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Phenomenon of rescuing victims of nazi regime under the Holocaust
Section 5. Constitutional law
Stets Oleg Nicolaevich, PhD in Law (Candidate of Law Sciences), Associate Professor of the Chair of Civil Law disciplines, Kryvyi Rih faculty of the National University «Odessa law Academy»
Kovtun Alexander Igorevich, postgraduate PhD in Law, Assistant of the Chair of Criminal Law disciplines, Kryvyi Rih faculty of the National University “Odessa law Academy"
E-mail: [email protected]
Phenomenon of rescuing victims of nazi regime under the Holocaust
Abstract: In this article problems devoted to participation of the local Ukrainian population at the rescue of Jewry — victims of the Nazi occupation regime is examined. Question of violation of human rights is analyzed and it is given description a concept «the phenomenon of rescuing». It was concluded on social and legal support rescuers Jewish people during the Second World War on the territory of modern Ukraine.
Keywords: Holocaust, the Second World War, genocide, Righteous among the Nations, memorial «Yad Vash-em», phenomenon of rescuing, rescue ofJewry.
Urgency of theme. In history of the Ukrainian people events of the Second World War occupy the special place. Memory of war is spiritually-historical heritage of the Ukrainian people, creates bases of its self-sufficiency and originality. Official silence of many facts in Soviet times generated the great number of unsolved problems. One of these is the problem of determining the legal status of war veterans and victims of the Holocaust, their social protection for our country to obtain independence is becoming increasingly important.
The object of study in the article is the phenomenon of rescue victims of the Nazi regime and assists the Ukrainian population.
The subject of study is features of the phenomenon of rescuing.
Study of the problems of honoring Righteous Among the Nations — the saviors of the Jews, it is impossible without clarifying the definition of “Holocaust” and the implementation details of the occupation policy of the fascist German authorities on Ukrainian territory during the Second World War. Modern works of I. Pickerel, I. Arada, K. Berkgofa and other are devoted these problems. The study of the phenomenon of Righteous among the Nations in Ukraine works of Kostelyanets H., O. Kruglova, Y. Suslenskyi, N. Suhatskyi and I. Shchupak are devoted. Holocaust (translated from Greek — “burnt”) is a systematic and organized destruction of the Jewish population during the Second World War. The victims of the Holocaust were 6 million. Jews (on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR there were 1.4 million). It was 63 % European and 36 % world of the Jewish popula-
tion. There is not the unique point of view in relation to a division into periods of Holocaust. Some scientists specify on 1933-1945, others on 1941-1945 — that on the period of systematic mass elimination ofJews [11, 14].
However and the first, and the second agree that for a planet Holocaust became an enormous tragedy which above all things touched European Jews. Actually, it was and tragedy of all humanity which first saw and knew, as every concrete human life is little valued, and life whole, in this case — Jewish people, that Nazis wanted fully to destroy.
The Jewish capital played an important role in trade and industry of Germany and sometimes made a serious competition the German businessmen. The Nazis also accused the Jews of undermining German national traditions. All this gave Hitler an excuse to launch a broad promotion of the idea of “global Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory,” which was allegedly intended to provide mankind “Jewish domination” [6].
The theory of “World Jewry” was opposed by the Nazis “Aryan idea” - racial theory, which was based on the slogan: “The German people are people of the highest, the Aryan race — because it has dominion over other nations”. Not surprisingly, the bitter results of the Shoah — the Holocaust — a catastrophe of European Jewry long have been the subject of close attention and deep study in many countries.
It is actually considered beginning of the Holocaust 1933. Anti-Semitism became the official policy of the Third Reich. Gradually, Jews were excluded from public and social life. This campaign reached its climax in 1935 after the adoption of the “Nuremberg Laws”. They had the status of state and during the
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Section 5. Constitutional law
Second World War spread to the entire territory of Europe. Jews in these racist laws was given a special place.
At night on the 9th-10th of November, 1938 by order of Goebbels there were Jewish pogroms which have become history of “crystal night” under the name that became the beginning of Shoah — accidents of the Jewish people.
The second stage of the Holocaust (1939-1941) began in day of invasion of Hitler’s soldiers to Poland. Nazis forced Jews to carry special marks, collected them in a ghetto, sent in labour camp.
The third stage was begun with the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR inJune, 1941. Already onJanuary 20, 1942 in Berlin a conference was held to discuss ways to “Final Solution ofJewish question”, which included mass executions, the presence of extermination camps.
With beginning of the second and third periods position ofJews became worse considerably: after occupation of Poland it was begun to transmigrate them in a ghetto, where slave labour, hunger and illnesses, expected on them. Millions of Jews of Poland, Western and South Europe were under power of Nazis from the beginning of September, 1939.
War, world character and escalation took off it all ethics and political prohibitions. If in 1930th the purpose of Hitler was banishing ofJews from Germany, already at the beginning of war in 1939 such purpose was become by total elimination of whole people. The fact that the decision to mass extermination was made on the eve of the attack on the USSR, shows impunity of aggressors.
Shares of the extermination of the Jews in the occupied territories of the USSR, which lasted the entire period of occupation, divided into three periods:
1. From 22 June 1941 to the winter of 1942. During this time destroyed most Jews living in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova (Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina).
2. From spring until late 1942, when most Jews were destroyed on the western and eastern parts of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia occupied territories by the summer of 1942.
3. From the beginning of 1943 to retreat of Germans from the occupied territories of Soviet Union, elimination of all Jews who remained proceeded. The last murder occurred during the retreat of Nazi occupation [6].
In the occupied territories of the USSR destruction of Jews engaged aynzatsgroups (Einsatzgruppen) — operational groups, mobile police formations, designed to kill prisoners of war, of the shares to eliminate the population of the occupied territories. They allocated part of in the SS, SD, Security Police and obeyed major imperial security management (RSHA). Aynzatsgroups owe their existence specially created security service and agents of Gestapo. Before the invasion into the Soviet Union there were established four aynzatsgroups which shared the front each other geographically and they acted in the rear of Army as respective groups: Group “A” (Commander Walter Shtaleker later Yust (Yost) Akhamer-Pifrader, Pantsynher, Fuks) — Baltic; Group “B” (Commander Arthur Nebe, then Nauman, Hans Boehme, Erlshher, Zeettsen,
Horst Beme) — direction of Minsk — Smolensk — Moscow; Group “C” (Commander Otto Rasch, then Thomas and Horst Beme) — Ukraine; Group «D» (Commander Otto Olendorf later Birkalen) — Southern Ukraine, Crimea, the Caucasus.
The structure of every aynzatsgroup included 10001200 persons, who were distributed between several ayn-zatscommands. Into structure aynzatsgroup entered approximately 350 SS members, 150 drivers and mechanical engineers, 100 members of Gestapo, 80 employees of ancillary police, who were represented by local inhabitants, 130 police officers of an order, 40-50 employees of criminal police, and also 30-35 employees SD. Stuff included the certain amount of translators, radio operators, telegraphers and others. Leading composition of group was formed from Gestapo, employees of SD and criminal police. In Ukraine of aynzatsgroups of «S», «D» destroyed about 200 thousand ofJews. However, their methods of mass extermination of Jews to “Final Solution of Jewish question” were found to be ineffective, and in summer 1942 the group was disbanded [3, 6].
Except for shooting, Jews were sent to ghetto and concentration camps. Concentration camps were created Nazis on the whole territory controlled by them. On territory of Ukraine the so-called labour camps were created forJews. On this hard labour of «death factories» prisoners repaired roads, worked at factories, in stone quarries. Yanovsky camp in Lviv where it has been destroyed more than 200 000 prisoners [4] was one of the largest and most terrible such camps.
Ghettos, created by Nazis in Ukraine, were two types «opened» and «closed». The inhabitants of the «opened» ghettos lived in the apartments together with their relatives. Here Jews were transmigrated from other towns. These ghettos were temporal — from them Jews were sent to other ghetto, concentration camp, or place of shooting. To the «closed» ghettos, which were the isolated quarters or boroughs, all Jews were transmigrated from city or township.
The greatest ghetto on territory of Ukraine and the third in the world, after Warsaw and Lodzinsky was Lviv’s one which the German authorities ordered to organise on November 8th, 1941. The history of the Lvov ghetto is a history of continuous destructions.
In that moment when the German troops occupied a city, the Jewish population of Lviv was counted by 150 000 persons. Opening out the company of liquidation of jewries, Germans began mass elimination of the Jewish population on territory of all Lviv prisons: Brigidok, prison in the street Lonckyi and military prison in Zamarstinivska. First, they forced Jews dug graves criminals and political prisoners executed in Soviet times. Jews who dug out tombs, Germans photographed near to corpses, adding to photos the signature: «the Jewish criminals near to the innocent victims» [5].
To beginning of 1942 more than 100 000 Jews were counted in a ghetto. The property of Jews was robbed, synagogues were burned, and Jews were sent on the forced works. During March of 1942 15 thousands people were taken out in Belzhets. Majority from them were old and religious people,
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Phenomenon of rescuing victims of nazi regime under the Holocaust
women and children. Officially it was named «by an action against antisocial elements». When on July, 27, 1944 soviet troops took Lviv there were less than 300Jews who were hidden in the city sewage system.
Also a few thousand children were rescued by the activists of the Polish government agency of Zhegota (Zegota is council of help to Jews on the occupied territory of Poland). Also Jews from the Lviv ghetto were hidden in monasteries and churches of the Ukrainian Greco-catholic church. Mass destructions of Jews were across all Ukraine. So, in the Dnepropetrovsk area where before war 30 000Jews were almost their third part was shot. In the official report ofaynzatsgroup from November 19th, 1941 it was noticed that: «From 30 thousand Jews approximately 10 thousands were shot up on October 13, 1941 division, subordinated to the senior chief SS and police. Further one thousand more Jews were shot by aynzatsgroup». Researcher A. Podolskyi gives an extract from documentary sources: «On October 13th, 1941 by order of Gestapo in the city of Dnepropetrovsk on Charles Marx avenue under the threat of execution it has been collected 10-12 thousand persons — Jews at whom Hitler’s soldiers, having collected all valuable things, having built in rows of 8 persons, columns, under the strengthened protection ofbandits «SD» have sent on errands in a direction of Transport institute near which in a ravine all have been shot. Among them old men were shot up there. Nazi bastards snatched from the hands of fathers and mothers of babies and small children who were in the presence of parents were thrown alive into the ravine and dug into the land. Execution ofJews proceeded from 5 a. m. on October 14th till 5 p. m. on October 15th, 1941. For the purpose of concealment of the evil deeds fascist monsters, having filled a ravine with corpses, they covered from above with earth then on this place have made planting of trees» [9].
On August 15, 1941 Germans occupied a city Kryvyi Rih the Dnepropetrovsk area. In the report of aynzatsgroup shooting of 105 Jews of city in the first days of occupation was remembered. Fully Jews in Kryvyi Rih were exterminated in October of the same year [2, 259]. On the whole in times of occupation Ukraine lost to 60 % from the pre-war amount of the Jewish population. However the echo of Anti-Semitic practice and propagation of Nazis sounded among Ukrainians and during the post-war period. In 1944-1945 Jews returned to Ukraine from service in armies or evacuation camps of Tashkent and they saw that their relatives had been killed, apartments were occupied, and furniture and other property was plundered.
Attempts of Jews to return to the houses have caused a rage of Ukrainians who during war had occupied their habitation and asserted Jews who returned, had made nothing for a victory over Germans. Such disputes often grew into fights, and in Dnepropetrovsk and Kiev pogroms took place. In Dnepropetrovsk the violent crowd snatched on Jews, crying out: «Death to Jews! And Thirty seven thousand Jews have already been killed by Nazis, we will finish off others» [8]. Such explosions of violence and also returning of official
anti-Semitism in all Soviet country and in all party establishments forced many Jews who had survived, to keep silence. New directions of current research on the history of the Holocaust are defined in international and national scientific conferences held under the auspices of organizations such as the All-Ukrainian Center for Holocaust “Tkuma” (Dnepropetrovsk), Ukrainian Center for Holocaust Studies (Kyiv), Kharkiv educational center “Holocaust.” Questions about Holocaust on the territory of Ukraine also repeatedly raised at international conferences not only in Ukraine but also in Russia, namely at the annual international interdisciplinary conference on Jewish Studies Center “Sefer”, at the International Conference “Lessons of Holocaust and Modern Russia” The attention of many researchers was involved with resistance problems to a Nazi genocide and collaboration.
In 1953 in Jerusalem by the decision of the Knesset — the Parliament of the young state of Israel research center and memorial to victims of the Holocaust of European Jewry — memorial “Yad Vashem” (literally — “memory and name”) was opened. As said in a law about Yad Vashem, it was founded for immortalization of memory of six million representatives of the Jewish people, who perished death of martyrs from the hands of Nazis and their collaborators [7].
The special status was established by law for members of other nations which the noble motives and risking their lives saved or helped save Jews during the Holocaust. According to ancient Jewish tradition, these people are called “Hasidic ummot ha-Olam”, which in Hebrew means “righteous among the nations” or take the short “Righteous among the Nations”
Therefore there is a line of research of the phenomenon as salvation feat. Most “feat” is treated as a heroic act, carried out in difficult conditions. Rescue is an operation that is carried out to rescue people who are or distress, providing emergency medical and other assistance and deliver them to safety.
Rescue of Jews during the Second World War took place in different ways:
1) hiding from the Nazis and collaborators;
2) providing false (true or others) or issuance of documents with the names changed by the Church;
3) organizing escape from the ghettos and camps;
4) transferring Jews to guerrilla groups and in a safe place. According to preliminary data, in Ukraine people of different nationalities rescued over 17 thousand Jews. Unlike Western territories occupation regime in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union was much more violent in the punishment of those who had been accused of helpingJews. For concealment of the Jew invaders threatened with execution not only to rescuers, but sometimes and their families.
Estimated J. Honihsmana, only in Lviv region in 1943 the Nazis executed more than a hundred Ukrainian for asylumJews. In Lviv 38 % all criminal cases of the extraordinary German court for the population of «Zondergerikht» were concerned persons who hid Jews or gave them some other help [7]. To according to Kovby, in Galychina from each ten locals (Poles and Ukrainians) «seven passively or actively were sympathizer
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Section 5. Constitutional law
Jews». Among the rescuers ofJews often there were people of different political persuasions and representatives of different religious confessions. While there is no synthesis of research on the position of churches in relation to the Nazi “Final Solution of Jewish question” in Ukraine, but there is evidence in some regions [8]. Thus, Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church A. Sheptytsky personally gave refuge and saved life 150 Jews and 15 ravins. About 240 priests and monks helped him in this case. From data of the Polish researchers, 34 monasteries and catholic organizations took part in rescuing ofJews. They gave the prisoners of ghetto false documents and helped to escape to Hungary. Known cases of mass deliveries Jews of Lviv of false documents by priests Armenian Catholic Church of city, and also he hid of Jews. Archpriest Gnivani and Voroshylivky (now the town and village Tyvrivsky district, Vinnitsa region) for several months Volodymyr Dlozhevskyi gave refuge to several Jewish families. In Kirovograd region priests of orthodox temples christened Jews in large quantities, warning them about destruction threat. In Simferopol two priests (names are unknown) were arrested for delivery of certificates on a christening to Jews. In Kiev occupied by Nazis priest A. Glagolev’s family which has much made for rescue ofJews [6] was known for the activity.
The grant of help and rescuing ofJews was carried out as by individuals — their friends, neighbours, business partners, colleagues, former class-mates, acquaintances, sometimes simply unknown, — so by the representatives of organizations, that needed application of certain administrative resources. Sometimes it was done by representatives of the lowest steps of occupational administration and local government — for example, the burgomaster of Kremenchug the Synytsya Ver-hovsky gave out to Jews fictitious inquiries on their “Aryan” origin because of what was executed by Germans.
Scientific studies of motivation of rescuers were begun with 1980th. Not only historians but also sociologists, psychologists are interested in the question. Trying to allocate law in saving actions enough a heterogeneous group of persons on social composition, and also to recreate the generalized image of the rescuer, researchers enter socially-psychological interpretations of a phenomenon of Righteous among the Nations. According to researcher Nehamy Teck, who studied the rescue phenomenon in occupied Poland, the actions of lay rescuers no friendly relations with saved before the war, not religion or even family ties and personal trait, which it defines as “autonomous altruism” inherent “marginal”, i. e. willingness to help selflessly without fear to enter into a confrontation with the environment and society. Psychologists Samuel and Pearl Olinery distinguish three groups of social psychological rescuers: people with a developed sense of empathy, “norm centrists” (who proved superior sense of duty to “reference group”) and “axiom centrists” (who are primarily guided by moral principles matter who needed help). There are other interpretations. More possibly, it is necessary to speak more likely about a certain complex of motives which intertwined and supplemented each other [10].
With regard to the circumstances of the Holocaust in Ukraine the following number of reasons can be selected:
1) sympathy;
2) family education;
3) family relationships and dating;
4) religious and ethical factor;
5) paternal senses are dissatisfied (when saving children);
6) rejection of the invaders and their actions;
7) already exists for other reasons threat of death;
8) loneliness;
9) assistance ofJews in the previous period;
10) reproaches of conscience are for other accomplished acts;
11) identification of victims of their own destiny in the past (e. g. Pre-war repression);
12) empathy;
13) hope for similar support in a future hard times;
14) feelings of affection or love;
15) demand for labor or specialists;
16) involvement in a common cause (in case of a large team of rescue;
17) compensation for omissions;
18) the need to prove yourself or others their importance, etc. [1].
In the case of rescue Jews generally there are several reasons, but one of them is dominant. There are two sides need to salvation: material and spiritual. In this case, the material side was the desire to undergo the least possible risk for help and facilitate a condition of salvation that is a natural desire to survive, but nevertheless assist. However, thanks to morality and spirituality people risked their lives in the name of high human ideals, based on integrity and humanistic principles.
Having a recognition and social security in the world, unfortunately, in Ukraine Righteous among the Nations have no own fixed legal status in a legislature of the state. Therefore, it is advisable to make authored this article draft Law of Ukraine “On the commemoration of the Holocaust” for public discussion and then submit it to the legislative body — the Parliament of Ukraine.
During the last years attempts of revision of results of the Second World War, the justification of crimes against the world and mankind, connivance to these negative phenomena, unfortunately, have become frequent from separate political forces.
Absence of the normatively fixed principles of activity on prevention of displays of rehabilitation ofNazism in the different spheres of public and state life is required acceptance legislative acts in relation to position-finding rescuers of victims of Holocaust and their social status in national parliaments of countries which suffered from fascist aggression in the Second World War.
Draft Law “On commemoration of the Holocaust” is the goal of perpetuating the memory of the Holocaust, and is the first attempt at legislative fix in Ukraine legal status saviors of the Holocaust — “Ukrainian Righteous Peace”, which will be an example for many other countries of Central and Eastern Europe at the national level appropriate legislation.
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Phenomenon of rescuing victims of nazi regime under the Holocaust
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