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“Resistance: They Fought Back” – new documentary film chronicles the many instances where Jews fought back against the Nazis
By MARTIN ZEILIG “Jewish resistance during the Holocaust took many forms, armed and unarmed,” notes Holocaust scholar and archeologist Professor Richard Freund in this timely and beautifully crafted feature documentary film by directors Paula Apsell and Kirk Wolfinger.
“We’ve all heard of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, but most people have no idea how widespread and prevalent Jewish resistance to Nazi barbarism was. Instead, it’s widely believed Jews went to their deaths like sheep to the slaughter.”
Filmed in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Israel, and the U.S., Resistance – They Fought Back provides, as one of the specialists interviewed emphasizes, “a much-needed corrective to this myth of Jewish passivity.
Indeed, the film is a fervent repudiation of the thinking that Jewish resistance was either non-existent or occurred on rare occasions only.
As Dr. Margers Vestermanis, historian and resistance fighter in the Riga Ghetto, articulates, “The idea of resistance practically started with the formation of the ghetto. As we used to say in the ghetto back then, there were two options. You would be undressed…and wait for the bullet. Or you would resist, and you would be shot anyway. You would die anyway, but that would be a different death– a meaningful death, defending the honor of your people.”
There were uprisings in ghettos large and small, rebellions in death camps, and thousands of Jews fought Nazis in the forests, as is discussed in the film.
“Everywhere in Eastern Europe, Jews waged campaigns of non-violent resistance against the Nazis,” observes one of the commentators.
“All over German-occupied territories, ghetto and camp residents disobeyed German edicts to care for the sick and needy, setting up soup kitchens and educating children, maintaining a spiritual life of Jewish observance as well as a cultural life of music, art and theater, hiding and escaping, and documenting German war crimes – all this in the face of starvation, beatings, humiliation, disease, poverty, and the threat of transports and death at any time.”
Among those interviewed in the film are Professor Yehuda Bauer of Hebrew University and Yad Vashem; Professor Avinoam Patt, the inaugural director of NYU’s Center for Study of Antisemitism; and, Maurice Greenberg, Professor of Holocaust Studies in NYU’s Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies; Professor Michael Berenbaum, an American scholar, professor, rabbi, writer, and filmmaker, who specializes in the study of the Holocaust; Steven Meed, who’s mother, Vladka Meed was a Warsaw Ghetto courier; Yoel Yaari, the son of Bela Hazan, who worked in Gestapo headquarters in Grodno. He is writing a book about her based on Bela’s own notebooks, which reveals her “courageous actions in both ghettos and camps.”
We also meet concert violinist Dana Mazurkevich, who was smuggled out of the Kovno ghetto in a truckload of potatoes; internationally known artist Samuel Bak who had his first exhibition in the Vilna Ghetto at age 9; and, David Gur, whose forgeries saved thousands of Budapest’s Jews.
This is a film that deserves the widest possible viewership.
Ms. Apsell, who was also co-writer and executive producer agreed to a Zoom interview with this reporter on April 15, 2024. (Comments from the “Director’s Statement” are also included in Ms. Apsell’s responses.)
MZ: What is the genesis of this film?
PA: It got its start on a sunny June day in 2019 at my kitchen table in Boston during a visit from Holocaust scholar and archeologist Richard Freund. In 2016, Kirk Wolfinger, his team from Lone Wolf Media, and I had made a documentary for the PBS NOVA series following Dr. Freund and his team as they discovered an underground escape tunnel in a forest in Lithuania where the Germans and their Lithuanian collaborators murdered 70,000 Jews.
As we learned when our film aired the next year, very few people had ever heard of this tunnel dug with spoons by shackled Jewish prisoners, twelve of whom escaped to fight with the partisans. But it is far from the only example of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust. When I asked why such examples of Jewish heroism were not more widely known, Dr. Freund quipped, “Because you haven’t made the film yet.”
Perhaps intended as a joke, I took the response as a challenge. I had just retired after 35 years as NOVA’s Executive Producer, and I was looking for a project to engage my mind and my heart. And what could be more worthwhile, more challenging to research and recount, than this largely unknown story of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust?
As I would learn, many stories of Jewish resistance have all but vanished. In some cases, no historical records exist, and no one survived to tell the tale. The Germans documented many aspects of their war against the Jews, but they were allergic to any mention of Jewish resistance, leading many to think it never happened and to believe that “Jews went to their deaths like sheep to the slaughter.”
MZ: What else would you like to say about the film?
PA: The film my production partners at Lone Wolf Media and I wound up making is a passionate refutation of that way of thinking (that Jewish resistance was either non-existence or rare). Told by survivors, their children, and expert witnesses from the U.S. Israel, and Europe, it is a revelation based on extensive research of how the Jews of Europe fought back.
It uncovers evidence of non-violent methods which served as crucial tools of resistance and evolved into Jewish armed revolts in ghettos, forests and death camps, even as the odds of success were vanishingly small. Today, almost eighty years after the Holocaust, this story remains largely unknown to the general public. Without it, our understanding of this genocide, which wiped out two-thirds of European Jews, remains incomplete, giving rise to renewed anti-Semitism, hatred, and denial of the Holocaust itself.
It took four years to produce the feature documentary Resistance – They Fought Back during which challenges abounded, some predictable when we began, others totally unknown.
Our society’s understanding of the Holocaust, even after all these decades, is limited, misunderstood and frighteningly transient. Surveys indicate that two-thirds of millennials in the United States cannot identify the infamous concentration camp Auschwitz. In the U.K., surveys suggest that 1 in 20 people don’t believe the Holocaust happened, and one-third of people from seven surveyed European countries know little or nothing about it.
That Jews were complicit in their own deaths has become a common meme of both anti-Semitic and white supremacy movements, which are steeply on the rise. Therefore, this story is one that demands to be told now with the authenticity that archeological finds, rigorous historical analysis, and eyewitness testimony describing tunnels that were dug, sewers used as escape routes, examples of sabotage against the all-powerful German army can provide.
Thus, even as survivors leave us and personal testimony fades, we are gaining a new perspective to our understanding of the Holocaust. It is this story of millions of victims whose brave acts of resistance against a barbaric and all-powerful enemy have too long remained unheralded, that we are determined to tell.
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Volatility, Hit Frequency, and RTP: Why the Number Casinos Advertise Is the Least Useful One
The return to player percentage looks clean as a casino data point. It gives players a neat number, usually around 94% to 97% for many online slots, and that number feels easy to compare. A 96.5% game appears better than a 95.2% game. The problem starts when players treat RTP as a forecast for their next 50 spins or one evening.
You may find the RTP listed on slot pages on a leading online casino in Ontario, but the number only tells part of the story. Two games can share the same RTP and create different sessions: one may return small wins often, while the other may drain a balance before one bonus round changes everything.
The RTP Trap
Return to player (RTP) measures the theoretical share of total wagers a game returns across a very large number of rounds. In plain terms, a 96% RTP slot returns about $96 for every $100 wagered in the long run. That does not mean one player who deposits $100 should expect $96 back.
The trap sits in the word “theoretical.” RTP comes from the game’s math model. It works across huge samples, not personal sessions. A player can finish far above that percentage, far below it, or with nothing left after a short run of poor results.
Is it useless then? No, RTP can still help. It gives a baseline cost of play. Lower-RTP games cost more on average than higher-RTP games. Still, once a game passes a reasonable threshold, the next question matters more: how does it distribute that return?
Hit Frequency: The Number That Shapes Session Feel
Hit frequency tells you how often a game produces a winning outcome. This often misleads players because any win can count. A spin that returns $0.10 on a $1 bet may still count as a hit, even though the player lost $0.90 in real terms.
A game can feel active because symbols connect often, sounds play, and the screen keeps celebrating small returns. The balance may still fall. In many modern slots, “win” does not always mean profit on the spin.
Hit frequency answers one practical question: how much silence can you tolerate? Some players dislike long dry spells. Others accept quieter sessions because they chase bonus rounds or larger payouts.
The educational site Get Gambling Facts gives a useful distinction: RTP concerns the percentage of money returned over time, while hit frequency concerns how often a machine stops on a winning combination.
Volatility: The Risk Label Players Need More Often
Volatility, also called variance, describes how unevenly a game pays. Low-volatility games tend to return smaller amounts more often. High-volatility games hold more value in rare events: bonus rounds, premium symbols, multipliers, or jackpots.
Here is where RTP becomes less useful on its own:
- A 96% low-volatility slot may give modest returns and longer play from the same balance.
- A 96% high-volatility slot may burn through funds quickly unless the player hits a strong feature.
- A progressive jackpot game may look exciting, but it often places more value on rare top prizes.
The same RTP can hide very different risk profiles. Players who ignore volatility often blame the casino or the game when the session follows its math design.
Why the Same RTP Can Feel So Different
Picture two slots with 96% RTP. Slot A pays small wins on many spins, has a modest top prize, and rarely creates dramatic balance swings. Slot B pays less often but offers a large max win and volatile bonus rounds. The advertised return matches, but the experience does not.
Slot A may suit a player who wants a slower bankroll drop and more regular feedback. Slot B suits someone who accepts sharper losses in exchange for a shot at a heavier payout.
A Better Way to Read a Slot Page
Most slot pages give players more clues than they notice. The trick is to read the details together rather than chase the highest percentage.
Start with RTP. If two games look similar, the higher number has better long-term value. Then check volatility. If the game uses terms such as high, very high, or extreme variance, lower your bet size or expect shorter sessions. Next, look at the paytable. A huge max win usually means the game saves a lot of its value for rare outcomes.
A sensible pre-play check looks like this:
- RTP: What is the average long-term return?
- Volatility: How rough can the session become?
- Hit frequency: How often will the game show any wins?
- Paytable: Where does most value sit?
To Conclude
Casinos advertise RTP because it looks objective, tidy, and easy to rank. Players should read it, but they should not give it more authority than it deserves. For long sessions, volatility may matter more than a small RTP difference. For comfort, hit frequency may explain the feel better than the payback rate.
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The Popularity of Simpler Slot Games in 2026: Review From Casino Online CrazyTower Experts
Online casinos now fill their libraries with numerous video slots that have dozens of functions, long bonus rounds, complex mechanics, and so on. Interestingly, despite this huge range of modern options, many Canadian visitors at sites like Casino Online CrazyTower here https://crazytower.com/ca/ no longer want complicated gameplay that requires constant attention and long explanations.
Simpler slots now attract a wider audience because they save time and create faster sessions. So, let’s figure out why this change happened and reasons for the popularity of simpler machines.
Why Many Players Are Returning to Basic Gameplay
Modern websites like Casino Online CrazyTower pushed complex video slots for years, but many people now prefer classic formats again. Simple gameplay has fewer interruptions and is simpler in terms of budgeting, which is important when you gamble for fun.
These are a few potential reasons explain why simpler slots became popular again in 2026:
- Faster rounds. Symbols appear quickly, and rounds continue without long animations or extended bonus sequences.
- Easier controls. Most classic slots have simple menus and familiar layouts that don’t confuse new visitors.
- Smaller feature lists. Simple slots usually have standard wilds, scatters, and multipliers instead of dozens of random mechanics.
- Better session flow. People spend more time on gameplay instead of reading explanations about symbols and special functions.
- Lower visual pressure. Simpler slots use calmer designs and shorter effects that don’t overload attention.
Classic gameplay also suits mobile devices better because shorter rounds work well on smaller screens. Plus, many visitors now prefer games that start instantly and explain their mechanics within seconds.
Features That Make Simpler Slots Appealing
Simple machines at Casino Online CrazyTower and similar websites continue to attract attention because they have a high gameplay speed. Many classic titles also replicate older casino machines that people already know from physical casinos.
However, these aren’t the only factors that attract gamblers. So, check out this list:
- Short bonus rounds. Free spins and multipliers finish quickly instead of interrupting gameplay for several minutes.
- Common and standard paylines. Traditional layouts help people understand payouts without long explanations.
- Faster loading times. Simpler graphics reduce waiting time on phones, tablets, and older computers.
- Stable gameplay pace. Long cutscenes and constant pop-up notifications don’t interrupt the session.
- Traditional themes. Fruit symbols, bars, sevens, and classic casino designs still attract large audiences.
- Smaller menus. Important information appears immediately without complicated tabs or hidden sections.
Modern video slots often contain too many mechanics in a single game. Developers now combine expanding reels, random modifiers, mission systems, tournaments, and multiple bonus levels in one title. Many visitors lose interest because gameplay turns repetitive and overloaded with constant interruptions.
Compare this to a session when you get results immediately and aren’t interrupted. These still have free spins and even mini risk games, but not as loaded as innovative titles.
Conclusion
Simple slots usually create better replay value because people understand the mechanics immediately. Common and standard gameplay doesn’t cause frustration and allows faster decisions during casino sessions.
Many classic slots also function better during short breaks because rounds finish quickly without long bonus interruptions. That’s why simpler slots became popular again at many casinos, including Casino Online CrazyTower and such.
