The consideration of any issue relating to the Holocaust brings with it complexity and the possibility of controversy. This is especially true when it comes to the topic of Jewish resistance to the Holocaust. Historians are often divided on this complex issue, debating questions such as the definition of "resistance" and, consistent with that definition, the extent of resistance that occurred. According to Michael Marrus, “the very term Jewish resistance suggests a point of view.” Many factors, both internal, such as differences of opinion on the timing or type of resistance, and external, such as the lack of weapons with which to revolt, have contributed to making resistance, especially armed resistance, extremely difficult. When considering acts of Jewish resistance, it is important to consider both direct and indirect forms of resistance, and to avoid downplaying the resistance efforts made. Despite many factors making resistance difficult, Jews led both direct and indirect resistance, often more than historians give them credit for. On the whole, Jews did not accept their deaths in silence, like sheep destined for the slaughter. Countless internal factors made Jewish resistance extremely difficult. Most explicit were the horrible conditions of the ghettos and concentration camps, which led to malnutrition, as well as the extensive forced labor imposed on inmates, which caused poor general health. When living conditions worsened further with rapidly increasing death rates in concentration camps between 1940 and 1942, conditions were so poor that survival was the inmates' only concern; there was no time to think about resistance. As the Jews began to realize their impending ext...... middle of paper ...... Niewyk, 129-145. Lexington: D.C. Heath and Company, 1992. Hilberg, Raul. “Two thousand years of appeasement of the Jews.” In The Holocaust, edited by Donald L. Niewyk, 114-120. Lexington: DC Heath and Company, 1992. Krakowski, Shmuel. “The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.” In The Holocaust, edited by Donald L. Niewyk, 145-159. Lexington: DC Heath and Company, 1992. Marrus, Michael R. “Jewish Resistance.” In The Holocaust in History, 133-155. Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys Limited, 1987. Marrus, Michael R. “Jewish Resistance to the Holocaust.” Journal of Contemporary History 30, n°1 (1995): 83-110. http://www.jstor.org/stable/260923. Pingel, Falk. “Resistance and resignation in the Nazi concentration and extermination camps”. Translated by J. Sondheimer. In The Politics of Genocide, edited by Gerhard Hirschfeld, 30-72. London: German Historical Institute, 1986.