Chaim Rumkowski: Difference between revisions

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| caption = Chaim Rumkowski (left) and [[Hans Biebow]] (right) in the [[Łódź Ghetto]].

Chaim Rumkowski was born on February 27, 1877, to Jewish parents in Ilyino, a [[shtetl]] in [[Vitebsk Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]]<!-- most probably [https://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/community.php?usbgn=-2914421], [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/%D0%9A%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%82%D0%B0_%D0%92%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B1%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9_%D0%93%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B8_%281820%29.jpg see map] upper right corner, but for now it would be WP:SYNTH -->.<ref>[https://zakazanehistorie.pl/wladca-getta/ "Władca getta"] ("Lord of the Ghetto"), by {{ill|Leszek Pietrzak|pl}}, series "Forbidden Histories"</ref> In 1892, Rumkowski moved to [[Congress Poland]]. He became a Polish citizen after the establishment of the [[Second Polish Republic]] in 1918. Rumkowski became an activist of the Zionist movement and was involved in the Łódź Zionist Committee.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pietrzak |first=Leszek |date=2019-02-27 |title=Władca getta |url=https://zakazanehistorie.pl/wladca-getta/ |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=ZAKAZANE HISTORIE |language=pl-PL}}</ref>

Before the [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[invasion of Poland]], Rumkowski was an insurance agent in [[Łódź]], a member of [[Qahal]], and the head of a Jewish [[orphanage]] at 15 Krajowa Street between 1925 and 1939. According to Dr. Edward Reicher, a Holocaust survivor from Łódź, Rumkowski had an unhealthy interest in children.<ref name="ER">{{cite book |title=Country of Ash: A Jewish Doctor in Poland, 1939–1945 |author=Dr. Edward Reicher |translator=Magda Bogin |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-934137-45-1 |pages=47–48|publisher=Bellevue Literary Press }}</ref> Łódź was [[Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany|annexed by the invading Germans]] into [[Nazi Germany]] and became part of the territory of new ''[[Reichsgau Wartheland]]'', separate from the ''[[General Government|Generalgouvernement]]'' established in most of the [[German-occupied Poland]]. Smaller Jewish communities [[Expulsion of Poles by Nazi Germany|were dissolved]] and forcibly relocated to [[Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe|metropolitan ghettos]]. The occupation authority ordered the creation of the new Jewish Councils known as the ''[[Judenrat|Judenräte]]'' which acted as bridges between the Nazis and the prisoner population of the ghettos. In addition to managing basic services such as communal kitchens, infirmaries, post offices and vocational schools, common tasks of the ''Judenräte'' included providing the Nazi regime with slave labor, and rounding up quotas of Jews for "resettlement in the East," a euphemism for deportations to [[extermination camp]]s in the deadliest phase of [[the Holocaust]].

By industrializing the Łódź Ghetto, he hoped to make the community indispensable to the Germans and save the people of Łódź. On April 5, 1940, Rumkowski petitioned the Germans for materials for the Jews in exchange for desperately needed food and money. By the end of the month, the Germans had acquiesced, in part, agreeing to provide food, but not money.<ref name="virtuallibrary-lodz">{{cite web | url =https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/lodz.html | title = The Lodz Ghetto | publisher =Jewish Virtual Library}}</ref> Although Rumkowski and other "Jewish elders" of the Nazi era came to be regarded as collaborators and traitors, historians have reassessed this judgment since the late 20th century in light of the terrible conditions of the time. A survivor of the Łódź ghetto, Arnold Mostowicz, noted in his memoir that Rumkowski gave a percentage of his people a chance to survive two years longer than the Jews of the [[Warsaw Ghetto]], destroyed in the [[Warsaw Ghetto Uprising|Uprising]].<ref name="Unger 2004 p. 11">Unger 2004, ''Reassessment'', p.&nbsp;11.</ref> However, as noted by [[Lucjan Dobroszycki]], the ultimate decision on the future was not his to make.<ref name="LD-61">Dobroszycki 1984, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=d1-U17adWKIC&pg=PR61 The Chronicle of the Lodz Ghetto],'' page 61.</ref>

The ghettoization of Łódź was decided on September 8, 1939, by an order of ''[[SS-Oberführer]]'' [[Friedrich Uebelhoer]]. His top secret document stated that the ghetto was only a temporary solution to "the Jewish question" in the city of Łódź. Uebelhoer never implied the long-term survival of its inhabitants.<ref>Documents, p.&nbsp;194</ref> The ghetto was sealed on April 30, 1940, with 164,000&nbsp;people inside.<ref>Unger 2004, ''Reassessment'', p. 22.</ref> On October 16, 1939, Rumkowski selected 31 public figures to form the Councilcouncil. However, less than three weeks later, on November 11, twenty of them were executed and the rest disappeared, because he denounced them to the German authorities "for refusing to rubber-stamp his policies." Although a new ''Judenrat'' was officially appointed a few weeks later, the men were not as distinguished, and remained far less effective than its original leaders. This change conceded more power to Rumkowski, and left no one to contest or restrain his decisions. Rumkowski had the [[Jewish Ghetto Police]] under his control also.<ref>Unger 2004, ''Reassessment'', p.&nbsp;19.</ref>

The Germans authorized Rumkowski as the "sole figure of authority in managing and organizing internal life in the [[ghetto]]".<ref name="Reassessment, p. 22">Unger 2004, ''Reassessment'', p.&nbsp;22.</ref> Rumkowski gained power by his domineering personality as much as by his words and deeds.<ref name="Reassessment, p. 22" /> Biebow from the first gave Rumkowski full power in organizing the ghetto, as long as it did not interfere with his main objectives: absolute order, confiscation of Jewish property and assets, coerced labor, and Biebow's own personal gain.<ref name="Reassessment, p. 23">Unger 2004, ''Reassessment'', p.&nbsp;23.</ref> Their relationship seemed to work effectively. Rumkowski had leeway to organize the ghetto according to his own lights, while Biebow sat back and reaped the rewards.<ref name="Reassessment, p. 23" /> In trying to keep Biebow happy, Rumkowski obeyed every order with little question, and provided him with gifts and personal favors. Rumkowski is said to have boasted of his willingness to cooperate with the German authorities: "My motto is to be always at least ten minutes ahead of every German demand."<ref name="momentmag">{{cite news|author=Hilma Wolitzer|url=http://momentmag.com/moment/issues/2011/10/book_lies.html|title=The Final Fantasy|work=Moment Magazine|date=September–October 2011|access-date=October 3, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011080629/http://momentmag.com/moment/issues/2011/10/book_lies.html|archive-date=October 11, 2011}}</ref> He believed that by staying ahead of the Germans' thinking, he could keep them satisfied and preserve the Jews. Łódź was the last ghetto in Central Europe to be liquidated.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Trunk|first1=Isaiah|title=Judenrat: the Jewish councils in Eastern Europe under Nazi occupation|date=1972|publisher=Macmillan|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8032-9428-8|page=413|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D7bobfzrcCoC}}</ref> However, only 877 inhabitants survived in the city until liberation, by [[Rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust|hiding with Polish rescuers]], and it is claimed that Rumkowski had nothing to do with it.{{cncitation needed|date=May 2018}}

Because of the confiscation of cash and other belongings, Rumkowski proposed a currency to be used specifically in the ghetto – the ''[[ersatz]].'' This new currency would be used as money, and by this alone, a person could buy food rations and other necessities.<ref>Unger 2004, ''Reassessment'', p.&nbsp;27.</ref> This proposal was considered arrogant and illustrated Rumkowski’sRumkowski's lust for power. The currency was, therefore, nicknamed by ghetto inhabitants as the "Rumkin".<ref name="Reassessment, p. 28">Unger 2004, ''Reassessment'', p.&nbsp;28.</ref> It dissuaded smugglers from endangering their lives to get in and out of the ghetto with goods, as people could not pay for them with regular currency. Rumkowski believed that smuggling of food would "destabilize the ghetto with regard to the prices of basic commodities" and prevented it from taking place.<ref name="Reassessment, p. 28" />

On German orders Rumkowski delivered a speech on September 4, 1942, pleading with the Jews in the ghetto to give up children 10 years of age and younger, as well as the elderly over 65, so that others might survive. "Horrible, terrifying wailing among the assembled crowd" could be heard, reads the transcriber's note to his parlance often referred to as: "Give Me Your Children".<ref name="ushmm10007282">[http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007282 "Transcript for "Give Me Your Children""]. ''United States Holocaust Memorial Museum'', Washington, D.C., 6 January 2011. Retrieved: 1 October 2011.</ref> Some commentators see this speech as exemplifying aspects of the [[Holocaust]].<ref name="Schweber" />

{{quoteblockquote|A grievous blow has struck the ghetto. They [the Germans] are asking us to give up the best we possess – the children and the elderly. I was unworthy of having a child of my own, so I gave the best years of my life to children. I've lived and breathed with children. I never imagined I would be forced to deliver this sacrifice to the altar with my own hands. In my old age, I must stretch out my hands and beg: Brothers and sisters! Hand them over to me! Fathers and mothers: Give me your children! | Chaim Rumkowski, September 4, 1942 <ref name="Schweber">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mco3ldVWNL8C&q=%22They+are+asking+us+to+give+up+the+best+we+possess%22 | title=Teaching the Holocaust | publisher=Torah Aura Productions | work=Ghettoization | date=2007 | access-date=24 March 2015 | author=Simone Schweber, Debbie Findling | page=107 | format=Google Books, preview | isbn=978-1-891662-91-1}}</ref>}}

{{quoteblockquote|Brothers and sisters! Turn out ''en masse'' to wipe out at long last, with joint and unified force, the terrible poverty and the barbaric behaviour of the [[Kehilla (modern)|Kehilla]] representatives toward the wretched, exhausted, starved public... The slogan: bread for all!! Let's join forces in war against the accursed Kehilla parasite... – ''Demonstration Leaflet'' <ref>Unger 2004, ''Reassessment'', p. 34.</ref>}}

There are conflicting accounts regarding Rumkowski's final moments. According to one contemporary source he was murdered upon his arrival at Auschwitz by the Jews of Łódź who preceded him there.<ref>[{{Cite web |url=https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/how-rumkowski-died/ |title=Commentary Magazine May 1979 "How Rumkowski Died" by Lodz Ghetto/Auschwitz survivor Michael Cheniski] |access-date=2019-12-19 |archive-date=2019-12-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219190727/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/how-rumkowski-died/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> This version of events, however, has been challenged by historians. Another report, submitted by a ''[[Sonderkommando]]'' member from Hungary, {{ill|Dov Paisikovic|de}}, states that the Jews of Łódź approached the ''Sonderkommando'' Jews in secrecy, and asked them to kill Rumkowski for the crimes he committed in the Łódź Ghetto, so they beat him to death at the gate of the Crematorium No. 2 and disposed of his corpse.<ref name="Unger2004" />

Rumkowski took an active role in the deportations of Jews. Some historians and writers describe him as a [[treason|traitor]] and as a Nazi collaborator; Rumkowski aimed at fulfilling the Nazi demands with the help of their own Orpo Security Police if necessary.<ref name="Trunk52">Isaiah Trunk (2008), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ugVsNrbMSx4C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=%22we%20did%20not%20believe+did+not+believe%22&f=false Łódź Ghetto: A History],'' page 52. {{ISBN|0253347556}}.</ref> His rule, unlike the leaders of other ghettos, was marked with abuse of his own people coupled with physical liquidation of political opponents. He and his council had a comfortable food ration and their own special shops. He was known to get rid of those he personally disliked by sending them to the camps. Additionally, he sexually abused vulnerable girls under his charge.<ref>[[Laurence Rees|Rees, Laurence]],''"Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution'"'', especially the testimony of [[Lucille Eichengreen]], pp. 105-131. BBC Books. {{ISBN|978-0-563-52296-6}}.</ref><ref name=originsandinitiatives>Rees, Laurence.[https://www.pbs.org/auschwitz/about/transcripts_2.html "Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi state"]. ''[[BBC]]/[[KCET]]'', 2005. Retrieved: 1 October 2011.</ref> Failure to submit to him meant death to the girl. Holocaust survivor [[Lucille Eichengreen]], who claimed to have been abused by him for months as a young woman working in his office, said, "I felt disgusted and I felt angry, I ah, but if I would have run away he would have had me deported, I mean that was very clear."<ref name=originsandinitiatives />

[[Primo Levi]], an Auschwitz survivor, in his book ''[[The Drowned and the Saved]]'', concludes: "Had he survived his own tragedy...no tribunal would have absolved him, nor, certainly, can we absolve him on the moral plane. But there are extenuating circumstances: an infernal order such as National Socialism exercises a frightful power of corruption against which it is difficult to guard oneself. To resist it requires a truly solid moral armature, and the one available to Chaim Rumkowski...was fragile." At best, Levi viewed Rumkowski as morally ambiguous and self deluded. [[Hannah Arendt]], in her book ''[[Eichmann in Jerusalem]]'', placed Rumkowski's [[egotism]] at the low end of the spectrum of wartime ghetto leadership examples.<ref name="Arendt119">{{cite book |title=Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil |author=Hannah Arendt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yGoxZEdw36oC&q=rumkowski&pg=PA119 |page=119|isbn=978-1-101-00716-7 |date=2006-09-22 |publisher=Penguin }}</ref>

Professor [[Yehuda Bauer]] points out that if the Russians had continued their summer offensive in 1944, Lodz would have been the only ghetto to be liberated with a significant amountnumber of its inhabitants still alive, and Rumkowski might be remembered in a very different light.{{sfn|Bauer |2002|pp=137-142}}

* United States Holocaust Memorial Museum – [http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/lodz/ Online Exhibition: ''Give Me Your Children: Voices from the Lodz Ghetto''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130912124330/http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/lodz/ |date=2013-09-12 }}, US Holocaust Memorial Museum

[[Category:JewishPolish collaborators with Nazi Germanyrapists]]