What were the Judenraete (Jewish Councils)?What were the Judenraete (Jewish Councils)?
In every country that the Germans controlled during the war, they established a Jewish leadership organization commonly known as a Judenrat (Jewish Council) or an Aeltestenrat (Council of Elders). Many German allies, such as Slovakia, established similar institutions. The objective in establishing the councils was to have a tool by which to control the Jews, isolate them from the outside world, and implement various decrees. In general, the authorities tried to pack the councils with recognized prewar Jewish leaders and respected public figures. The councils were tragically torn between their desire to meet the Jews’ needs and the harsh demands of the authorities. Jewish councils attempted to adopt various policies to help their Jews, from active support for underground groups and armed resistance to nearly total cooperation with the authorities in carrying out their policies, in the hope thereby of preventing measures worse than those already applied. With the coming of the mass depor
