Documents related to the Holocaust in Lviv (Lwow) and Lviv (Lwow) Region, The Lviv Collection, personal narratives, 1941-1944 | Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust

Title: Documents related to the Holocaust in Lviv (Lwow) and Lviv (Lwow) Region, The Lviv Collection, personal narratives, 1941-1944

ID: RG-89/RG-89

Extent: 1.0 Boxes

Predominant Dates: 1942, 1942

Abstract

Creators

Administrative/Biographical History

It is a historic collection compising personal narratives reflecting prewar and wartime existential realities in regard to Jewish population of Lviv (Lwow) with the emphasis on the role of Jewish functionaries, Ukrainian self-proclaimed militia, then Ukrainian auxiliary police, a collaborating pro-German organization and German administration in its various facests.

On July 2, 1941, right in the aftermath of German takeover of Lviv (Lwow) Professor Maurycy Allerhand was summond for an interview to a high-ranking German official Colonel Steffens.

German administration was seeeking a comprehensive information of the structure and personalities with regard to the large Jewish population of Lviv (Lwow). They also were in preparation of setting up Jewish administration under their contrle, a Judent Rat (Jewish Council).

In the aftermath of the interview with Colonel Steffens, Professor Maurycy Allerhand, former Governmental Commissar of the Jeiwish Religious Community of Lviv narrated the text reflecting his discourse in regard to Colonel Steffens inquiries.

During the Polish times, the Jewish community in Lviv (Lwow, Lemberg) was originally organized according to the Austrian law of the year 1890, later according to the Polish law through the officially designated Jewish Religious Communities. According to the regulations of these laws, the community institutions consisted of two parts: a Council and an Executive Committee. But the government was allowed to dissolve both legislative and executive organs and place communal affairs under the supervision of a government commissioner (Commissar).

An installed Governmental Commissar had to be given an advisory board – but that organ had only advisory role. I was at the Head of the Community from December 1924 to the end of June 1929, first as instituted Governmental Commissar, later as elected Chairman of the Executive Committee. At the end of June 1929 I resigned before the time of elections, and since then I stayed away from official affairs and businesses of the Community.

The Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Jewish Religious Community in Lviv (Lwow) after me was Wiktor Chajes, who was followed by government-appointed Commissar and a regional state court Councilor Weichert, who was followed by Dr. Josef Parnas, who had the same rank. Parnas conducted elections, which resulted in Dr. Michael Ringel being elected to the chairman of the Executive Committee.

The Bolsheviks suspended the Jewish Community as an official representative organization and nationalized its assets. An official from Kiev supervised appropriation of the community’s assets of all types. Soviet State authorities appropriated or nationalized all the Jewish Community’s solid and liquid assets on behalf of the state.

With the removal of the Jewish Religious Community, the Jews of Lviv (Lwow) grouped according to the synagogues they normally attended. There was no longer a binding and controlling administrative and financial organization, also represented the Jewish population of Lviv (Lwow) as a whole. There were no longer a unified organizational structure for all Jewish population in Lviv (Lwow). Owing to the fact that the Jewish Community as an organization was abolished, the synagogues remained a means of communication and congregation, although to not much of avail.

There are a number of synagogues in Lviv (Lwow): the Temple of Progressives on Zolkiewsksa street, the Great Urban Synagogue on Boimow and Sobieski Streets, the Great Suburban Synagogue on Smocza Street and the so-called the Sykstuska Synagogue on Szajnocha Street. The synagogues are sustained by the contributions of the members and visitors – they can hardly be sustained, because the rent and, if they were nationalized, the taxes are very high.

It has come to attention so far that, with the violation of religious rules, money was collected after the service on Saturdays and religious holidays.

The Jewish Religious Community had four Rabbis. Two orthodox ones and two progressive ones. The Progressive Rabbi, Dr. Jecheskiel Lewin, residing on Kolataja Street is still alive, the others have perished. Furthermore, there are several Rabbis’ substitutes/cantors.

The Jewish Religious Community used to have an official administrative residence on Bernstein Street 12. The Community still maintains a cemetery, the Jewish Hospital, an orphanage, a primary school, a museum and slaughter houses etc.

In the course of the Soviet administration, September 1939 – June 1941, all these institutions were taken over by the state, only the graveyard administration was carried on by some citizens with the help of former community officials, although remaining under supervision of the state authorities.

III

2a.

The Jewish Religious Community comprised administratively not only the city but also its suburbs and the surroundings amounting all Jewish population centered around it to the figure of 180.000 people.

Politically, most of the Jewish citizens belonged to the Orthodox-organized and to the National Zionist parties. The Zionists political spectrum is divided into ideologically variable political organizations. The General Zionists, Mizrachists, Hitachdut, Poalei Sijon Right, Poalei Sijon Left and Zionist Revisionists. Yet they possess a coherent leadership and appeared, with few exceptions, in public as one.

Even the Orthodox were divided, but the stray groups do not have a common/shared leadership.

Apart from the mentioned parties, there is a socialist party and social-democratic Jewish parties, largely in confrontation with the Zionists and the Orthodoxy. Moreover, there have always been a group of so-called assimilated Jews or Jews who regarded themselves Poles of Mosaic Faith. They associate themselves with Polish national identity. Their numbers are not significant.

Jewish workers of the age of 25 and younger at the most committed to Communist Movement, namely to the Communist Party of Western Ukraine; It is not popular or typical for an average member of the Jewish Community to be associated with Communists. It is rather a manifestation of typology correlated to Jewish intelligentsia to support Jewish socialists and social democrats.

Naturally, the Community’s institutions and their functionaries stayed away from political activities, because the Community is regarded a non-political entity, but this does not exclude that individual people who were voted into the community’s Council and Executive Committee could not appear on Jewish political parties’ lists or embody polarized political views.

There is no Jewish freemason fraternity in Lvov.

There only existed a sociability and charity organization of Bnei Brith Leopolis, whom the Polish government considered to be part of the freemason fraternity and therefore confiscated and dissolved its assets

There were a lot of Jewish charitable and cultural organizations in Lviv (Lwow).

Some ran nurseries; others dedicated themselves to the care of the poor sustain orphanages and care about communal free vocational education.

There also were Jewish private schools, a Jewish trade school, a Jewish Pedagogical Institute, Talmud Torah schools (primary religious schools). Their activities were supported by the Community and its budget continuously allocated funding for these organizations.

Jewish college students had different organizations, some of which received grants also from the Polish state. The purpose of these organizations was to either materially support the college students or promote science.

Formally all Jews of Lviv (Lwow) were member of the Jewish Religious Organization. They were supposed to render a communal tax (share). The amount of this share (tax) related to individual income. The members of the community were merchants, craftsmen, blue collar workers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, etc. Many Jews owned houses.

Since the Bolsheviks took over, the entire Jewish community has impoverished. The houses and the enterprises have been nationalized. The bank’s safety deposit boxes were opened forcibly and their content was taken, the deposits and records of deposit were only exchanged for 300 Zlotys. Practicing law was only allowed for some people.

Many lawyers and engineers therefore remained unemployed. The doctors continued being employed although their earnings hardly allowed them to maintain a prewar standard of living

It should also be emphasized that rich people were either forcibly taken to the USSR, namely to the Soviet interior, regarded as exile or removed from the city by other means. Some left city and country by taking their wealth with them – as long as it consisted of money, securities and jewelry relocating to Rumania, Palestine and America.

Of the people who stayed, the following are well-known: Dr. Michael Ringel, Dr. Josef Parnas, Dr. Rubin Sokal, Dr. Osias Wasser, Der. Heinrich Landesberg, Dr. Dawid Schreiber (during the Polish time he was responsible for the civil records, because according to the Austrian law, neither the state nor the Jewish religious community could keep the accounts of the Metrikabücher, but only a public official that is instituted by the authorities), Herman Axelbrad and some others.

I have written the above in the best to my knowledge and conscience. I am noticing, however, that since my resignation from the position of a Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Jewish Religious Community, I have stayed away from every public activity, just like I stayed away from public activities before December 1924. I also rejected the proposal to take a position of a Government Commissar for the Community when the intention arose to dissolve the community institutions. It was Wiktor Chajes who took this position.

To explain: I was approached with this proposition beyond a higher order. But I emphasized that at the time I was working in the Jewish Community, I was reproached for being a scholar, not an administrator.

Professor Maurycy Allerhand, ordinary university professor / appointed during Austrian time, born June 28^th 1868 in Przemysl / now General Government

Author: Dr. Melamed

Subjects (links to similar collections)

Forms of Material (links to similar genres)

Languages of Materials

Administrative Information

Printer-friendly |

Email Us

Scope and Contents:

The core documents of this collections are listed below,

Maurycy Allerhand, narrative, letter to Colonel Steffens, Juli 1941;

Maurycy Allerhand, chronicle of days in Lviv, 1942;

M. Allerhand, Chronicle, Lviv, 1942; In addition there a number of sub-divided documents from Maurycy Allerhand written narrative in regard to the life in German-occupied Lviv (Lwow) and in the ghetto.

There is series of personal diary-like narrative written by J. Berman, an employee of the Jewish Council established by the German administration of Lviv (Lwow). These narratives largely relate to the actions of Ukrainian militia in late June, early July of 1941 and then to the day-to-day occurrences with Ukrainian auxiliary police and German police.

Accounts written by Polish scholar of Jewish descent, Salomon Czortkower relate to the actions of German authorities in regard to Jewish population of the ghetto, implemented by Ukrainian and German police.

The documents of this collection largely relate to the Jewish community under German occupation in Lviv (Lwow), in 1941, 1942.

In addition to the narratives of Maurycy Allerhand, J. Berman, Salomon Czortkower, there are a number of accounts of day-to-day round ups, actions and other atrocities imposed of Jews in the ghetto of Lviv (Lwow). The actions of perpetrators, largely Ukrainian police and German police are well described. There are also accounts in regard to the functionaries of Jewish Community of Lviv (Lwow) in prewar and wartime.

On-line Images/Records