Some good news! Apparently a significant number of elderly civilians, women and children who have spent months in tunnels under the Azovstal Steel Plant in Mariupol have finally been allowed to leave under the protection of the United Nations and the International Red Cross. Unfortunately, some of them do remain, along with hundreds of Ukrainian Marines and other military personnel. They have made it clear that they will fight to the end. This has happened before–from Japanese caves in Iwo Jima, to the Alamo, to the 1842 retreat from Kabul (Massacre of Elphinstone’s Army) and back through millennia. I could give you a very long list, but the one that immediately came to mind was Masada.

Masada stands on a plateau about 1,300 feet above the Dead Sea between Sodom and Ein Gedi, Israel. It was build by Herod the Great (37-4 BC) as a winter retreat, and a way to avoid enemies. It included a castle, cisterns, numerous massive storerooms and huge walls. After his death, it was used for a short time by a small Roman garrison. However, when the Great Revolt erupted in 66 AD, a group of Jews known as Sicarii, led by Eleazer Ben Yair took over the largely abandoned Masada. With the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD, a large number of rebels fled to Masada and joined Ben Yair’s group.

Realizing that a large number of Jews were holed up in Masada, 8,000 Roman legionaries surrounded the complex from 73 to 74 AD. The Romans began building siege weapons as well as using massive amounts of wood and earth to establish a siege wall and ramp at the western side of the plateau. Finally, the Romans had had enough. They built a tower on top of the ramp in order to get into the fortress. Knowing that the Romans would easily overpower everyone, all but two women and five children died. Some fought but most of them preferred to die rather than becoming slaves. We don’t know what happened when the Romans got into the fortress, but we do know that they abandoned Masada shortly after.

In the 5th century a small group of monks build a monastery at Masada, though it was ultimately deserted. Masada was taken over again during early Islam, but it too was abandoned. It wasn’t until 1828 that researchers rediscovered Masada and began exploring the area. Archeologists led by Shmariya Gutman started excavating Masada in 1953 and by the 1980s and 90’s they had found a number of structures. Additional investigation suggests that the story of Masada as written by Josephus, was not accurate. Based on remains they have found, some researchers suggest that only 25 to 30 people were involved. But whether it was 30 or 900, the story of Masada remains.

As of this morning, May 11th, the men and women holed up in the Azovstal Steel Plant remain defiant, despite increased Russian bombardment and missile attacks–eerily similar to what happened at the Stalingrad Tractor Plant, the epicenter of the Battle of Stalingrad.

Slava Ukraini

UPDATE

For a serious update on events in Mariupol and the Azovstal factory, take a look at “Dispatches From the Mariupol Siege” in the Wall Street Journal, May 12th, A17.