or Yitzhak Cukierman
born 1915, Warsaw, Pol.
died June 17, 1981, Tel Aviv, Israel
Hero of Jewish resistance to the Nazis in World War II. Active in Zionist organizations in his native Warsaw, he urged the creation and arming of a Jewish defense organization after the German takeover of Poland.
He used his contacts outside the Warsaw Ghetto to smuggle in a few arms. He took command after the other leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising were killed, and eventually he led some 75 people through the sewers to safety. He continued leading Jewish resistance and alerting Jewish leaders elsewhere to the situation in Nazi Europe. At war's end he helped organize transportation for Jewish refugees to Palestine.