Benjamin Murmelstein

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Benjamin Murmelstein (born June 9, 1905 in Lemberg , Galicia , Austria-Hungary ; † October 27, 1989 in Rome ) was an Austrian rabbi , scholar and functionary of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Vienna before its dissolution by the National Socialists in March 1938. After that he was in the institution, which was forcibly renamed “Jewish Community Vienna”, was responsible for the emigration department. Later he was a member of the Judenrat in Vienna . Subsequently, he was the last Jewish elder in the Theresienstadt ghetto . Important eyewitness accounts about the crimes of the National Socialists against the Jews come from him .

Live and act

Origin, family, studies and rabbinate

Murmelstein graduated from an Orthodox family, a high school in Lemberg, the capital of Austrian Galicia. After passing his school leaving examination, he moved to Vienna in 1923 and studied philosophy and Semitic languages at the University of Vienna . At the same time, he completed a rabbinical training at the Vienna "Israelite Theological Training Institute", which he completed in 1927 with excellent results. In the same year he received his doctorate with the dissertation Adam. A contribution to the doctrine of the Messiah .

From 1931 Murmelstein worked as a rabbi for the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Vienna in the Brigittenau Temple . He also lectured from 1931 to 1938 at the Israelite Theological College and also taught religion at secondary schools in Vienna . He also conducted Judaic studies and published in this area. (See also: Jewish life in Vienna .)

Murmelstein had been married to Margit, nee Geyer, since 1933. The marriage resulted in a son named Wolf (* 1936). Murmelstein tried unsuccessfully from 1936 to 1941 to get a job abroad while most of the other rabbis emigrated. In the end he stayed with his family in Vienna, where he fought against increasing anti-Semitism during the period of Austrofascism .

Functions in the Nazi era

After Austria was annexed to the German Reich in March 1938 , Murmelstein was a member of the leadership of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien , which in March 1938 had 537 paid and 565 volunteers. A short time later he headed the “Emigration Department” created by the Nazi regime in the Viennese religious community, which was renamed the “Jewish Community” in May 1938 on the instructions of the Nazi regime. In this function, Murmelstein had to work closely with the “ Central Office for Jewish Emigration in Vienna ” created by Adolf Eichmann and Alois Brunner in August 1938 , which only served the purpose of promoting the emigration of Viennese Jews. In this function, Murmelstein was able to save the lives of many Jewish Viennese. He also acted as a well-paid, deputy head of the Jewish community in Vienna under Josef Löwenherz and developed from a “man of God to an administrator, bureaucrat and manager in misery”. As part of these activities, he had to travel abroad several times, but did not stay there, but always returned to Vienna.

The other leaders of the Jewish community served as hostages when Murmelstein traveled to London in January 1939 to organize the Kindertransporte , and with their signature they were liable for him. Murmelstein accompanied transport trains with Viennese Jews to Nisko in autumn 1939 as a Jewish functionary during the implementation of the so-called Nisko Plan . By November 1941, around 128,000 Jews were able to emigrate from Vienna .

From 1942 he and other Jewish functionaries had to do the "wagons" during the handling of the deportation trains from Vienna to the extermination camps in the east on the instructions of the Nazi authorities, which could not be prevented. Murmelstein tried to get old people and children off the deportation lists. Due to the terrible events, he got into a crisis of faith and no longer attended the synagogue . From November 1942 he was on the advisory board of the Council of Elders of the Jews in Vienna, headed by the Lionheart.

Jewish elder in the Theresienstadt ghetto

On January 29, 1943, Murmelstein was deported to Theresienstadt . The Theresienstadt prisoner Hans Günther Adler reported in 1955 that Murmelstein had not had a good reputation from Vienna. Murmelstein acted in Theresienstadt from the beginning behind Jacob Edelstein as "Second Deputy of the Jewish Elder" Paul Eppstein . In addition, shortly after his arrival in Theresienstadt, he was responsible for the health service and technical department as a department head. From April 1943 he was still in charge of the book registration of confiscated Hebrew books for cataloging by the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA). In December 1943 he took over the "internal administration", which u. a. included the area of ​​space management. In addition to Polish and German, Murmelstein learned the Czech language in Theresienstadt to understand the camp language. He lived in a room in the ghetto with his wife and son. In Theresienstadt the actress Vlasta Schönová was his girlfriend.

From September 27, 1944 to May 5, 1945, Murmelstein was the last Jewish elder in the Theresienstadt ghetto, and in this function replaced the murdered Eppstein. Murmelstein initially held this post factually and officially from December 1944.

Shortly after his appointment as Jewish elder, the autumn transports with inmates fit for work left Theresienstadt, the destination of which was the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp . However, Murmelstein was unable to influence the deportations from Theresienstadt. He tried to save as many of the interned Jews as possible through cooperation with the National Socialists, which in the case of the transports also succeeded in a few hundred cases. These were mainly doctors, nurses and other experts who were indispensable for the existence of the camp, as Murmelstein otherwise refused to compile deportation lists. He did not allow complaints about the transports either, in order to ensure that all prisoners were treated equally. He also reduced advantages for prominent prisoners , such as the special allotments for food rations.

Murmelstein learned of the extent of the Nazi extermination of Jews in Theresienstadt in December 1944 at the earliest from newly arrived Jewish Slovaks, but possibly also only in April 1945 from survivors of death marches by concentration camp prisoners who had arrived in Theresienstadt . He categorically rejected armed resistance, flight or suicide . Because he saw the danger of liquidation of the camp, he relied instead on effective organization of everyday camp life to save the Jews in the camp. He wanted to convince the SS leaders that the propaganda effect of the ghetto, which he was well aware of, worked. a. Increase the working hours in Theresienstadt to 70 hours, clean up the ghetto and women do heavy labor, thus achieving an improved infrastructure and supply situation for the inmates in the ghetto.

Murmelstein was in the propaganda filmTheresienstadt. A documentary film from the Jewish settlement area ”and was able to watch it together with SS leaders during a presentation to a delegation of the Red Cross on April 16, 1945 in Theresienstadt.

On May 5, 1945, the International Committee of the Red Cross took over the management of the Theresienstadt ghetto through Paul Dunant . At the beginning of May 1945 Leo Baeck thanked Murmelstein in writing for his work as a Jewish elder under the most difficult circumstances. Afterwards, some survivors said he would act high-handed and accept sexual favors. His “ Falstaff figure” was resented during the time of hunger, so that his replacement as camp elder was sometimes celebrated.

post war period

After the end of the war, Murmelstein stayed in Theresienstadt and helped to dissolve the ghetto. Murmelstein wrote his eyewitness reports Historical Overview and My Posting to Theresienstadt there in May / June 1945 . For alleged collaboration he was arrested and interned in June 1945, but acquitted on December 3, 1946 before a Czech people's court in Litoměřice of the allegation of collaboration. During the trial in Litoměřice against the former camp commandant of the Theresienstadt ghetto Karl Rahm from January to April 1947, Murmelstein testified as a witness.

He then moved to Rome with his family to take up employment in a rabbinical seminary, which however did not materialize. In August 1948 he had to justify his actions as a Jewish elder in Theresienstadt before a court of honor for the Jewish Displaced Persons organized in Italy, and there, too, was able to refute the allegations made against him. For a short time he worked as a rabbi in Trieste . Murmelstein then settled back with his family in Rome , where he did not, however, seek contact with the Jewish community. In Rome he traded in lightbulbs and was eventually employed successfully as a salaried furniture salesman. Until 1989 Murmelstein was also scientifically active at the Pontifico Istituto Biblico des Vatican . Murmelstein remained an Austrian citizen and was granted permanent residence in Italy .

Although he had reported as a witness for the Eichmann trial in 1961 , his offer to testify was not accepted, which was very disappointing. In this context he had the book Terezin , published in Italian in 1961 . Il ghetto-modello di Eichmann wrote and later the article The End of Theresienstadt. Statement from one of the parties that appeared in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung on December 14, 1963 . Murmelstein, who as a Jewish functionary met SS leader Adolf Eichmann several times, is particularly concerned with his publication Terezin. Il ghetto-modello di Eichmann focuses on the person of Eichmann. In these writings, Murmelstein explains and justifies his role as a Jewish elder in Theresienstadt in particular.

After Israel , he did not travel because he as a collaborator was attacked. For example, the Jerusalem historian of religion Gershom Scholem , who later headed the Israel Academy of Sciences , demanded the death penalty for him in a letter to the philosopher Hannah Arendt , published later .

Murmelstein died in Rome on October 27, 1989. After his death, the Grand Rabbi of Rome Elio Toaff refused the funeral prayer and assigned him a grave site on the edge of the cemetery. Murmelstein's son complained to the Italian Rabbinical Council because of this decision and obtained an expert report on his father, which showed his father's record as a Jewish elder. In 2002, Wolf Murmelstein sued Toaff for defamation , but the proceedings were not completed.

Assessment of personality

Murmelstein is still considered an ambivalent personality to this day. According to Rabinovici , it has long been clear that Murmelstein was not a collaborator, but rather, because of his convictions, he had to cooperate with the National Socialists in order to save as many Jews as possible.

In view of the 19,000 survivors of the Theresienstadt ghetto, Murmelstein once remarked: “I saved Theresienstadt. Perhaps that's megalomania. ”However, he emphasized his limited scope as a Jewish elder in Theresienstadt. According to his own statements, Murmelstein was a lone fighter. As a Jewish elder he proceeded in an authoritarian manner and, according to Hájková, was not a "human" appearance, but rather cool and sometimes choleric. On the other hand, she describes him as hard-working, smart and equipped with a good understanding of people.

Even after the annexation of Austria, Murmelstein's domineering demeanor brought him into disrepute while serving as a functionary in Vienna. His then colleague Willy Stern later reported to Doron Rabinovici about Murmelstein: “He screamed around, he was rude, he kicked people out; he was uncomfortable. "

"The last of the unjust"

Murmelstein has been interviewed several times by researchers. An interview with Murmelstein, shot for the documentary Shoah by director Claude Lanzmann in 1975, was initially not included in Lanzmann's work. Murmelstein described himself as “the last of the unjust” in this almost eleven-hour conversation with Lanzmann, in which Murmelstein's ambivalent role as a high-ranking Jewish functionary was the focus. The self-designation is based on the title of the novel “The Last of the Righteous” by André Schwarz-Bart (1959); see. the Jewish legend of the 36 righteous .

This film material was the basis of the 218-minute French-Austrian documentary The Last of the Unjust (original title Le dernier des injustes ) by Claude Lanzmann (production: Dor-Film, Vienna), which was shown out of competition at the 66th Cannes Festival in May 2013 .

In Robert Schindel's 2010 play Dunkelstein: a real farce , the fictional person Saul Dunkelstein, based on Murmelstein, is in the foreground. This drama was premiered in 2016 at the Hamakom Theater in Vienna.

Fonts (selection)

  • Benjamin Murmelstein: Theresienstadt Eichmann's model ghetto . With an afterword by Wolf Murmelstein. German translation of the autobiography Terezin , published in Italian in 1961 . The ghetto-modello di Eichmann . Vienna 2014, ISBN 978-3-7076-0510-5 .
  • Terezin. The ghetto-modello di Eichmann. Cappelli, Bologna 1961 (2nd edition, La Scuola, Milano 2013, with afterword by Wolf Murmelstein: Benjamin Murmelstein, "Il testimone mai sentito". Pp. 237–246).
  • History of the Jews. The people wandering the world. Josef Belf, Vienna 1938.
  • Adam. A contribution to the doctrine of the Messiah. Dissertation University of Vienna 1927.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Doron Rabinovici : Benjamin Murmelstein, "the last of the unjust". Elements and consequences of total powerlessness. In: Loewy, Rauschenberger: "The Last of the Unjust". 2011, p. 41
  2. Murmelstein, Dr. Benjamin. In: www.ghetto-theresienstadt.info, Theresienstadt 1941–1945. A reference work
  3. a b c Rabinovici: Instances of powerlessness. 2000, p. 162
  4. Rabinovici: Benjamin Murmelstein, "the last of the unjust". 2011, p. 44
  5. ^ Rabinovici: Instances of powerlessness. 2000, p. 159
  6. ^ Rabinovici: Instances of powerlessness. 2000, p. 171
  7. Doron Rabinovici: Without Alternative: The Vienna Jewish Councils under Nazi rule. In: haGalil onLine . October 27, 2004
  8. a b Benjamin Murmelstein Collection. In: The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People Jerusalem (CAHJP), The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (with short biography, PDF; 39 kB)
  9. Claude Landzmann: Le dernier des injustes. Documentary, 2013
  10. ^ Rabinovici: Instances of powerlessness. 2000, p. 147 f.
  11. ^ Hájková: The Jewish Elder and his SS men. 2011, p. 89
  12. a b c d e f Christa Zöchling : Benjamin Murmelstein: The spit on hero. In: profile online. 13th of May 2013
  13. Shoshana Duizend-Jensen: Jewish communities, associations, foundations and funds: "Aryanization" and restitution. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2004, ISBN 978-3-486-56787-8 , p. 92
  14. ^ A b Adler: Theresienstadt 1941–1945. 1960, p. 117
  15. ^ Hájková: The Jewish Elder and his SS men. 2011, p. 77 f.
  16. ^ Hájková: The Jewish Elder and his SS men. 2011, p. 78
  17. ^ Hájková: The Jewish Elder and his SS men. 2011, p. 82
  18. ^ Hájková: The Jewish Elder and his SS men. 2011, p. 78 f.
  19. Jonny Moser: Dr. Benjamin Murmelstein, the third "Jewish elder" from Theresienstadt . In: Institute Theresienstädter Initiative / DÖW (Hrsg.), Theresienstädter Gedenkbuch. Austrian Jews in Theresienstadt 1942–1945 . Prague 2005, p. 147–156 ( doew.at [PDF; accessed on May 6, 2017]).
  20. a b Wolf Murmelstein: Theresienstadt - some important facts . In: The future needs memories . September 6, 2005
  21. a b Hájková: The Jewish elder and his SS men. 2011, p. 80 ff.
  22. Jan Björn Potthast: The Jewish Central Museum of the SS in Prague - Opponent Research and Genocide under National Socialism. Campus-Verlag, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-593-37060-3 , p. 287
  23. ^ Theresienstadt. A documentary film from the Jewish settlement area. ( Memento of December 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) In: Claude Torres: Mes musiques régénérées. Jewish Music
  24. ^ Hájková: The Jewish Elder and his SS men. 2011, p. 81
  25. a b c d Hájková: The Jewish elder and his SS men. 2011, p. 75
  26. Rabinovici: Benjamin Murmelstein, "the last of the unjust". 2011, p. 45 f.
  27. Rabinovici: Benjamin Murmelstein, "the last of the unjust". 2011, p. 46 f.
  28. Rabinovici: Benjamin Murmelstein, "the last of the unjust". 2011, p. 47
  29. ^ Hájková: The Jewish Elder and his SS men. 2011, p. 90 f.
  30. Michal Frankl: The "Final Solution of the Jewish Question" and the narratives of Czech history 1945–1989. In: Christiane Brenner , K. Erik Franzen, Peter Haslinger , Robert Luft (eds.): History of the Bohemian countries in the 20th century. Scientific traditions - institutions - discourses. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 2006, p. 260
  31. Marc Zitzmann: The Last "Jewish Elder" - Savior or Traitor? In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . December 10, 2013
  32. Jürg Altwegg : Interview with Claude Lanzmann: The puppet could pull the strings. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . May 27, 2013, p. 27
  33. Rabinovici: Benjamin Murmelstein, "the last of the unjust". 2011, p. 47 f.
  34. Rabinovici: Benjamin Murmelstein, "the last of the unjust". 2011, p. 48
  35. Quoted from Christa Zöchling: Benjamin Murmelstein: The spit on hero. In: profile online. 13th of May 2013
  36. ^ Hájková: The Jewish Elder and his SS men. 2011, pp. 82, 86
  37. Quoted in Rabinovici: Benjamin Murmelstein, "the last of the unjust". 2011, p. 44
  38. Marc Zitzmann: The Last "Jewish Elder" - Savior or Traitor? Claude Lanzmann's film about Benjamin Murmelstein reveals an old issue. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung (international edition). December 10, 2013, p. 22.
  39. J.Hoberman: 'The Last of the Unjust,' the New Film by the Director of 'Shoah,' Is a Moral and Aesthetic Blunder. Tablet, February 5, 2014, accessed May 6, 2017 .
  40. The Last of the Unjust - Benjamin Murmelstein, filmed by Claude Lanzmann. , In: Austrian Film Museum (PDF; 95 kB)
  41. ^ Hájková: The Jewish Elder and his SS men. 2011, p. 99. The origin of the self-designation can be found in the excerpt from the book .
  42. ^ Murmelstein rehabilitation. Claude Lanzmann's “The Last of the Unjust”. In: 3sat . 21st May 2013