Hamas War

Sunday, May 28, 2006

The Judenrat in Eretz Yisrael

A little history, unpleasant history. The Nazis couldn't have had such an easy time rounding up the Jews and getting them to cooperate, or at least be passive, if it wasn't for the Jewish officials of the local Jewish communities who helped them, the Judenrat. They gave the Nazis the "in" the "respectability" they needed to implement their plans for destroying the Jewish population of Europe.

The Judenrat helped the Nazis carry out Resettlement, moving Jews from their homes into ghettos.


Jews should be concentrated; that is, moved from the countryside and villages into large cities, where railroad transportation was readily available. Certain parts of Occupied Poland would become judenrein (cleansed of Jews) to facilitate the resettlement of ethnic Germans. Jewish councils (Judenräte) were to be appointed and held responsible for carrying out "the exact and prompt implementation of directives."


We like to think that that sort of cooperation has been rare in Jewish History, but unfortunately that's not the case. No matter what you want to call it, unfortunately it isn't all that rare. During the Jewish struggle for independence and the cessation of the British Mandate, Haganah leaders informed on Etzel and Lechi leaders, allowing the British to arrest them.

...the leaders of the Yishuv decided to cooperate with the British by turning Etzel members over to them. Members of the Haganah submitted lists containing names and addresses of Etzel members and even participated in their capture. The period when Etzel members were pursued by the Haganah is known as the Sezon (from the English "season," referring to the hunting season).

Now, when I read the news...

Knesset Member Ariel, together with Yesha Council senior leaders Ze'ev Chever (Zambish) and Pinchas Wallerstein, spoke with Ramon - who serves as Chairman of the government's Outposts Committee - in his office for close to two hours. The discussion centered around the recently renewed orders to demolish 12 outpost communities, and the government's ultimate plans to raze dozens more.
...
As frequently occurs before meetings of this nature, rumors abound of a possible compromise agreement. Gush Etzion Regional Council chief Sha'ul Goldstein said this morning that he would be willing to agree to the removal of all 24 outposts built since March 2001, on condition that all of the other ones receive the long-awaited signature of the Defense Minister that would permanently legalize them.


One thing that is important to remember, when Menachem Begin gave Egypt the Sinai and destroyed all of the Jewish communities we had there, he kept saying that it would guarantee that Judea and Samaria stay in Israeli hands. Many of the towns in Gush Katif were established as compensation, replacements for the Sinai villages.

2 comments:

Robin Ticker said...

bs"d

Please lobby the Chareidi community. Find the few that are wholesome. These Yesha Council people are not to be trusted. Talk about Eretz Yisroel and Mitzvoth. The Torah is the unifying bond. A public statement in the Yated and Hamodia and in Religious Zionist publications need to declare that the Land of Israel is the Inheritance of Am Yisroel and that we in turn are obligated in Mitzvoth which in turn brings blessings to the entire world. The Roadmap and the Convergence Plan are contrary to the Torah and one is obligated to voice protest. If Rav Kanievsky, Rav SHteinmen, Rav Eliashiv and the Gerrer Rebbe would join on this then they can influece hundreds of thousands of their followers to write letters or make a phone call. Do they simply feel the pain or is their silence the cause of the pain?

Batya said...

You're right, but the rabbis won't listen to me. I try what I can, and that's what we all should do.