Reich Association of Jews in Germany

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The Reich Association of Jews in Germany was taken over by the National Socialist rulers on July 4, 1939 by the 10th ordinance on the Reich Citizenship Act , was under the control of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) and the Gestapo from September 1939 and had to implement their orders. All persons who were considered Jews under the Nuremberg Laws were forcibly incorporated into the Reich Association and had to pay compulsory contributions. At first, Jews from mixed marriages were exempt from compulsory membership ; however, they also had to join later.

From 1939 to 1941, the functionaries of the Reich Association tried to help as many Jews as possible to flee Germany. In the following period up to its gradual dissolution in 1943, the main task of the Reichsvereinigung was to provide for those who stayed behind. At the same time, the Reich Association had to participate in the deportations, but tried to delay the events and alleviate hardships.

precursor

Religious Judaism in Germany with its religious associations previously had no hierarchical national organization and no common interest representation. As early as September 1933, various religious associations had come together to form a superordinate interest group called the “ Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden ”. Their name had to be changed in September 1935 to "Reich Representation of Jews in Germany". Through a "law on the legal relationships of Jewish religious associations" of March 28, 1938 ( RGBl I, 338), the religious associations and their associations retroactively lost the status of a corporation under public law , they now had to pay property and property tax, among other things. In addition, the members of the Jewish religious community no longer “automatically” belonged to the community, but had to expressly join it. That is why in 1938 the Reich Representation was transformed into the “Reich Association of Jews in Germany”, an umbrella organization in which every so-called religious Jew living in the German Reich was a compulsory member. From February 1939, this overall organization appeared briefly under a new name as the “Reich Association of Jews in Germany” . This last independent advocacy was in July 1939 while retaining the name adopted, brought into line and converted into an only bound by instructions administrative body.

Personnel continuity

The executive committee of the Reichsvereinigung was not elected, but formally determined and installed by the Ministry of the Interior . In the line were now Leo Baeck as chairman, Heinrich Stahl as his deputy, Otto Hirsch as executive director and Julius Seligsohn all in 1933 on the board of, Reichsvertretung had worked. Arthur Lilienthal and Paul Eppstein came from the administration of the Reich Representation in 1935 . Moritz Henschel and Philipp Kozower were new as representatives of the Jewish community in Berlin . Most of the employees in the administration and religious communities were also taken on, provided they had not emigrated , like the head of the school department, Adolf Leschnitzer .

This personal continuity should not obscure the fact that from July 1939 on there was no longer an independently acting Jewish organization in the German Reich. In contrast to the self-formed interest groups, the “Reich Association of Jews in Germany” was now completely dependent on the authorities whose instructions it had to implement. In the course of the next three years it lost more and more of its own scope of action and acted like an extended arm of the Reich Security Main Office.

organization

In addition to the headquarters in Berlin, there were 40 district offices in 1939, in which the members of smaller religious communities were grouped together. Up to 1941 there were 17 larger religious communities as branches, all of which numbered more than 1,000 people. Only the “Berlin Jewish Community” remained as a legally independent corporation until 1943.

Jews from “mixed marriages” and “ privileged mixed marriages ” did not initially have to join the Reichsvereinigung. From 1942, however, they became compulsory members, provided they belonged to a Jewish religious association. In 1943, all persons who were Jews according to the National Socialist definition were organized into the Reichsvereinigung subject to contributions.

All previous Jewish publications were replaced in November 1938 by the Jewish News Gazette of the Reichsvereinigung, headed by Leo Kreindler , which thus became an ordinance sheet for the Central Security Office and later the Reich Security Main Office.

The official supervision of the Reich Association of Jews in Germany was incumbent on Fritz Wöhrn , who as SS-Hauptsturmführer was clerk in the Eichmann department of the RSHA.

Area of ​​responsibility

The Reich Main Security Office described the task originally intended for the Reichsvereinigung with the words: “The sole purpose of the organization and the facilities incorporated into it is to prepare the emigration of the Jews. So the principle should not be given up that the preparation of the emigration of the Jews is left to a large extent to the Jews themselves. "

The Reichsvereinigung also saw the support of Jewish emigrants as one of its most important tasks; therefore, up to the autumn of 1941, one can speak of a certain harmony of interests. The Reich Association had to collect "donations" of financial assets from the emigrants , which in 1940 rose progressively to 60%. From this fund, poorer Jews were provided with the “show money” required by the receiving countries and thus enabled them to emigrate. When the deportations to the “ old people's ghetto” Theresienstadt began, the resettled people had to sign so-called home purchase contracts and, in return, surrender their entire property to the Reich Association. Most of the money it generated was later confiscated.

In addition, the Reich Association had to completely take over the organization of Jewish welfare and finance it from compulsory contributions and donations. Clothes closets, proof of housing and also religious support became indispensable aids. The Jewish school system was also organized and financed by the Reich Association from August 1, 1939. Vocational training and retraining measures were also part of their important tasks, until these, as well as school lessons, had to be given up on June 30, 1942. When, due to emigration and deportation, many of the religious communities were no longer able to cope with the administrative tasks on their own or were dissolved, the Reichsvereinigung took over land and real estate from community ownership and handled the transfer of community cemeteries, synagogue properties and other properties - partly through its district offices. After the dissolution of the Reichsvereinigung, the tax offices continued this work. 

With the beginning of the Second World War , the Reichsvereinigung was often forced to announce, organize and implement anti-Jewish ordinances: for example, permits for the use of transport were applied for through the Reichsvereinigung, and it also helped to arrange the delivery of radios and typewriters. In March 1941 the Reichsvereinigung was instructed by the Reich Security Main Office to list all “Jewish apartments in Aryan houses”; this was followed by dismissals and admissions to so-called Jewish houses . A little later, the Reichsvereinigung had to submit a statistical compilation of the Jews in European countries, which was needed in preparation for the Wannsee Conference . 

Organization plan of the Reichsvereinigung from July 1939

The organization plan of the Reichsvereinigung appeared in the Jüdisches Nachrichtenblatt on July 21, 1939;

  • Finance and Community Department - Arthur Lilienthal
    • Finance Department - Paul Meyerheim
    • Community Department - Arthur Lilienthal

Entanglement through participation

The Gestapo secured access to the membership file at an early stage. In doing so, she also obtained data from "non-believing Jews" who had left a Jewish community or religious community long before. The Reichsvereinigung was commissioned to continuously supplement their lists by comparing them with the issuing offices of grocery cards and identification cards , with relocation reports and receipts for the Jewish star . This data collection was probably more extensive than the Jewish files of the security service, which was still being set up, and served as the basis for the deportation.

At the beginning of October 1941 high officials of the Reichsvereinigung were summoned to the Gestapo, threatened to maintain secrecy and asked to help with the “resettlement”. Otherwise this would be carried out by the SS and SA and “one could imagine how it would then be carried out”. Because they only assumed a partial evacuation and wanted to prevent worse, the oppressed officials finally agreed, despite considerable reservations.

The duties imposed included listing property and drawing up a list of people who served the Gestapo in selecting the deportees. The employees of the Reichsvereinigung helped with the delivery of the deportation orders, put together leaflets for the luggage and provided food in the assembly camps. At times, community helpers acted independently as “collectors” and even investigated if the person obliged to leave could not be found.

Dissolution of the Reich Association

Hand stamp “Reply only via the Reich Association of Jews in Germany Berlin-Charlottenburg 2, Kantstr. 158 "; Typewritten postcard from May 14, 1943 from mother Ester from Theresienstadt to her son Horst Berkowitz at Erwinstrasse 3 in Hanover

In June 1942 a "special action" took place against the board of directors and the administration of the Reichsvereinigung, during which several people were arrested and deported. As part of the factory campaign in March 1943, almost all fully Jewish employees who were employed by the Reichsvereinigung were deported and replaced by Jews who lived in " mixed marriages ". On June 10, 1943, the "Reich Association of Jews in Germany" was dissolved. The office in Berlin was closed, the assets were confiscated and the remaining five members, who were not protected by a mixed marriage, were deported to Theresienstadt . The fully Jewish employees of the cultural communities in Breslau, Hamburg and Stuttgart were also brought there. In Vienna the director Josef Löwenherz remained in office.

In contrast to well-known historians who see the history of the Reich Association of Jews in Germany as ended with the formal dissolution , Beate Meyer explains that the organization - radically shrunk to a residual or New Reich Association - continued to exist.

A few “shop stewards” under the direction of Walter Lustig maintained contact with the remaining Jews who lived in mixed marriages or were exempt from deportation as Jews who were recognized as Jews in a “New Reich Association” on behalf of the Gestapo . The seat of this “Rest-Reichsvereinigung”, which mainly looked after 16,658 married couples, was the administrative building of the Jewish Hospital in Berlin , from where the central assembly warehouse in Grosse Hamburger Strasse was operated. Outside Berlin there were 41 shop stewards or liaison officers subordinate to them.

Index cards of the Reich Association of Jews

Between 1947 and 1950, 32,000 index cards of the Reich Association of Jews were handed over to the International Tracing Service (ITS). In addition to a “deceased index”, an “emigrant index” and a so-called “foreigners index”, the cards also include the “Berlin student index” with more than 10,000 cards that testify to the lives of Jewish children during the persecution. The ITS published the index cards in its online archive in 2017 so that they are available to interested parties worldwide.

reviews

The Jewish functionaries in Berlin and in the district offices had little room for maneuver if they were able to exploit existing rivalries between the Gauleitung and Gestapo or to establish a personal relationship with a Gestapo officer. At best, they could intervene if the guidelines of the Reich Main Security Office were disregarded or if individuals were to be deported as punishment for minor violations.

The Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt generally strongly criticized the role of the Jewish leaders in the destruction of their own people, who would have ensured peace and order during the German extermination process. A court of honor of the Berlin Jewish Community came to the conclusion in 1947 that the activities of the Reich Association had "ultimately caused harm" to the deportees. The historian Beate Meyer came to the conclusion that the use of community helpers, which was originally intended to help in the “better and milder” execution of the Gestapo orders, had developed into an effective tool of the Gestapo.

Moritz Henschel, the last chairman of the Reich Association, gave credible testimony that he had never heard of the murder of the Jews until 1945 . Leo Baeck claims to have found out about gas trucks in the east for the first time in 1941; He later received certain news of gassings in Theresienstadt. However, he withheld this knowledge of the impending fate.

literature

  • Beate Meyer: Deadly tightrope walk - The Reich Association of Jews in Germany between hope, coercion, self-assertion and entanglement (1939–1945). Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-8353-0933-3 .
  • Beate Meyer: The inevitable dilemma: the Reich Association of Jews in Germany, deportations and the Jews who went into hiding. In: Beate Kosmala / Claudia Schoppmann (ed.): Survival in the underground. Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-932482-86-7 .
  • Beate Meyer: Scope of Action for Regional Jewish Representatives (1941–1945). The Reich Association of Jews in Germany and the Deportations. In: The deportation of the Jews from Germany. ( Contributions to the history of National Socialism 20) Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-89244-792-6 (with further references).
  • Raul Hilberg : The annihilation of the European Jews. Volume 1, Frankfurt / M 1990. ISBN 3-596-10611-7 .
  • Wolfgang Benz (Ed.): The Jews in Germany 1933–1945. Life under National Socialist rule. Munich 1988, ISBN 3-406-33324-9 (pp. 49-74).
  • Esriel Hildesheimer: Jewish self-administration under the Nazi regime , Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 1994, ISBN 3-16-146179-7 .

Web links

Commons : Reich Association of Jews in Germany  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Beate Meyer: Tödliche Gratwanderung - The Reich Association of Jews in Germany between Hope, Coercion, Assertion and Entanglement (1939–1945). Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-8353-0933-3 , p. 15.
  2. ↑ Wolf Gruner : Persecution of Jews in Berlin 1933–1945. A chronology of the measures taken by the authorities in the Reich capital. Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-89468-238-8 , p. 68.
  3. ↑ Ursula Büttner : Sharing the plight of the Jews ... Hamburg 1988, ISBN 3-7672-1055-X , p. 45.
  4. ^ Kerstin Freudiger: The legal processing of Nazi crimes , Tübingen 2002, p. 211f.
  5. ↑ Magnus Brechtken : "Madagascar for the Jews" . Munich 1997, ISBN 3-486-56240-1 , p. 212.
  6. ↑ Susanne Meinl / Bettina Hindemith: Legalized robbery. The plundering of the Jews during National Socialism by the Reich Finance Administration in Hesse. Frankfurt / M. 2004, ISBN 3-593-37612-1 , p. 485.
  7. ↑ Susanne Meinl / Bettina Hindemith: Legalized Robbery ..., p. 466.
  8. ↑ Joseph Walk : The special right for the Jews in the Nazi state. Heidelberg / Karlsruhe 1981, ISBN 3-8114-1081-4 , p. 338.
  9. ^ Memorial and Education Center House of the Wannsee Conference (Ed.): Catalog of the permanent exhibition. Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-9808517-4-5 , p. 98.
  10. ^ Gudrun Maierhof: Self-Assertion in Chaos: Women in Jewish Self-Help 1933–1943 ; Frankfurt am Main 2002; P. 358.
  11. ↑ Jutta Wietog: censuses under Nazism - a documentary for population statistics in the Third Reich. Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-428-10384-X , p. 261.
  12. ↑ Jutta Wietog: Volkszählungen ... , p. 249f.
  13. ↑ Gudrun Exner, Peter Schimany: The census in Austria and the detection of the Austrian Jews. In: Rainer Mackensen (Ed.): Population research and politics in Germany in the 20th century. Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 3-531-15121-5 , p. 153 / s. however, Jutta Wietog: censuses ... , p. 168f.
  14. ↑ Beate Meyer: The inevitable dilemma. ISBN 3-932482-86-7 , p. 273.
  15. ↑ Lisa Hauff (edit.): The persecution and murder of European Jews by National Socialist Germany 1933–1945 (collection of sources) Volume 11: German Reich and Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia April 1943–1945 . Berlin / Boston 2020, ISBN 978-3-11-036499-6 , pp. 29–32.
  16. ↑ Beate Meyer: Tödliche Gratwanderung - The Reich Association of Jews in Germany ... , Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-8353-0933-3 , p. 219.
  17. ↑ 16,658 couples in April 1943 - Beate Meyer: Tödliche Gratwanderung ... , Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-8353-0933-3 , p. 347.
  18. ↑ Beate Meyer: Spaces of action… Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-89244-792-6 , p. 85.
  19. ↑ On the other hand, Kulka claimed that the RV had retained a certain degree of independence - this thesis met with opposition: Otto Dov Kulka: The Reichsvereinigung and the Fate of the German Jews 1938 / 39–1943. In: Arnold Paucker : The Jews in National Socialist Germany. Tübingen 1986, ISBN 3-16-745103-3 , pp. 353/406.
  20. ^ Hannah Arendt: Eichmann in Jerusalem . Munich 1964, p. 161f.
  21. ↑ Beate Meyer: The inevitable dilemma . P. 279.
  22. ↑ Beate Meyer: The inevitable dilemma. P. 283.
  23. ↑ Beate Meyer: The inevitable dilemma . P. 291.
  24. ↑ Beate Meyer: The inevitable dilemma . P. 292.