In Defense of the Natural Response

Szymon Draenger

1943

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…

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Creator Bio

Szymon Draenger

1916–1943

A resistance fighter in word and deed, Szymon (Szymek) Draenger was born in Kraków. He married Gusta Dawidsohn in 1940; she became his comrade-in-arms under the name Justyna. Arrested and incarcerated twice by the Germans, Draenger managed both times to escape. He was the editor, compositor, and distributor of Hechalutz Halochem, the last independent voice of the Jewish resistance in Poland. Written in Polish, it had two audiences: the surviving Jewish fighters living in hiding and the local Polish population. He was eventually caught and shot by the Germans outside of Kraków.

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