Judenrat

A Judenrat (ˈjuːdn̩ˌʁaːt, Jewish council) was an administrative body established in German-occupied Europe during World War II which purported to represent a Jewish community in dealings with the Nazi authorities. The Germans required Jews to form Judenräte across the occupied territories at local and sometimes national levels. Judenräte were particularly common in Nazi ghettos in Eastern Europe where in some cases, such as the Łódź Ghetto, and in Theresienstadt, they were known as the "Jewish Council of Elders" (Jüdischer Ältestenrat or Ältestenrat der Juden). Jewish communities themselves had established councils for self-government as early as the Middle Ages. The Jewish community used the Hebrew term Kahal (קהל) or Kehillah (קהילה), whereas the German authorities generally used the term Judenräte. The structure and missions of the Judenräte under the Nazi regime varied widely, often depending upon whether meant for a single ghetto, a city or a whole region. Jurisdiction over a whole country, as in Nazi Germany, was maintained by Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland (Reich's Association of the Jews in Germany) established on 4 July 1939. In the beginning of April 1933, shortly after the National Socialist government took power, a report by a German governmental commission on fighting the Jews was presented. This report recommended the creation of a recognized 'Association of Jews in Germany' (Verband der Juden in Deutschland), to which all Jews in Germany would be forced to associate. Appointed by the Reichskanzler, a German People's Ward was then to assume responsibility of this group. As the leading Jewish organization, it was envisioned that this association would have a 25-member council called the Judenrat. However, the report was not officially acted upon. The Israeli historian Dan Michman found it likely that the commission, which considered the legal status and interactions of Jews and non-Jews before their emancipation, reached back to the Medieval Era for the term Judenräte.