Mass Deportations of the Warsaw Ghetto and the Role of the Judenrat
History is constructed out of different sources such as artefacts, newspaper articles, and many more that act like puzzle pieces to put together the big picture. However, since sources were created by human beings subject to personal opinions and bias, we may often find different, or even contradicting information on the same issue. Likewise, the situation regarding the deportations in the Warsaw ghetto during the Holocaust could be understood better with the help of official reports, announcements and newspaper articles. While the sources I chose could help to paint a rough picture about how the deportations were carried out and what happened to the Jews afterwards, they also offer more insight to the controversial roles that the Jewish Council and the Jewish Order Service played during the deportations.
The Holocaust refers to the systematic persecution and extermination of Jews led by Nazi Germany during World War II. On September 1, 1939, the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany sparked the second world war. Along with that, anti-Jewish policies were also imposed in Poland, and in October 1940, the Warsaw ghetto was established, housing around 350,000 Jews. Reinhard Heydrich then established the Judenrat, or the Jewish Council, which consisted of appointed Jewish men responsible for keeping order in the ghetto and enforcing any German policies. The Jewish Order Service, or the Jewish police, was also established to assist the Judenrat (Berenbaum).
Although Jews were discriminated to be racially inferior and separated by walls, life in the ghetto continued on with some normality. However, this changed when Operation Reinhard was implemented by Reinhard Heydrich, which was the plan to eliminate all Jews from Poland. From July 22 to September 30, 1942, more than 260,000 Jews were “resettled” to “work” somewhere else, while they were in fact deported to concentration camps to be murdered. During this period of mass deportation, the Judenrat and the Jewish police received orders from the Germans and implemented those policies (“Report”).
The first source is an illegal underground newspaper article that was distributed in the Warsaw ghetto towards the end of the deportations on September 20, 1942, titled “Warsaw’s Jews are being murdered in Treblinki”. The article tries to inform its readers that the Jews in the ghetto were not being resettled, but instead were deported to concentration camps where they were murdered upon arrival. Claiming that they had received the information from those who escaped the camp, the newspaper contains detailed descriptions about the layout of the camp and how Jews were murdered. Thus, the article urges fellow Jews to go into hiding and to avoid being deceived by the Germans and the Jewish police, whom the newspaper claimed were accomplices (“Warsaw’s”).
The second source is an official report compiled by the Judenrat after the end of the deportations. It contains a series of German orders and Judenrat announcements from the period of July 22 to September 30, 1942, detailing the developments of the deportations in the Warsaw ghetto. In these reports, we can see how the Nazis provided incentives for Jews to voluntarily report for resettlement by promising them more food, or by promising not to separate families, or by threatening to cancel food rations. At the same time, Jews are also threatened to be shot if they disobey any orders. It is important to note that in the orders delivered to the Jewish Council, the Nazis threatened to shoot the hostages if the Jewish Council failed to enforce all of the German policies (“Report”).
By combining these two sources, we are able to understand the steps taken by the Nazis to deport Jews out of the ghetto, and how these people were then killed in Treblinka. It is evident that the purpose of the first source is to inform the Jews of the dangers ahead. However, we can see that not all information received were accurate, since the author of the article spelled Treblinka as “Treblinki”. Nevertheless, this is still an invaluable source that shows the resistance that the Jews put up by risking their lives, since the newspaper was illegal and publishing it was punishable by death (“Warsaw’s”). As for the second source, its purpose is debatable. Since the report was written in Polish, we can infer that it was not meant for the Nazis. Its historical significance lies in its accurate account of the dates and events that occurred during the deportation of the Warsaw ghetto. The information is also reliable since they were official German orders and announcements delivered to the Judenrat (“Report”).
These two sources also depict how the Nazis deceived Jews into thinking they were going to be “resettled” for work. The word “resettlement” was used in all of the Nazi announcements in the second source (“Report”). The relatively “normal” life in the ghetto prior to deportations might also have loosened up the guards of the Jews, and most of them were ready to believe that they were going to work (“Warsaw’s”). It is also mentioned in the first source that the Nazi officials would usually deliver a speech to the Jews upon arrival to Treblinka to reassure them that they were going off to work in another place (“Warsaw’s”). The theme of disbelief for genocide is not only evident in foreign countries, but also evident in Jews, who were the targeted victims themselves.
The third source is a notice to execute a member of the Jewish police, Jakub Lejkin, and is issued by a Jewish underground resistance group. It was created on October 30, 1942, after the deportations of the Warsaw ghetto. Jakub Lejkin was infamous for being cruel towards the Jews, and his execution gave the Jews a sense of power and newfound confidence over the Jewish police (“Notice”).
The Jewish police often evoked anger in the ghetto Jews, as they had rounded up Jews during the deportation and had carried out the Nazis’ order. Many ghetto Jews saw this as an act of collaboration (Berenbaum). This is supported by the first source, as the newspaper also warned the Jews to never trust the Jewish police and to resist them (“Warsaw’s”). From the death sentence of Jakub Lejkin and the charges brought against him, we can also see that there are members of the Jewish police who were brutal to their own people (“Notice”).
However, the second source portrays another possibility where the Jewish Council and the Jewish police might be threatened to carry out orders. Threats to shoot hostages were included in the orders delivered to the Judenrat (“Report”). When facing the Nazis’ orders to deport everyone except employees in German factories, the Jewish Council and the Jewish Order Service, the decision of who receives the work permits becomes difficult (Berenbaum). The chairman of the Judenrat, Adam Czerniaków, committed suicide on the second day of deportations, possibly because he couldn’t bear to send his fellow Jews into the hands of the Germans, knowing that they are most likely going to be killed (“Report”). Needless to say, those who refused to deport the Jews would most likely be shot (Berenbaum). If then, were they collaborators? Were they just carrying out orders? Were they sacrificing Jews so that at least some of them could be saved?
As mentioned before, the second source was written in Polish, so the report wasn’t intended for the Nazis. One possibility is that the Judenrat composed the report to show how they received orders from the Nazis to carry out the deportations, and as a means of leaving a record that they too had no choice, that they too were threatened. Although the whole report was written in a strictly formal way and never attempted to explain why the Judenrat did what they did, it still left us wondering whether they had a choice (“Report”).
These sources are evidences of the systematic annihilation of Polish Jews in the Warsaw ghetto. Not only did they give us details on the deportation, they also make us delve deeper into the roles that the Jewish Council and the Jewish police played. The sources do not provide answers, but serve as different perspectives on the same piece of history. It is these different perspectives that make us realize and reflect on controversial topics, and as we think critically, we get a more thorough understanding of the Holocaust.