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AJudenrat[a] (German:[ˈjuːdn̩ˌʁaːt],lit. 'Jewish council';Yiddish:יודענראט) was an administrative body, established in any zone ofGerman-occupied Europe duringWorld War II, purporting to represent theJewish community in dealings with theNazi authorities. The Germans required Jews to formJudenräte within occupied territories at local and sometimes national levels.[1]
Judenräte were particularly common inJewish ghettos established by Nazi Germany in Eastern Europe, where in some cases, such asŁódź andTheresienstadt ghettos, they were known as the "Jewish Council of Elders" (Jüdischer Ältestenrat orÄltestenrat der Juden).[2] Jewish communities themselves had established councils for self-government as early as theMiddle Ages. The Jewish community used the Hebrew termsqahal (Hebrew:קהל) orqehilla (קהילה) but Nazi authorities used the German-language termJudenräte.[3]
The structure and missions of theJudenräte under the Nazi regime varied widely, often depending upon whether meant for a single ghetto, a city or a whole region. Jurisdiction over a whole country, as inNazi Germany, was maintained byReich Association of Jews in Germany (Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland) established on 4 July 1939.[4]
In the beginning of April 1933, shortly after the National Socialist government took power, a report by a German governmental commission on fighting the Jews was presented. This report recommended the creation of a recognized 'Association of Jews in Germany' (Verband der Juden in Deutschland), to which all Jews in Germany would be forced to associate. Appointed by theReichskanzler, a German People's Ward was then to assume responsibility of this group. As the leading Jewish organization, it was envisioned that this association would have a 25-member council called theJudenrat. However, the report was not officially acted upon.[5]
The Israeli historianDan Michman argued that the commission, which considered the legal status and interactions of Jews and non-Jews beforeJewish emancipation, traced the termJudenräte back to theMiddle Ages. This illuminates the apparent intent to make the Jewish emancipation and assimilation invalid, and so return Jews to the status they held during that era.[5]
The first actualJudenräte were established inoccupied Poland underReinhard Heydrich's orders on 21 September 1939, during theinvasion of Poland, and later in the occupied territories of theSoviet Union.[1]
TheJudenräte were to serve as a means to enforce the occupation force's anti-Jewish regulations and laws in the western and central areas of Poland, and had no authority of their own. Ideally, a localJudenrat was to includerabbis and other influential people of their local Jewish community. Thus, enforcement of laws could be better facilitated by the German authorities by using established Jewish authority figures and personages, while undermining external influences.[citation needed]
FurtherJudenräte were established on 18 November 1939, upon the orders ofHans Frank, head of theGeneralgouvernment. These councils were to have 12 members for Jewish communities of 10,000 or fewer, and up to 24 members for larger Jewish communities. Jewish communities were to elect their own councils and, by the end of 1939, select an executive and an assistant executive as well. Results were to be presented to the German city or county controlling officer for recognition. While theoretically democratic, the councils were often controlled by the occupiers. While the German occupiers were minimally involved in the voting, those whom the Germans initially selected often refused to participate to avoid exploitation by the occupiers. As a rule, therefore, the traditional speaker of the community was named and elected, preserving the community continuity.[citation needed]
The Nazis systematically sought to weaken the resistance potential and opportunities of the Jews ofCentral andEastern Europe. The earlyJudenräte were foremost to report numbers of their Jewish populations, clear residences and turn them over, present workers for forced labour, confiscate valuables, and collect tribute and turn these over. Failure to comply would incur the risk of collective punishments or other measures. Later tasks of theJudenräte included turning over community members for deportation. Ultimately, these policies and the cooperation of Jewish authorities led to massive Jewish deaths with few German casualties because of the minimal resistance. Once under Nazi control and checked for weapons, large numbers of Jews could ultimately be easily murdered or enslaved.[6]
Through these occupation measures, and the simultaneous prevention of government services, the Jewish communities suffered serious shortages. For this reason, earlyJudenräte attempted to establish replacement service institutions of their own. They tried to organize food distribution, aid stations, old age homes, orphanages and schools. At the same time, given their restricted circumstances and remaining options, they attempted to work against the occupier's forced measures and to win time. One way was to delay transfer and implementation of orders and to try playing conflicting demands of competing German interests against each other. They presented their efforts as indispensable for the Germans in managing the Jewish community, in order to improve the resources of the Jews and to move the Germans to repeal collective punishments.[citation needed]
This had, however, very limited positive results. The generally difficult situations presented often led to perceived unfair actions, such as personality preferences,sycophancy, and protectionism of a few over the rest of the community. Thus, the members of the community quickly became highly critical of, or even outright opposed theirJudenrat.[citation needed]
Tadeusz Piotrowski cites Jewish survivor Baruch Milch stating "Judenrat became an instrument in the hand of the Gestapo for extermination of the Jews... I do not know of a single instance when the Judenrat would help some Jew in a disinterested manner," though Piotrowski cautions that "Milch's is a particular account of a particular place and time... the behavior of Judenrat members was not uniform."[7]
The question of whether participation in the Judenrat constitutedcollaboration with the Germans remains a controversial issue to this day.[8][9][10][11][12][13] The view that Jewish councils collaborated in the Holocaust has been challenged by Holocaust historians includingIsaiah Trunk in his 1972 book,Judenrat: The Jewish Councils in Eastern Europe Under Nazi Occupation. Summarizing Trunk's research, Holocaust scholarMichael Berenbaum writes: "In the final analysis, the Judenräte had no influence on the frightful outcome of theHolocaust; the Nazi extermination machine was alone responsible for the tragedy, and the Jews in the occupied territories, most especiallyPoland, were far too powerless to prevent it."[14][better source needed] This remains a topic of considerable scholarly disagreement.
This controversial point i.e her criticism of the alleged role of Jewish authorities in the Holocaust is raised byHannah Arendt in her bookEichmann in Jerusalem.[15][16] In her writings, Arendt expressed her objections to the prosecution's refusal to address the cooperation of the leaders of the Judenräte with the Nazis. In the book, Arendt says that Jewish organizations and leaderships in Europe collaborated with the Nazis and were directly responsible for increasing the numbers of Jewish victims:
Wherever Jews lived, there were recognized Jewish leaders, and this leadership, almost without exception, cooperated in one way or another, for one reason or another, with the Nazis. The whole truth was that if the Jewish people had really been unorganized and leaderless, there would have been chaos and plenty of misery but the total number of victims would hardly have been between four and a half and six million people. According toFreudiger's calculations about half of them could have saved themselves if they had not followed the instructions of the Jewish Councils.[17]
She adds thatPinchas Freudiger, a witness at the trial, had managed to survive the genocide because he was wealthy and able to buy the favors of the Nazi authorities, as did other leaders of Jewish Councils.[18]
On several occasions, most notably in her interviews withJoachim Fest andGünter Gaus, Arendt refuted this characterization of her writing,[19] describing instead ways in which the Judenräte were coerced and intimidated into their roles, and how the Nazis made examples of populations that resisted,[20] saying in a response during an interview with Günter Gaus, "When people reproach me with accusing the Jewish people [of nonresistance], that is a malignant lie and propaganda and nothing else. The tone of voice, however, is an objection against me personally. And I cannot do anything about that."[21]
Judenräte were responsible for the internal administration of ghettos, standing between the Nazi occupiers and their Jewish communities. In general, theJudenräte represented the elite from their Jewish communities. Often, aJudenrat had a group for internal security and control, aJewish Ghetto Police (German: Jüdische Ghetto-Polizei or Jüdischer Ordnungsdienst). They also attempted to manage the government services normally found in a city, such as those named above. However, the Germans requiring them to deliver community members for forced labor or deportation toconcentration camps, placed them in the position of cooperating with the German occupiers. To resist such orders was to risksummary execution, or quick replacement and inclusion in the next concentration-camp shipment.[citation needed]
In a number of cases, such as theMinsk ghetto and theŁachwa ghetto,Judenräte cooperated with theresistance movement. In other cases,Judenräte cooperated with the Germans (although, as discussed above, the extent of this collaboration remains debated).
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