Editing Judenrat

{{short description|"Jewish councils" in Nazi-occupied territories}}
{{Italic title|reason=[[:Category:German words and phrases]]}}
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{{redirect|Jewish Council|other uses}}
{{Expand language|topic=|langcode=ru|otherarticle=Юденрат|date=January 2025}}
{{Needs more citations|date=January 2023}}
[[File:Członkowie Judenratu w Szydłowcu.jpg|thumb|''Judenrat'' in the town of [[Szydłowiec]] in [[occupied Poland]], where the Jewish population was in the majority before [[the Holocaust]]]]

A '''''Judenrat'''''{{efn|Plural: ''Judenräte''.}} ({{IPA|de|ˈjuːdn̩ˌʁaːt|lang}}, {{lit|Jewish council}}) was an administrative body established in [[German-occupied Europe]] during [[World War II]] which purported to represent a [[Jew]]ish community in dealings with the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi authorities]]. The Germans required Jews to form ''Judenräte'' across the occupied territories at local and sometimes national levels.<ref name="Trunk1972"/>

''Judenräte'' were particularly common in [[Nazi ghettos]] in Eastern Europe where in some cases, such as the [[Łódź Ghetto]], and in [[Theresienstadt concentration camp|Theresienstadt]], they were known as the "Jewish Council of Elders" (''Jüdischer Ältestenrat'' or ''Ältestenrat der Juden'').<ref name="yv-terezin">{{cite web|url= http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/about/03/terezin.asp|title= The Ghettos Theresienstadt|publisher= Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority|access-date= 12 December 2011|archive-date= 25 December 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111225150123/http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/about/03/terezin.asp|url-status= dead}}</ref> Jewish communities themselves had established councils for self-government as early as the [[Middle Ages]]. The Jewish community used the Hebrew term ''Kahal'' (קהל) or ''Kehillah'' (קהילה), whereas the German authorities generally used the term ''Judenräte''.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=9: The Judenrat Dilemma |title=Explaining the Holocaust: How and Why It Happened |url=https://www.lutterworth.com/wp-content/uploads/extracts/explaining-the-holocaust-ch9.pdf |last=Schreiber |first=Mordecai |publisher=The Lutterworth Press |pages=91-96 |id={{JSTOR|j.ctt1cg4j5b.15}} }}</ref>

==Nazi considerations of Jewish legal status==
The structure and missions of the ''Judenräte'' under the Nazi regime varied widely, often depending upon whether meant for [[Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe|a single ghetto]], a city or a whole region. Jurisdiction over a whole country, as in [[Nazi Germany]], was maintained by ''[[Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland]]'' (Reich's Association of the Jews in Germany) established on 4 July 1939.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www1.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%204679.pdf |title=Yad Vashem Archives |author=Josef Israel Loewenherz |date=1 June 1942 |journal=Head of the Jewish Community in Vienna Informs About the Intended Evacuation of Jews to Theresienstadt Concentration Camp |publisher=Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority |access-date=1 April 2015 |archive-date=18 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718195916/http://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%204679.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

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 the [[Chancellor of Germany#Chancellor of the Third Reich (1933–1945)|Reichskanzler]], 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 the ''Judenrat''. However, the report was not officially acted upon.<ref name=Michman2003>{{cite book | last=Michman | first=Dan |chapter=Jewish 'Headships' under Nazi Rule: The Evolution and Implementation of an Administrative Concept | title=Holocaust historiography: a Jewish perspective: conceptualizations, terminology, approaches, and fundamental issues |url=https://archive.org/details/holocausthistori0000mikh/mode/2up |url-access=registration | publisher=Vallentine Mitchell | publication-place=London; Portland, OR | year=2003 | isbn=0-85303-436-2 | pages=159–175}}</ref>

The Israeli historian [[Dan Michman]] found it likely that the commission, which considered the legal status and interactions of Jews and non-Jews before their [[Jewish emancipation|emancipation]], reached back to the Medieval Era for the term ''Judenräte''. This illuminates the apparent intent to make the Jewish emancipation and assimilation invalid, and so return Jews to the status they held during the Medieval Era.<ref name=Michman2003/>

==Occupied territories==
[[File:Stroop Report - Warsaw Ghetto Uprising 02.jpg|thumb|300px|The building of the Jewish Council in [[Warsaw]], burned during the [[Warsaw Ghetto Uprising]] ]]
The first actual ''Judenräte'' were established in [[occupied Poland]] under [[Reinhard Heydrich]]'s orders on 21 September 1939, during the [[German assault on Poland]], and later in the occupied territories of the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="Trunk1972">[[Isaiah Trunk|Trunk, Isaiah]] ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=D7bobfzrcCoC Judenrat: the Jewish Councils in Eastern Europe under Nazi Occupation]'' with an introduction by Jacob Robinson. New York: Macmillan, 1972. {{ISBN|080329428X}}.</ref>

The ''Judenräte'' 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 local ''Judenrat'' was to include [[rabbi]]s 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|date=January 2020}}

Further ''Judenräte'' were established on 18 November 1939, upon the orders of [[Hans Frank]], head of the ''[[General Government|Generalgouvernment]]''. 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 were to have selected an executive and assistant executive as well.  Results were to be presented to the German city or county controlling officer for recognition.  While theoretically democratic, in reality the councils were often determined by the occupiers.  While the German occupiers only minimally involved themselves in the voting, those whom the Germans first chose often refused participation to avoid becoming exploited by the occupiers.  As a rule, therefore, the traditional speaker of the community was named and elected, preserving the community continuity.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

==Missions and duties==
[[File:Applying for identification and work permits from Jewish Council in the Krakow ghetto.jpg|thumb|left|Applying for identification and work permits from [[Kraków Ghetto Jewish Council]]]]
The Nazis systematically sought to weaken the resistance potential and opportunities of the Jews of [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]]. The early ''Judenräte'' 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 the ''Judenräte'' 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. <ref>Gilbert, A History of the Holocaust, (2000)</ref>

Through these occupation measures, and the simultaneous prevention of government services, the Jewish communities suffered serious shortages. For this reason, early ''Judenräte'' 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|date=January 2020}}

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 their ''Judenrat''.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

[[Tadeusz Piotrowski (sociologist)|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."<ref>Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide in the Second Republic, 1918-1947
Tadeusz Piotrowski - 2007
''In any case, the Judenrat became an instrument in the hands of the Gestapo for the extermination of the Jews'' page 73-74</ref>

The question of whether participation in the Judenrat constituted [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|collaboration with the Germans]] remains a controversial issue to this day.<ref name="Trunk1996">{{cite book |author=Isaiah Trunk |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D7bobfzrcCoC&pg=PA572 |title=Judenrat: The Jewish Councils in Eastern Europe Under Nazi Occupation |date=1 January 1996 |publisher=U of Nebraska Press |isbn=0-8032-9428-X |page=572 |access-date=28 June 2020 |archive-date=24 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124154042/https://books.google.com/books?id=D7bobfzrcCoC&pg=PA572#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=The crime: Collaborating with the Nazis. The punishment: Excommunication from Judaism|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-the-crime-collaborating-with-nazis-the-punishment-excommunication-from-judaism-1.7732097|access-date=2020-06-28|newspaper=Haaretz|language=en|archive-date=29 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629155134/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-the-crime-collaborating-with-nazis-the-punishment-excommunication-from-judaism-1.7732097|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Schwarz2015">{{cite book|author=Jan Schwarz|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eiG9CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA119|title=Survivors and Exiles: Yiddish Culture after the Holocaust|date=15 May 2015|publisher=Wayne State University Press|isbn=978-0-8143-3906-0|page=119|access-date=28 June 2020|archive-date=24 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124154141/https://books.google.com/books?id=eiG9CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA119#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Gilliatt2000">{{cite book|author=Stephen Gilliatt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nyeDAAAAMAAJ|title=An Exploration of the Dynamics of Collaboration and Non-resistance|publisher=E. Mellen Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-7734-7770-4|page=95, 99|access-date=28 June 2020|archive-date=24 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124154155/https://books.google.com/books?id=nyeDAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Dawidowicz1981">{{cite book |author=Lucy S. Dawidowicz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S8WEAAAAIAAJ |title=The Holocaust and the historians |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-674-40566-0 |page=135 |access-date=28 June 2020 |archive-date=24 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231124154143/https://books.google.com/books?id=S8WEAAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=GLASS |first=JAMES M. |date=1999-10-01 |title=Two Models of Political Organization: Collaboration Versus Resistance |journal=American Behavioral Scientist |language=en |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=278–300 |doi=10.1177/00027649921955263 |issn=0002-7642 |s2cid=145068118}}</ref> The view that Jewish councils collaborated in the Holocaust has been challenged by Holocaust historians including [[Isaiah Trunk]] in his 1972 book, ''Judenrat: The Jewish Councils in Eastern Europe Under Nazi Occupation''. Summarizing Trunk's research, Holocaust scholar [[Michael Berenbaum]] writes: "In the final analysis, the Judenräte had no influence on the frightful outcome of the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]]; the Nazi extermination machine was alone responsible for the tragedy, and the Jews in the occupied territories, most especially [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|Poland]], were far too powerless to prevent it."<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0011_0_10457.html| title = Judenrat| author = Berenbaum, Michael| access-date = 28 September 2013| publisher = jewishvirtuallibrary.org| archive-date = 2 October 2013| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131002132840/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0011_0_10457.html| url-status = live}}</ref> {{Better source needed|reason=Source used may be not reliable, itself cites Encyclopaedia Judaica, which would be a better source for the information presented here.|date=April 2024}} This remains a topic of considerable scholarly disagreement.

==Ghettos==
[[File:Jewish Police Węgrów.jpg|thumb|Jewish police in the [[Węgrów Ghetto]], Poland]]
''Judenräte'' were responsible for the internal administration of ghettos, standing between the Nazi occupiers and their Jewish communities. In general, the ''Judenräte'' represented the elite from their Jewish communities. Often, a ''Judenrat'' had a group for internal security and control, a [[Jewish 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 to [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]], placed them in the position of cooperating with the German occupiers. To resist such orders was to risk [[summary execution]], or quick replacement and inclusion in the next concentration-camp shipment.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

In a number of cases, such as the [[Minsk ghetto]] and the [[Lakhva Ghetto|Łachwa ghetto]], ''Judenräte'' cooperated with the [[resistance movement]]. In other cases, ''Judenräte'' cooperated with the Germans (although, as discussed above, the extent of this collaboration remains debated).

== See also ==
* [[Ghetto uprising]]s
* [[Adam Czerniaków]], head of the [[Warsaw Ghetto]] ''Judenrat''
* [[Dov Lopatyn]], head of the Judenrat in [[Lakhva|Łachwa]], [[Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany|German-occupied Poland]]
* [[Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski]], head of the Council of Elders in the [[Łódź Ghetto]]
* [[Bratislava Working Group]], a resistance organisation formed by members of the '' Judenrat'' in [[Bratislava]], [[Slovak Republic (1939-45)|Slovakia]]
* [[Jewish councils in Hungary]], existed in 1944–1945, during the German occupation of Hungary
* [[Theresienstadt Ghetto]], a fortress in Bohemia where a Nazi-appointed "cultural council" organized the life of the Jewish prisoners.

== References ==
{{notelist}}
{{reflist}}

==Literature==

* {{cite book | last=Trunk | first=Isaiah | title=Judenrat: The Jewish Councils in Eastern Europe under Nazi Occupation |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Judenrat/D7bobfzrcCoC?hl=en | publisher=[[Stein and Day|Stein & Day Pub]] | publication-place=New York | date=1977 | isbn=0-8128-2170-X }}
* {{cite journal |first=Verena |last=Wahlen |title=Select Bibliography on Judenraete under Nazi Rule |journal=[[Yad Vashem#Yad Vashem Studies|Yad Vashem Studies]] |volume=10 |year=1974 |pages=277-294 }}
* {{cite journal |first=Aharon |last=Weiss |title=Jewish Leadership in Occupied Poland -  Postures and Attitudes |journal=[[Yad Vashem#Yad Vashem Studies|Yad Vashem Studies]] |volume=12 |year=1977 |pages=335-365 }}
* {{cite book |first=Marian |last=Fuks |chapter=Das Problemm der Judenraete und Adam Czerniaks Anstaendigkeit |editor-first=Stefi |editor-last=Jersch-Wenzel |title=Deutsche - Polen - Juden |publisher=Colloquium Verl |location=Berlin |year=1987 |isbn=3-7678-0694-0 |pages=229-239 |language=de }}
* {{cite book |first=Dan |last=Diner |chapter=Jenseits der Vorstellbaren - Der 'Judenrat' als Situation | editor-last1=Loewy | editor-first1=Hanno | editor-last2=Schoenberner | editor-first2=Gerhard | editor-last3=Jüdisches Museum Frankfurt a.M. | title=Unser einziger Weg ist Arbeit: Das Ghetto in Lodz 1940–1944 | publisher=Löcker | publication-place=Vienna | year=1990 | isbn=3-85409-169-9 | language=de }}
* {{cite book | last=Diner | first=Dan | title=Gedächtniszeiten: Ueber Juedische und Andere Geschichten | publisher=C.H. Beck | publication-place=München | year=2003 | isbn=3-406-50560-0 | language=de }}
* {{cite book | last=Rabinovici | first=Doron | title=Instanzen der Ohnmacht - Wien 1938–1945 - Der Weg zum Judenrat | publisher=Jüdischer Verlag | publication-place=Frankfurt am Main | year=2000 | isbn=3-633-54162-4 | language=de }}
* {{cite book | last=Michman | first=Dan |chapter=Jewish 'Headships' under Nazi Rule: The Evolution and Implementation of an Administrative Concept | title=Holocaust historiography: a Jewish perspective: conceptualizations, terminology, approaches, and fundamental issues |url=https://archive.org/details/holocausthistori0000mikh/mode/2up |url-access=registration | publisher=Vallentine Mitchell | publication-place=London; Portland, OR | year=2003 | isbn=0-85303-436-2 | pages=159–175}}
* {{cite book | last=Michman | first=Dan |chapter=On the Historical Interpretation of the Judenräte Issue: Between Intentionalism, Functionalism and the Integrationist Approach of the 1990s | editor-last=Zimmermann | editor-first=Mosche | title=On Germans and Jews Under the Nazi Regime | publisher=[[The Hebrew University Magnes Press]] | publication-place=Jerusalem | date=2006 | isbn=978-965-493-254-7 | pages=385–397}}

==External links==
* [https://collections.jewishmuseum.cz/index.php/Search/Index?search=judenrat Documents about the Judenrat in the Ghetto Terezín (Theresienstadt)] in the collection of the [https://www.jewishmuseum.cz/ Jewish Museum Prague] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109205301/https://www.jewishmuseum.cz/ |date=9 January 2019 }}.
* Correspondence between JDC and representatives of Jewish community organizations located inside the [http://search.archives.jdc.org/notebook.asp?lang=ENG&dlang=ENG&module=search&page=list&rsvr=4&param=%3Cuppernav%3Eglobal%3C/%3E%3Cnob%3E1%3C/%3E%3Cdlang%3EENG%3C/%3E%3Crsvr_ser%3E@@4@@NAMES@@2%3C/%3E%3Csearch_type%3Eglobal%3C/%3E%3Cnrsvr%3EY%3C/%3E%3Csort%3ERN@A%3C/%3E%3Cdispq%3EWORDz3z2626087%3C/%3E%3Cquery_name%3Eideanet-app_3788_938388%3C/%3E%3Cquantity%3E10%3C/%3E%3Cstart_entry%3E1%3C/%3E%3Cnum_of_items%3E3%3C/%3E%3Cquery_index%3E@global%3C/%3E%3Cthumb%3E0%3C/%3E%3Csmode%3Edts%3C/%3E%3Cfirst_item%3E1%3C/%3E%3Cbook_id%3E2626087%3C/%3E%3Cview%3Erecords%3C/%3E%3Cwords%3E2626087@@0002626087@@2626087@@0002626087@@n%3C/%3E&param2=%3Cnvr%3E3%3C/%3E%3Csearch_type%3Eglobal%3C/%3E%3Cnob%3E0%3C/%3E&site=ideaalm Collection: Records of the American Joint Distribution Committee: Warsaw office, 1939–1941] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604015301/http://search.archives.jdc.org/notebook.asp?lang=ENG&dlang=ENG&module=search&page=list&rsvr=4&param=%3Cuppernav%3Eglobal%3C%2F%3E%3Cnob%3E1%3C%2F%3E%3Cdlang%3EENG%3C%2F%3E%3Crsvr_ser%3E%40%404%40%40NAMES%40%402%3C%2F%3E%3Csearch_type%3Eglobal%3C%2F%3E%3Cnrsvr%3EY%3C%2F%3E%3Csort%3ERN%40A%3C%2F%3E%3Cdispq%3EWORDz3z2626087%3C%2F%3E%3Cquery_name%3Eideanet-app_3788_938388%3C%2F%3E%3Cquantity%3E10%3C%2F%3E%3Cstart_entry%3E1%3C%2F%3E%3Cnum_of_items%3E3%3C%2F%3E%3Cquery_index%3E%40global%3C%2F%3E%3Cthumb%3E0%3C%2F%3E%3Csmode%3Edts%3C%2F%3E%3Cfirst_item%3E1%3C%2F%3E%3Cbook_id%3E2626087%3C%2F%3E%3Cview%3Erecords%3C%2F%3E%3Cwords%3E2626087%40%400002626087%40%402626087%40%400002626087%40%40n%3C%2F%3E&param2=%3Cnvr%3E3%3C%2F%3E%3Csearch_type%3Eglobal%3C%2F%3E%3Cnob%3E0%3C%2F%3E&site=ideaalm |date=4 June 2020 }}

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[[Category:Judenrat| ]]
[[Category:Jewish collaboration with Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:Nazi terminology]]
[[Category:Holocaust terminology]]