Working Group (resistance organization)
The Working Group
When the Nazis, aided by members of the puppet Slovak government, began its moves against the Slovak Jews in 1942, members of the Slovak Judenrat formed an underground organization called the Working Group. It was led by Gisi Fleischmann and Rabbi Weissmandl. The group's main activity was to help Jews as much as possible, in part through payment of bribes and ransom to German and Slovak officials. At Rabbi Weissmandl's initiative already in 1942 the Working Group initiated high-level ransom negotiations with the Germans (ref. Fuchs and Kranzler books). The transportation of Slovak Jews was in fact halted for a long time after they arranged a $50,000 (in 1952 dollars) ransom deal with the Nazi SS official Dieter Wisliceny.[citation needed]
Some historians, for example Dr. Abraham Fuchs and Prof. David Kranzler, accept Weissmandl's opinion that the ransom and bribes were successful. Israeli historian Prof. Yehuda Bauer wrote in 1981 book that he thought the bribes influenced Germany's position regarding deportation,[1] but in a 1996 book he expressed skepticism about whether the bribes were a key factor in stopping the deportations.[2] However, later in a 2002 book Bauer writes that it was not the bribing of Wisliceny that stopped the deportations, but the bribing of the Slovak officials by the Working Group that stopped it.[3]
At Rabbi Weissmandl's initiative, the Working Group was also responsible for the ambitious but ill-fated Europa Plan which would have seen large numbers of European Jews rescued from their Nazi captors.[2] An agreement was negotiated with the Nazis in late 1942 and one to two million dollars ransom was required to stop most transports. The Germans asked for a 10% down payment. Unfortunately the down payment was never made.[4] Nothing came of it. Sally Mayer, the JOINT representative in Switzerland, was unwilling to provide the down-payment since currency transfer to Nazis was illegal. Another opinion is that Heinrich Himmler intervened in August 1943.[5] Also the Jewish Agency, contrary to Nazi stereotypes of Jewish wealth, had an available budget of $160K US/month (40K Pounds) for rescue efforts and simply did not have the money. Friling gives the amount demanded for temporarily halting the transport as $3 million USD.[6]
The Working Group also played a central role in distribution of the "Auschwitz Report" in spring 1944, which ultimately led to its publication in Switzerland by George Mantello. That triggered a major Swiss grass roots protest in the Swiss press, churches and streets. It was a major factor in President Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and others threatening Hungary's Fascist regent Horthy with post-war retribution if he did not immediately stop the transports. At the time 12,000 Jews a day were transported to Auschwitz.[7] Among others rescued as a result of the Working Group's activities were Rebbe Aharon Rokeach of Belz, and Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar.[citation needed]
Since the business of the Working Group required a continuous supply of large sums of money, they turned to the international Jewish organizations for help, via their representatives in Switzerland. Weissmandl claimed that too little money was provided too late and that this was due to the indifference of those he asked. Specifically, he accused the Zionist organizations of refusing to assist in saving Jews unless they were to go to Palestine. Weissmandl supported his allegations by quoting letters from memory, and some historians such as Bauer had doubt in the accuracy of his account.[2] Other historians, such as Fuchs and Kranzler, accepted Rabbi Weissmandl's word. Friling however points out various statement by members of the Zionist leadership to the contrary, asking that any and all doors be opened for the rescue of Jews. For example, they pleaded that Polish children sent to South Africa, why not Jewish children - South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts refused. Allies ferried Italians from Ethiopia to Italy, why not Jews on the return? Similarly ships carrying armaments to Allied troops in North Africa returned empty to America. Their pleas were ignored.[8]
- ^ Bauer, Yehuda (1981). American Jewry and the Holocaust: The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, 1939-1945. Wayne State University Press.
- ^ a b c Bauer, Yehuda (1996). Jews for Sale? Nazi-Jewish Negotiations, 1933-1945. Yale University Press.
- ^ Bauer, Yehuda (2001). Rethinking the Holocaust. Cahners Business Information.
- ^ Kranzler, David Thy Brother's Blood and Fuchs, The Unheeded Cry
- ^ Bauer 1994, pp. 79–90; for Grossplan, p. 99; for Himmler, p. 100.
- ^ Arrows in the Dark: David Ben-Gurion, the Yishuv and Rescue Attempts during the Holocaust, Tuvia Friling, 2003, pp221-231
- ^ Kranzler, David (2001). The Man Who Stopped the Trains to Auschwitz: George Mantello, El Salvador, and Switzerland's Finest Hour. Syracuse University Press.
- ^ Arrows in the Dark: David Ben-Gurion, the Yishuv and Rescue Attempts during the Holocaust, Tuvia Friling, 2003, pp153,165, 181