Gift of Eliezer and Jenelly Rosenberg
Id no. 33.96, Photograph, Polish
Six men standing in front of buildings in the Wisznice ghetto. A caption on back in Polish translates as, "The Judenrat. They supervised the ghetto and collected gold and jewelry for the gendarmes in order to save their lives. After liquidation of the ghetto, they worked in the lumber factory and later were shot in Dubicy."
The Judenrat were Jewish governing councils forcibly appointed by the Nazis over Jewish communities in parts of Nazi occupied Europe. Judenrat members struggled to distribute food rations, issue decrees, allocate apartments, and meet German demand for workers, in the face of horrific conditions imposed by the Nazis.