Massacre of August 16, 1943

The scene shows a tragic episode of the bloodily suppressed uprising in the Białystok ghetto, which began on 16 April 1943, upon news of the immediate deportation of 30,000 people. In the cluster of figures it is difficult to recognise the representatives of the two fighting sides, but it is much easier to recognise the dead sliding towards the lower edge of the frame. The uprising in the ghetto is for Celnikier just another episode of the Holocaust and personal ordeal, not proof of Jewish heroism.

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