocities of the Holocaust to occur. As David G. Marwell, Director of the Museum of Jewish Heritage points out, powerlessness is often mistaken for passivity. Jews at this time were faced with inconceivable choices and had even fewer options. The exhibition Daring to Resist: Jewish Defiance in the Holocaust External, details the many fierce Resistance groups led by Jews and also gives historical context to the German Occupation in a variety of European countries. One point worth noting is that many Jews in Europe did not immediately suspect the diabolical plans of Adolf Hitler. Initial laws that attempted to isolate Jews, or even force them to wear the yellow star, did not always seem as sinister without the benefit of hindsight. It was part of a very deliberate plan that Hitler used to lull people into a sense of comfort or complacency before his brutal and unimaginable plan was widely understood among the general population.

What constitutes resistance? While the French Resistance as such is understood to be an organized force (becoming more organized as the years went on, under the active leadership of General Charles de Gaulle, and finally with additional Allied support), resistants (with a lower-case "R") existed independently and autonomously all over Europe. Jewish Resistants stand out from others in that they had an added urgency to their fight against the Nazis. As Anny Latour points out in her book, The Jewish Resistance in France (1940-1944), the Jewish Resistance was fighting not only for physical survival, but for the survival of Judaism. The origins of the Jewish Resistance were also somewhat different from the Resistance as a whole. The networks originated from Jewish social services and groups of various political leanings that existed before the German Occupation. Many of the underground networks had their basis in these organizations as they were essentially forced to go underground. Many focused on rescue missions and in particular, saving Jewish children. But there were also thousands of armed combatants (Partisans) and "master counterfeiters" who forged false identity papers and stamps which saved countless lives. Much of the Jewish armed resistance took place in Eastern Europe and in ghettos such as the famous Warsaw Ghetto Uprising External in Poland. It also formed in the camps themselves, especially after 1943 when the Nazi goals of the Final Solution became evident (see Killing Centers External).

Unofficial partnership formed between officially recognized groups and individuals who were forced to remain anonymous. Some groups had one identity as an above-board organization, but performed secret activity under the radar of the Nazis. Religious groups helped one another — both Catholic and Protestant groups were heavily involved with these missions. The OSE (Children's Aid Society), Amitié Chrétienne, and the Jewish Underground in Lyon are a few such organizations that focused on saving Jewish children. The French Israelite Scout Movement, (Éclaireurs Israélites de France External, EIF) saved thousands of Jews during WWII. Often Jewish children would be relocated to safe spaces, intermixed with French children and raised as such. There are accounts of many such children who never understood what it was to be Jewish, having spent formative years with names that had been changed to sound traditionally French, and going to Sunday School. These measures were often the best way to keep them safe.

The Federation of Jewish Societies of France (Federation des Societes Juives de France External, FSJF) is another organization that adapted to the conditions and needs of WWII. Established during WWI, it was originally an organization meant to help mediate conflicts between Jews who had immigrated to France and the French Jews already living there. After the Fall of France, they moved to the southern "unoccupied zone" and went underground. They proceeded to provide tens of thousands of Jews with forged identity papers and funded Jewish youth organizations that worked to smuggle Jewish children into Switzerland. The FSJF helped institute the Jewish Defense Committee in August of 1942, which encompassed all Jewish underground organizations. As an issue of Jeune Combat, a clandestine publication started by young Jewish Communists in 1943 proclaims, "Hiding behind registration, new deportations and new massacres are being planned. Everybody, join the resisters, form groups for resistance and combat. This is our cry in the face of our families' assassins!" (Daring to Resist, 63). What is clear is that far from passive, the Jewish people of France fought in a wide variety of ways to resist the Nazis and to preserve their heritage. 

A select bibliography of books about Jews in the Resistance in both French and English is further down the page. To search for more titles, use the Library's online catalog for books on this topic using the Library of Congress Subject Heading (LCSH) World War, 1939-1945--Jewish resistance--France.

The 2024 documentary film directed by Paula Apsell, a NOVA Senior Executive Producer Emerita, Resistance: They Fought Back External tells the largely unknown and incredibly courageous story of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust.