Holocaust Remembrance

In the face of Hitler’s plan to annihilate the Jews, the Jewish community organized itself in the ghettos so as to resist spiritually, emotionally, and physically to the Nazi persecutions and murder plans. The different forms of resistance of the Jewish community living in the ghetto can be classified under the terms “Official Community”, “The Alternative Community”, and the “Counter Community” (History of the Holocaust College Course).

Within the Official community falls the Judenrat and the Jewish police(Unarmed Resistance and Other Reponses, p.234-246). The Judenrat was established in 1939-1940 before the systematic killings began and continued afterwards as an institution that was confronted with many challenges. The Jewish Police established by the Nazi orders was an alien institution to the Jewish community living in the Diaspora. As the Official Community is challenged, the Alternative Community forms to cater to the needs of the Jewish community through underground activities. Perspectives of the counter community can be encountered in the desire to resist the implementation of the Nazi policies and to take a stand against them not only at the community level, but also at the individual level. During the Holocaust, some Jews hoped to escape the life of the ghetto by joining with the Partisans and gathering strength for an armed response against the Nazis, while supporters of Zionism would’ve preferred immigrating to the Land of Israel.

The Official Community was compromised of the Judenrat, the official council created by the Nazis in Poland and the territories of Soviet Union to carry out their orders (History of the Holocaust College Course). As the American historian Lucy Dawidowicz points out, there were usually 12 members forming the Judenrat or 24 members in the case of larger communities. It was believed that the Judenrat would work as a Kehillah (community), an intermediate body that will be able to negotiate matters with the Nazis for the Jews.

The Jews who first agreed to serve for the Judenrat considered this to be as a result of a communal sense of responsibility for their brethren. The Judenrat members were from the middle class and some served as communal leaders before the establishment of the Judenrat. As a counter community, Zionists and younger Jews preferred to be members of the Bund (the Jewish Socialist Party) and refused to be part of the Judenrat. Nazis forbade women from serving in the Judenrat. As such, there were political tensions between the members of the Judenrat and those who chose not to serve.

The Germans carried out their orders by terrorizing the Jewish community. The members of the Judenrat would be either shot immediately or sent to labor camps if they did not carry out the Nazi orders, so the future members of the Judenrat learned they were to obey without protest so as not to lose their lives. The Judenrat carried out functions normally associated with the municipality. There was the Jewish police, firefighters, public health services, and sanitation. Dawidowicz remarks that the members of the Judenrat had a dual role. Though they were to carry the Nazi orders, they also regarded themselves as comforters of the Jews since they were in charge of food distribution and medical services.


The income of the Judenrat came from the collection of the fees that Jews were to pay to be exempted from forced labor (History of the Holocaust). There were institutions such as a public kitchen, hospitals, clinics, disinfectant stations, and communal shelters for the homeless. The second task of the Judenrat was to supply forced laborers to the Germans for which they set up a labor registry for both men and women. The labor draft consisted of 20 hours of work daily, with no food. The Judenrat had to provide 10,000 Jewish laborers daily. Due to the harsh conditions of the forced labor, the Judenrat began to cease Jews on the street with the help of the Jewish police. The Judenrat was perceived as increasingly coercive. Its goal was to prevent the Germans from entering the ghetto. If the Jews evaded the labor duty, they were transgressing the ghetto rules and putting in jeopardy the existence of the ghetto.

The Judenrat hoped to ensure Jewish survival by having Jews produce what the Nazis needed (Unarmed Resistance and Other Reponses, p.234).  As head of the Judenrat, Chaim Rumkovski applied the idea of ghetto industry in the Lodz ghetto in Poland (Jewish Resistance-Myth Or Reality, p. 269-273). This was the second largest ghetto after the Warsaw ghetto, and contained 117 factories were Jews worked. Rumkovski wanted to show that Jews were invaluable to the Germans. This Strategy was also employed in the ghettos of Vilna and Bialystok (Documents of the Holocaust#198, p. 231).

In exchange, the Jewish police was established by the Judenrat to carry the orders of the Germans as the Germans indicated there should be a police force in the ghetto (History of the Holocaust College Course). Thus, the Jewish police also served this incompatible role of protecting the order in the ghetto while enforcing the German orders. Those who enrolled in the Jewish police force were hoping to gain benefits such as better distribution of ratios and avoiding deportations, which eventually turned to be untrue.  Many Jewish policemen were converts to Catholicism. One such example is Joseph Szernvski, the chief of the Jewish Police who was a Polish Jewish convert to Catholicism (History of the Holocaust). In terms of religious life, the Jews could not attend the synagogue but Jews who were Catholics were allowed to attend churches within the confines of the ghetto.


The Great Deportations began in Summer of 1942 and as such, 8,000 Jews were taken everyday to Treblinka and gassed (History of the Holocaust College Course). The Jewish policemen stood by the gates of the ghetto to ensure that Jews returned from work without food or weapons.  The Jewish police was also checked by the Polish police. They would also examine work papers to make sure same person returned. The Jewish policemen have come to be identified as the enemies of the ghetto.

After 1942, there are clashes between the Judenrat and the Jewish police. The Jewish police was established simultaneously with the ghetto. Of all the services for which the Judenrat was in charge, the police force was the most foreign institution to the Jewish community as it is a new institution in the Diaspora. The Jewish police was hard to control and it was evolving as an independent force.

In Warsaw, the chief of the Judenrat commits suicide and the Jewish police took over the ultimate authority (History of the Holocaust College Course). Towards 1942-1943, the Gestapo gave orders directly to the Jewish police instead of the Judenrat. There is a deterioration of the relation between the Jewish police and the community because the police are in charge of seizing people and sending them away.

The Jewish police would stand by the entrance of the ghetto to check for smuggling activities as due to the harsh conditions of the ghetto, people would bring potatoes, bread, or other food items, since food supplies were so scarce in the ghetto and starvation prevailed (History of the Holocaust College Course).  Before the onset of deportations, the Judenrat believed that Germany would soon be defeated and that the Germans were only interested in exploiting the Jews so it was only a matter of time before this would stop. Therefore, resistance would be counterproductive.

At the initial stages of for the formation of the Judenrat, the members of the Judenrat who did not want to follow orders were killed or shot.  In order to survive, the leaders of the Judenrat believed they have to show to the Germans that Jews are useful. Once such example is the Lodzc ghetto (Jewish Resistance-Myth Or Reality, p. 269-273). There were 70,000 people here in 1944. Rumkovski was the leader of the Judenrat, and he saved the 70,000 Jews there. The ghettoes without production did not survive. Though some Jews went to join the Partisans, some of the Partisans refused to accept the Jews and so they would either kill the Jews or refuse to give them weapons to fight.

As mentioned by Dawidovicz, the Alternative Community takes shape as the Official community is challenged by the German orders (History of the Holocaust College Course). The alternative community serves the goal of protecting the community in order to give some meaning to the life in the ghetto. As such, they created welfare organizations and social, cultural, and religious underground activities that the Germans would not allow otherwise to take place. Resistance comes to include writing, poetry, schools, theaters, plays, orchestras, and welfare activities performed on a voluntary basis. One example of how this took place is the TOZ institution—the Society for the Preservation of Health in Poland. In the ghettos, they established clinics, orphanages, and soup kitchens. Throughout Poland, there were about 412 organizations to provide supplies and assistance, while in Warsaw, there were 145 soup kitchens and 45 only for children which served thousands of meals, distributing clothing and medicine through smuggling activities. 

Religious life in the ghetto was officially nonexistent, as the Nazis did not recognize  the Jews as a religious group (History of the Holocaust College Course). For example, in the Warsaw ghetto, coverts to Catholicism were allowed to go to Churches, while Jews were not allowed to go to synagogue. Private and public worship, kosher slaughtering, and religious education were outlawed. However, there were hundreds of secret Talmudic academies, secret places for prayer in the cellars, attics, or bathrooms. In the city of Cracow, the services were held secretly with the help of the Jewish police who also prayed. In 1939, all Jewish schools were closed down.

Though Jewish schools were not allowed, underground schools were established. As such, there were Zionist schools teaching in Hebrew and leftists or socialist schools teaching in Yiddish. In the Locz ghetto, there were 10,000 Jewish children in 45 Jewish schools. The ghetto schools represent for many a surrogate family as children without families get a sense of emotional security and care.  In October 1942, Rudoskevsky (killed in early 1943) wrote in his diary that attending a play in the ghetto constituted a form of spiritual resistance. In the Warsaw ghetto there were five theaters, three performing in Polish, and two in Yiddish. In some places, Jews considered that “A graveyard is no place for entertainment’ (History of the Holocaust). In Warsaw, the Jews were not allowed to have libraries. However, there were underground libraries cared for by courier librarians.

When assessing the attempts towards resistance of the Jewish population in the ghetto, it is important to remember that the Nazis had the goal to carry out their policies in secret, so that the Jews would not receive any potential aid from external sources that might be sympathetic to the suffering of the Jews. Moreover, the ghettos were closed down to prevent communication with the outside world. Many refused to believe such atrocities against the Jews could take place while those who were familiar with what was happening and had the power to prevent this did not want to interfere remaining indifferent. Yet, in spite of the severe circumstances in the ghetto, the response of the Jewish community to remain united and organize itself underground is admirable. 

The actions of the perpetrators against the Jews during the Holocaust involved acts of violence, cruelty, and mass murder of innocent civilian men, women, and children (History of the Holocaust). Though some of the actions of mass murder were carried out by special Nazi forces trained to kill without hesitation, such as the Einsatzgruppen, there were numerous other incidents in which ordinary people participated in these atrocities to support the mass killings of Jewish civilians, whether because they volunteered to participate in the mass murder, chose to follow the orders instead of refusing even when there was no penalty otherwise, or because they were indifferent to what was happening to the Jews. Historians who assess the actions of the perpetrators point out that given the situation in Germany during this time period, Germany did not act alone and many countries did not oppose Germany, while local people contributed either by volunteering to participate in the killings or by demonstrating apathy to the plight of the Jews (Documents on the Holocaust #189-190, p. 230).

One of the key factors that contributed to implementing these actions of mass murder was the motivations of those who participated in the killings (History of the Holocaust). Though most Germans did not display a violent inclination, most Germans were indifferent to the plight of the Jews. The work of three historians is crucial in understanding this question: Hilber, Browning, and Friedlander (History of the Holocaust). These historians emphasize that the Holocaust couldn’t have happened without the help of many Germans. Not all people were adhering to the Nazi ideology. Yet, local people helped locate and identify Jews and even kill them without protesting. The historian Godhagen explored the role of Ordinary Germans, Browning explored the role of Ordinary men, and Omer Barton explored the role of Ordinary Nazis. Goldhagen point out that Germans were intrinsically antisemitic.

Moreover, ordinary Germans become executioners based on their own free will. Those who participated in the shootings were members of the SS or Members of the Hitler Youth, who were trained to kill (Documents of the Holocaust#189, p. 230). Browning emphasizes the role of peer pressure, the desire to attain a career, and adherence to authority as factors that contributed to transforming these individuals into killers within the context of World War II. At the same time, there were also ordinary men whose actions were not influenced by propaganda and anti-Jewish legislation.  Browning  studied the Police Batallion 101, where there were reservists, ordinary people who were called to the front to maintain the order and they were asked to participate in the shootings. On average they were of 45 years of age, so they were familiar with the situation in Germany before the establishment of the Third Reich.

Browning examines the testimonials given to the court and very few men were enthusiastic Nazis or exposed to Nazi propaganda. Omer Barton’s research stresses these were ideological people (German Killers, p.153-179). He points out it was tolerated to abstain from shooting but not from protesting (German Killers, p.178). There were no consequences for those who refused to participate in the killings.

At the Nuremberg trials, the dominant excuse was that they were only following orders (History of the Holocaust). Phillip Zimbardo (1971) conducted a controversial experiment at Standford University where he showed a shocking conclusion that when 70 undergraduate students were asked to play the role of prisoner and prisoner guards, they obeyed orders without giving much thought. Browning points out that the Germans behaved in a very specific way when they were told to kill Jews. Since German Jews were much more familiar to them, it was easier to kill Jews from other regions of Eastern Europe. He points out that people got accustomed to carry the orders and be exposed to violence.

In charge of the mass murder, Himmler gave the Posen Speech in 1945 where he announced that four million Jews had been exterminated, without conveying any pity. Himmler as head of the SS groups was speaking in front of the members of the Einzatzgruppen when he referred to the mass shootings of the Jews. He emphasized that the matter must state private.

At the Wannsee Conference that took place in January 1942, Heydrich is appointed as the chief executor of the final solution and mass murder is to be institutionalized throughout Europe (History of the Holocaust). This murder policy was directed at killing every Jew from Ireland to the Mediterranean. The plan was to exterminate 11,000,000 Jews. In January 20, 1942, the Germans were not sure which methods to use to carry the mass murder as the mass shootings were too slow. In Western Europe it was not possible to shoot Jews in mass graves. By December 1941, they killed through mass shooting about 600,000 people. The Operation Reinhard that takes place in October 1941 was directed at constructing extermination centers in Belz, Chelmno, and Sobibor to exterminate Polish Jews as mass shootings were not considered efficient enough. At the Protocols of the Wannsee Conference, the Nazis issued a death sentence for all Jews, making the mass murder a global policy. With the operation Reinhard, the Nazis will exterminate all the Jews living in the General Governmemt from October-November 1941 for Polish Jews.  There were six extermination centers in Poland at Treblinka, Majdanek, Sobibor, Birkenau, Belzec, and Chelmno. More than two million people are killed in these extermination centers.

David Engel, one of the most prominent historians of the Holocaust, points out that Jews were instructed to gather for “resettlement in the East”, but they were not told this meant being deported to a killing center (History of the Holocaust). The Germans sealed off the exits of the ghettoes.

At this time, the areas that were not under Nazis were England, Iceland, and Soviet Union (History of the Holocaust). German forces were not as powerful in Western Europe. After the failure of the blitzkrieg, Hitler required a greater production of weapons. They had brought foreign workmen from races almost Aryan such as the French and Dutch and some countries in Eastern Europe. It is evident that without the extensive collaboration of the indigenous forces, the Germans would have been unable to carry this plan. In Russian, many Ukrainians and Lithuanians helped them (Documents of the Holocaust #188-190, p.229-220).

The killing of 1.6 million Jews in the Soviet Russia couldn’t have been carried out without the collaboration of Ukrainians and Lithuanians (The Jewish Community in the Soviet Annexed Territories on the Eve of the Holocaust, p.191-197). In 1941, Ukraine and the Baltic countries were under the control of Soviet Russia. As such, they welcomed the Germans enthusiastically. In Eastern Europe, the Poles also welcomed the Nazis as the better of the two evils. Jews preferred the Soviets as opposed to the Germans. Here, the Einzatzgruppen requested for volunteers to be part of their SS group (Documents of the Holocaust #189-190, p.230). In Galicia, Ukraine, when the Nazis issued the call for arms, more than 100,000 volunteers responded out of which 30,000 will be employed.

In Western Europe, the deportations took place beginning in the summer of 1942 (History of the Holocaust). In the early stages, it was easy for the Nazis to rely on the help of the local authorities. For example, the French and the Dutch police help them round up the Jews, held them in transit camps, and then sent the convoy to the East.

The presence of local police appeared like a sign of reassurance for the Jews who did not suspect the tragic outcome. Collaboration became easier as the local police grew accustomed with the presence of the Nazi forces in their midst. In the beginning of these deportations, the Germans wanted foreign Jews, which made it easier for the French authorities to get rid of the Eastern European Jews since they were not as acculturated as the French Jews. The Jews were told they would be sent to the labor camps in the East. Most policemen did not know, but with time they become aware. In France, Jews were deported from 16 years of age and above. Under the false pretense of having the Jews be “reunited” with their families in the labor camps, the Jews were exterminated. The ease with which the local authorities was in acquiescence with the Nazi measures indicates how popular antisemitism was in Europe.

The case of the Jewish community in Denmark shows how people behaved totally different than the Nazi Germans and the Western powers who agreed to the Nazi measures (History of the Holocaust). In the summer of 1943, the people on the street helped transfer the Jews by boats to Sweden. The community of Jews living in Denmark was a small community of only 5,000 Jews, and they were saved with the help of the local people. Being very close to Denmark and neutral, Sweden was willing to accept the Jews. On the other hand, Switzerland was also neutral but it did not accept the Jews.

In Germany, there was a marked absence of domestic resistance to Hitler’s policies (History of the Holocaust). One noteworthy case is which there was resistance was the White Rose, group led by two young Germans Franz and Sophie Scholl. They publically voiced their disappointment to the antisemitic policies for which they were executed in 1943. There is also an unsuccessful bomb plot against Hitler in July 1944. Overall, there were no complaints about the extermination polices issued by Hitler.  Moreover, in the post war period, the Germans protected the Nazis who fled back to Germany as they had benefited from the Nazi regime.

Towards the end of the war, when the Nazis were losing the war and would’ve needed all the help they could’ve gotten to change the situation, they continued the systematic murder of the Jews not as a rational means to help win the war, but because they preferred more to exterminate the Jews. In order to hide the atrocities that occurred, the gas chambers were dismantled in November 1944 by the Nazis and the Jews are evacuated (History of the Holocaust). Mass murder of the Jews was supposed to be a secret affair as the Germans feared retribution for their war crimes and crimes against humanity.

From the facts delineated, it can be observed that the perpetrators came from different backgrounds. There were both so called “ordinary men” or “ordinary Germans”, and though some possessed extensive military training, others had no military training, but yet, who upon engaging in the mass murders against the Jews showed they could be easily transformed into criminals.

The case of the volunteers in the mass shootings in Ukraine demonstrates that those who volunteered to take part in the killings were not obligated to do so, but did so at their own free will in order to help the Nazis exterminate the Jews. This case is exemplary for the fact that antisemitism rooted in the hatred for the Jewish people was the one underlying factor that characterized those who took part in the mass murders. The criminal behavior is mechanic, showing no pity or remorse. Though the Allied Powers may have achieved victory over the Nazis, this was a long and challenging process that allowed for 6 million Jews to be murdered in the hands of the Nazis and their supporters.