Language:
English
Year of publication:
2010
Titel der Quelle:
Yad Vashem Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
38,2 (2010) 47-84
Keywords:
Jews
;
Jews
;
World War, 1939-1945 Conscript labor
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
;
Jewish councils
;
Jewish ghettos
Abstract:
The numerous small ghettos (other than the ghetto of Łódź) of Warthegau, a Polish territory annexed to the Nazi Reich, were in existence for a short time only, most of them until summer 1941 and some until summer 1942, so little is known about conditions in them, including the use of Jewish labor. The main driving force behind the work deployment of Jews in Warthegau was the German civil administration, headed by Arthur Greiser rather than the SS. The use of Jewish labor began in an improvizatory manner, but in spring 1941 uniform regulations were introduced. Examines various forms of Jewish labor in the region, including in German offices, in the public sphere, in private enterprises, in camps both in Warthegau and in the "Old Reich", and for the Judenrats. Discusses the conditions of labor and the wages. Large parts of the laborers' wages were deducted, first by the German administration and sometimes by the SS, then by the Jewish councils, which needed money to support the non-working ghetto populations. The exploitation of Jewish labor was a lucrative venture for the Warthegau administration: not knowing exactly when the Jews would be "resettled" from the annexed areas, the German rulers could both make the ghettos self-sustaining and fill their own coffers. They did not oppose the murder of non-working Jews by the SS; thus, there was no contradiction between the policies of labor deployment of Jews and their annihilation.
Note:
English and Hebrew.
URL:
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