The most important thing we must learn from all the stories coming from the Holocaust is that citizens must never allow themselves to be disarmed by the government. The horror is that she had to do this. She should never have been put in this position. Only an armed citizenry could have prevented this.
This is Franceska Mann. She was a Polish Jew who was murdered in Auschwitz. But she is also known for her heroic actions. With a group of new arrivals, she was ordered to undress for “delousing”. After removing her clothes in a calculated manner to distract the gurads, she managed to seize the pistol of SS Josef Schillinger. She shot him twice in the stomach. With a third shot, she wounded another guard Wiilhelm Emmerich. Schillinger died on the way to the hospital. Emmerich survived but his leg was left permanently lame. Franceska and the other new arrivals were murdered in retaliation. Let us all remember the bravery of Franceska Mann and all the others brave enough to resist the Nazis.
by Kathleen Silver, Remember the Holocaust