Page 47 - Centrum Dialogu im. Marka Edelmana. Edelman

May 8th, they surrounded a bunker on 18 Miła Street
Marek Edelman.
Photo from his school ID, the 30s, 20th Century. Marek
Edelman Archive. From the collection of Paula Sawicka the destruction of war and it was there where a group
that served as headquarters of the Jewish Combat
Organization. Over one hundred fighters died in there,
including the commander of the uprising, Mordechaj
Anielewicz. After his death, Marek Edelman was
appointed commander of the uprising. Together with
a group of insurgents he managed to escape from
the burning ghetto and, thanks to Kazik Ratajzer’s
help, crossed the canals to the Aryan side. For Marek
Edelman, the 10th of May became the symbolic date
of his rebirth. For Germans, the 16th of May became
a symbolic date of the destruction of the Jewish dis-
trict in Warsaw by blowing up the Grand Synagogue
at Tłomackie Street.
After he escaped the ghetto, Marek Edelman and
a group of his friends hid in various places around the
city. In August of 1944, he took part in the Warsaw
uprising in the Old City and Żoliborz.
After the war, he moved to Lodz, home city of Alina
Margolis, who helped carry an injured Edelman from
the destroyed Warsaw. Lodz was almost untouched by
of the uprising survivors found home. In November
of 1945, Marek Edelman published an extraordinary
book – Getto walczy. Udział Bundu w obronie getta
warszawskiego. It is an account of a witness, dedicat-
ed to the fallen companions from the uprising and
the future generations. “We, who have survived, leave
it to you to have them remembered,” he wrote. After
that, he went silent for the next 30 years. He started
medical studies. Alina Margolis became a pediatrician,
and Edelman a prominent cardiologist. They got mar-
ried in 1950 and had two children: Aleksander (1951)
and Anna (1956). The Edelmans were not only great
doctors, but also social activists. The patients were
what mattered the most to them.
Marek Edelman first worked in Sterling Clinical Hospital
under the supervision of prof. Jerzy Jakubowski, who
he considered his mentor. After that, in the cardiology
ward of the Military Medical Academy, from which he
was fired in consequence of the anti-Semitic campaign
of March 1968. From the Madurowicz Hospital, where he
served as Deputy Chief of the ward, he resigned with
his entire team in a sign of protest for harassment
Edelman received. Despite his excellent academic
input and his habilitation thesis being accepted by the
medical academy in Cracow, Edelman was declined
habilitation from the central qualification commit-
tee. Alina Margolis-Edelman also faced obstacles in
her academic career. In 1970, she decided to leave for
France with her children. Edelman stayed.
“I never let anyone dictate to me how to live. Everyone has
a right to live where he wants and how he wants,” he said.
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