Regarding the Problem of Jewish Quislings-by Rabbi William Weinberg 1947

 

Regarding the Problem of Jewish Quislings 28.5.1947 Appeared in Wiener Sonderausgabe , Zeitschrift “ Mosty and Opinin”

Translation of German essay

 

As far as it is possible for people to deal with such a problem, we would like to point out here “sine ira et studio” (without anger and passion) the chapter of Jewish collaborators, about which silence has become good form.

In all European states that had the misfortune to experience the bloody rule of the Germans, the concept of Quislings is known, those people who are criminally inclined, by fear or opportunism, or political immaturity, or for money, without dignity, or for the sake of supposed national interests, in the moral sense or factual sense, to have made themselves accomplices of the Nazi tyrants.

Norway had its Quisling, France its Petain, Belgium its Degrelle, Czechoslovakia its Hacha, Russia its Vlasov. The passionate hatred of all liberated peoples is now directed more towards these collaborators who have directly or indirectly participated in the devilry of the Germans against their own people. Since we are subject to the same psychological and sociological laws that govern all other peoples, it is as sad as it is self-evident that we too had our quislings. In antiquity we had our Josephus Flavius, who abandoned his comrades in arms in the most difficult hour of our people and went over to the throne, and who, while his comrades were dragged behind the triumphant’ s chariot, enjoyed himself at the court of the same triumphant by writing hymns in his honor. In the same tragic epoch in our history we had a Tiberius Alexander, who first ruled against the Jews as governor in Judea, and later as governor in Egypt, who let his legions of blood-hungry and rapacious soldiers, like wild animals and beasts, loose on the quarters of the Jews in Alexandria , and then took part under Titus in the conquest of Jerusalem as the actual head of the most important military operations.

As is well known, history repeats itself. During Hitler's time, many Jews helped in the enslavement and deportation of the Jews to the labor concentration and extermination camps. Many have committed guilt in their capacity as Judenrate( Jewish council member) by compiling and signing lists of those destined for destruction or by assisting in the confiscation of Jewish assets for the benefit of the Germans; many have committed guilt in their capacity as Jupos (Jewish police) by enlisting Jews for destruction or deportation ; some took part directly in the atrocities and devilries of the Germans as kapos. Just as Flavius Josephus watched the humiliation of a nation with outrageous calm, so many of these modern Romelings (would be Romans) watched with leisurely calm the transport of their comrades to the gas chambers. Many of them are guilty, some are less guilty, some of them are perhaps even innocent.

However, the exception that the Gestapo made in favor of these Quislings for the duration or duration of their service does not shed a good light on them.

It is necessary to discuss this sad chapter, because in many cases a situation has already developed in which the victims (in whose hearts and memories the misdeeds and incessant omissions of our Quislings are still alive and burning) are joined by ridicule, when these modern Romans arrive in the important Jewish institutions, so that they continue to be dependent on them. Is it conceivable that a Josephus Flavius or a Tiberius Alexander would have taken part in the legendary Bnei Brak meeting in which important decisions for the future of the Jewish people were made? What was once impossible has today, as unlikely as it sounds, in many cases become a fact, the unthinkable event.

Times of emergency are known to be the best ground for political adventurers and our time of need is not yet over. While most Jews returned home wandering, lost, groping, grieving, disappointed, uprooted, desperate and tired of life, our Quislings looked in a good mood, were impeccably dressed and stood out from all the others because of their well-fed nature.

Furthermore, while a considerable number of the liberated Jews initially appeared shy and timid, many of our quislings had retained their patronizing pretensions from the Nazi era and were able to move like a chameleon from the Gestapo's anteroom to our offices established organizations and to fill important positions in Jewish public life.

Such a situation is impossible in the long term and can no longer be tolerated, otherwise our entire public life will be corrupted and the people's trust in the leading men of their own democracy will be undermined.

Those who cover up and protect these collaborators in every way, who oppose the eradication of this Josephus-Flavius spirit and often openly make peace with them, must also go. It is not intended to enter a discussion here with those who defend our quisling.

However, two arguments should be mentioned here briefly because they have become very popular.

 

Failing in the face of the threat of death is not heroic, but , not everyone has what it takes to become a martyr. That is what people often say. At a similar time, the Hillelites had once opposed certain decisions, citing the psychological fact that the average person could not survive when the demands were too great (ein rov hazibur yecholin laamod ba- The majority of the public cannot handle this). This may be seen as a mitigating factor for the general public, but not for people who were in a leading position and certainly not for people who are still pushing themselves to lead today. If they failed in such a tragic and responsible moment as the Hitler era, that gives us no guarantee that they could not also fail in the no less responsible present, because we must expect our leaders to stand their ground in the face of every danger and under every circumstance.

 

 Another argument that is often used about our quisling is that he is politically immature. The fact that this applies to a large part, it can be seen as a mitigating factor for their shameful past, but by no means is it a license for further public activity.

 

To maintain and manage our institutions, we need people who are not only dutiful civil servants, but also militants who have our ideas, people who dedicate themselves to them with all their dedication and enthusiasm.

 

Therefore, the question of eliminating the quisling influence and their ideas as well as the poisoning that it brings with it is one of the most urgent tasks and it must extend to all functions in public life.

 

 

Where they still try to push themselves into the foreground, it This problem must be solved free of all bureaucratic and formal legal inhibitions. The only decisive factor must be how far someone has given himself up to be a bully against his own people, how far someone has given himself up to help our executioners out of lowly self-preservation or political shortsightedness. Anyone who, in any capacity, be it as a Judenrat, or head of the so-called procurement office, helped to transfer contributions or other valuables from Jews, be it houses, furniture or clothing, from Jews to Germans, was collaborating because he was not only harming the Jew but also supporting the Germans in their fight against the Allies.

 

Such people have forfeited, according to all written and unwritten laws in all liberated countries, the right to play any leading role in social life, even if it may sometimes develop that they would have to be employed at times because of certain specialized knowledge or organizational experience.

is the inevitable duty of every Jew to push them into the background. This also applies to those who have rendered outstanding services to a greater or lesser number of Jews in their work, but especially to those who have understood how to warn our enemies of the sinking ship in time, out of calculation, at the last or penultimate hour to leave and side with the victorious powers.

 

The fact that this also applies to those who only made outstanding contributions to the cause of the Jews or the Allies after the liberation hardly needs any special mention.

 

In this context, a similar circumstance may be pointed out at the time of the hated Roman rule in ancient Israel before the destruction of the Temple. At that time, the Romans levied a tax on every head, as well as taxes on crops, houses, and customs duties. Any Jew who took part in the collection of these taxes, whether as a tax collector (Moches) or as a customs collector (Gabai), was declared dishonorable, would not be suffered in good society, and would not be believed as a witness. (Sanhedrin 25b) Even in the New Testament the word tax collector has the same meaning to the Jews as violator of the law and, like the latter, is considered a term of abuse.

 

According to the Jewish view, everyone, including the guilty, has freedom and the opportunity to repent. So, we also want to enable our modern Romans, if they have not forfeited their shameful life through their misdeeds, to find the path to repentance. However, the path into public life must remain closed to them forever, not least because this is also the practice of all other liberated peoples, although they have led much less than we did under the strict rule of the Germans. The leadership in public Jewish life belongs to those Jews who remained brave and tough, who remained at the top mentally and spiritually, even if physically they had to live at the bottom in the abyss of abuse and dirt.