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Judenrat
[German, "Jewish Council"] - A form of
administration for Jewish communities in the ghettos that
was introduced
by the Nazis in 1939. In practice, the power of the
Judenrats was
limited to carrying out the occupiers' orders. Germans
usually appointed
prewar community leaders to head the Judenrats. They chose
the
remaining members of the councils, whom the occupiers then
confirmed.
The German administration oversaw the Judenrats; in larger
cities,
special offices were created. In Warsaw, for example, there
was the
Office of the Commissar of the Jewish Quarter, which was
subordinate to
the governor of the Warsaw district. In Lodz and in some
other cities,
similar offices, called the Gettoverwaltung [German, "ghetto
board"],
were subordinate to the mayors. The Judenrats also received
orders
directly from the SS and the Gestapo.
The basic decisions regulating ghetto life were made by
the German
authorities, and the Judenrats' jurisdiction was limited to
executive
and administrative matters. These included keeping a record
of the
residents; managing food, coal and other supplies; taxes;
education;
religious life; and funerals. In addition, they were
responsible for
social and health services. Moreover, the Judenrats were
required to
supply workers, organize contingents of people for labor
camps, collect
and submit contributions, and requisition valuables,
furniture, and
furs, for example. Later, they were forced to cooperate with
the Nazis
in organizing deportations to the death camps.
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The "order service" (Ordnungsdienst) was in
part subordinate to the Judenrats. These were the police
units within
the ghetto, but lacking the right to possess and use
weapons. They were
used during requisitions and round-ups, and to escort those
being
resettled, as well as during deportation actions. Most of
the Judenrat
boards tried to maneuver between the need to meet the
Germans' demands
and defend the Jews imprisoned in the ghettos, in the belief
that
further compromises would enable them to save at least some
of the
population.
The attitudes of specific members of the Judenrats
varied. The
chairman of the Warsaw Judenrat, A. Czerniakow, maintained
contacts with
the underground, organized aid, and supported civil
resistance. He was
nevertheless opposed to the idea of an armed uprising, and
when faced
with preparing deportations to the death camps, he committed
suicide. C.
Rumkowski, who headed the Lodz Judenrat, organized
deportations almost
until the very end in an attempt to protect selected groups
from being
sent away. Some Judenrat members used their positions to
enrich
themselves, or to protect their own families.
(G.Z./CM)
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