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Szmalcownicy

[Polish, from szmalec, smalec = lard, slang for "money"] - In occupation slang, szmalownicy referred to those who made money by blackmailing and denouncing Jews who were in hiding. This phenomenon existed in all larger cities where Nazis had established ghettos. After the ghettos were liquidated, it became a very serious problem for the few Jews who had managed to escape deportation to the death camps and were trying to hide "on the Aryan side".
In Warsaw, specialized bands would stand at all the possible crossing points between the ghetto and the "Aryan side", such as at the court building on Leszno Street, which had entrances on both sides. They recognized people who were in hiding from a variety of small details, such as their manner of speech and gestures, as well as the look in their eyes. Victims thus identified were usually blackmailed, and, if they could no longer pay, denounced. Although the person blackmailed would sometimes not be Jewish at all, this was nevertheless very dangerous for him or her. Often people who were helping Jews in hiding were themselves blackmailed and denounced. Some szmalownicy would offer Jews a hiding place, and then rob and denounce them, or even kill them.
The leadership of the underground state tried to combat this plague, passing death sentences and announcing the names of those condemned in the underground press. This strategy was not completely effective. The szmalownicy were not always brought to justice for their crimes after the war, and historians have not devoted much attention to this aspect of the occupation in Poland. The extent of the problem can only be estimated by indirect evidence, since the victims of the szmalownicy rarely survived.
(A.C./CM)
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Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Mokotowska 25, 00-560 Warsaw tel. (48-22) 44 76 100,
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