Argumentative Essay On Vladka Meed

Sophie Turner once said, “To me, bravery is to stand up for what you believe in. During the Holocaust many people stood back in fear and let the Nazis take over their life, while others fought for what they believed in. Citizens that didn’t stand up to the Nazis watched gypsies, Jews, and may others get deported. Although there were many bystanders, there were also many upstanders that made a change in the Holocaust. An example of an upstander of the Holocaust is Vladka Meed because she saved many lives by risking her own for the good of others and the intelligent writing she wrote about her personal experience of the Holocaust.

Vladka Meed’s childhood started out with her participating in political groups and soon revolving around revolting

against the Nazis. Her life began quite as typical as any other Jew. She was born on December 29, 1921. Her name that she was given at birth was Feigele Peltel (Bernstein). Her family was traditionally religious Jews. Her father demanded her to learn the Yiddish language and culture along with Jewish nationalism in the Diaspora. It was sponsored by the Jewish Socialist Bund (Saidel). All her family members were murdered by the Nazis by 1942. Her father died from lung inflammation in the ghetto in Warsaw. Her mother and siblings were murdered by the Nazis during a mass execution in Treblinka (Bernstein). Even though this was a hard chapter in her life it definitely impacted her into joining the Jewish resistance.
As the Nazis were transporting Jews to the underground, Vladka Meed decided to make effort to help deported Jews. Jews were getting transported to camps daily. Her first encouragement was when 265,000 innocent Jews were transported to Treblinka, a concentration camp in Warsaw. Her current job was as a Nazis uniform sewer (Berger). Vladka Meed used her polish features and fluency in Polish to help her pass as a Gentile. She joined ZOB, a fighting for the Jews organization. To have evidence that she wasn’t a Jew, she used fake identification papers. She didn’t look out of place thanks to her given polish features (Bernstein). She didn’t want to be discovered, so she changed many things about herself. She changed her name from Feigele Peltel to Vladka Meed. She got a new job as the Jewish underground’s personal messenger by holing important documents in her shoes (Berger). Vladka Meed fried to help deported Jews anyway that she could. She secretly moved Jewish children out of the ghetto and into comforting Christian homes. As she is still working for the Jewish underground, she gave away her extra money to Jews in hiding. Although she has done much with her life already, she still has more adventures coming her way.
As the Holocaust was coming to an end, Vladka Meed worked harder than ever to make a bigger difference than she already has.

Vladka Meed wanted to help the Jewish fighters and the children of the Holocaust. She smuggled many weapons into the Jewish fighting organization underground. Numerous Jewish children got the chance to live a better life with caring Christians on the other side of the wall (Saidel). Vladka Meed did many heroic things during and after the Holocaust. During the Holocaust she illegally brought in many weapons for Jewish fighters inside the Warsaw ghetto like pistols, gasoline, and dynamite, After the Holocaust ended, she put great effort towards teaching kids about the Holocaust and World War II (Berger). Vladka Meed received many awards for many heroic actions she has done. In 1962, she received the “Righteous Among Nations” honor award. Her award then encouraged her to write “On Both Sides of the Wall: Memoirs from the Warsaw Ghetto” in 1993 about her experience in the Holocaust (Saidel). Vladka Meed lived a long and fulfilling life. Her death was because of Alzheimer’s disease and died at 90 years old. She died in her daughter’s home on November 21, 2012 in Paradise Valley, Arizona (Bernstein). Although Vladka Meed has unfortunately passed away, her legacy will live on

forever.
An example of an upstander of the Holocaust is Vladka Meed because she saved many lives by risking her own for the good of others and the intelligent writing she wrote about her experience of the Holocaust. Vladka Meed is known as an upstander of the Holocaust because she was brave enough to change her religion and used her Polish features to live with Aryans to transfer weapons to the Jewish fighters. After the war, she taught children about the Holocaust and what the Nazis did to the Jews. She is remembered for the bravery she had toward helping others who weren’t as lucky as she was. Although Vladka Meed has perished from the earth, she will always be remembered for her heroic actions during the Holocaust.