Simha �Kazik� Rotem is the author of the book that inspired the mini-series �Uprising�.� The book is� �Memoirs of a Warsaw Ghetto Fighter�; and is an autobiography of his experiences during the Ghetto Uprising.� Mr. Rotem survived the Ghetto uprising, and went on to fight alongside the Polish Resistance, �A.K.�.�

In the New York Times of Sunday, November 4, 2001, Bernard Weinraub presents a review of �Uprising�.� In that review, in the second to the last paragraph, Mr. Rotem is quoted.� These words spoken by Mr. Rotem will suggest to some readers that he has misgivings with proclamations about holding off the �German Army.�

�We were fighting against the Germans, that�s true, but not the German Army, because from the strictly military point of view we had nothing.�

Some elements of the regular German Army were there, but the bulk of the force was SS.� The training given to SS was different than that of Army; unlike the Army, the primary mission of the SS was murder, not combat.� According to Yisrael Gutman, a historian who participated in the Ghetto Uprising, as found in his book "The Jews of Warsaw, 1939-1943", the following numbers are based upon Stroop�s report:

1. SS units totaling 821 soldiers and 9 officers
2. Police units for a daily average of 228 patrolmen and 6 officers, plus a few support units
3. Regular army and foreign troops totaling 371 soldiers and 4 officers.

Altogether, by Stroop's account, the daily size of the force operating in the ghetto averaged 2,054 soldiers and 36 officers.

Edited by Alexander Danel